The Second National Government of New Zealand (also known as the Holyoake Government, after

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a ...

Keith Holyoake Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake, (; 11 February 1904 – 8 December 1983) was the 26th prime minister of New Zealand, serving for a brief period in 1957 and then from 1960 to 1972, and also the 13th governor-general of New Zealand, serving from 197 ...

) was the

government of New Zealand , background_color = #012169 , image = New Zealand Government wordmark.svg , image_size=250px , date_established = , country = New Zealand , leader_title = Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern , appointed = Governor-General , main_organ = , ...

from 1960 to 1972. It was a conservative government which sought mainly to preserve the economic prosperity and general stability of the early 1960s. It was one of New Zealand's longest-serving governments.

Significant policies

Economic policy

*Compulsory

unionism Unionism may refer to: Trades *Community unionism, the ways trade unions work with community organizations *Craft unionism, a model of trade unionism in which workers are organised based on a particular craft or trade *Dual unionism, the developm ...

was relaxed. *Negotiated continued access to United Kingdom markets following the UK's acceptance into the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lis ...

Treaty of Waitangi and Māori policy

*Responded to the increasing urbanisation of the

Māori people The Māori (, ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over severa ...

with a policy of

cultural assimilation Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's majority group or assume the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group whether fully or partially. The different types of cultural ass ...

, which aimed to integrate Māori into

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Z ...

lifestyles. This policy included the abolition of the Native School system in 1969. *Amended the

Waitangi Day Act There have been two Waitangi Day Acts passed by the New Zealand Parliament: the Waitangi Day Act 1960 and the Waitangi Day Act 1976. Neither made 6 February (Waitangi Day) a public holiday; this was done by the New Zealand Day Act 1973. The firs ...

1960 to make

Waitangi Day Waitangi Day ( mi, Te Rā o Waitangi), the national day of New Zealand, marks the anniversary of the initial signing – on 6 February 1840 – of the Treaty of Waitangi, which is regarded as the founding document of the nation. The first Wai ...

a public holiday in the Northland region.

Other

*On 12 October 1961 ten National MPs voted with the Opposition and removed

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

for murder from the Crimes Bill that the government had introduced, by a vote of 41 to 30.

Ralph Hanan Josiah Ralph Hanan (13 June 1909 – 24 July 1969), known as Ralph Hanan, was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. He was Mayor of Invercargill and then represented the electorate in Parliament, following in his uncle Josiah Hanan's ...

, the

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

who had introduced the bill was one of them. * Family maintenance allowances were introduced (1968).Pragmatism and Progress: Social Security in the Seventies by Brian Easton * In 1967 after a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...

on 23 September, bar closing times were extended from 6pm to 10pm on 9 October. * In 1968, emergency benefit was systematised into a discretionary Domestic Purposes Benefit (this was replaced by the statutory Domestic purposes Benefit in 1973). * In 1969, the general medical services benefit was raised for beneficiaries, while specialist benefit was introduced. * A rural incentives scheme for doctors was introduced (1969). * Income abatement on benefits was simplified (1971).

Foreign affairs

*New Zealand troops committed to the defence of

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

in the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation. *Committed a small number of New Zealand troops to the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. *Re-established

compulsory military training Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...

Constitutional

*Appointed the first New Zealand born

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

in 1967 (Sir Arthur Porritt) and the first New Zealand born and New Zealand resident Governor-General, Sir

Denis Blundell Sir Edward Denis Blundell, (29 May 1907 – 24 September 1984) was a New Zealand lawyer, cricketer and diplomat who served as the 12th Governor-General of New Zealand from 1972 to 1977. Early life and family Denis Blundell was born in W ...

in 1972. *Voting age lowered to 20, from 21.

Formation

The key issue of the 1960 election was the '

Black Budget A black budget or covert appropriation is a government budget that is allocated for classified or other secret operations of a nation. The black budget is an account expenses and spending related to military research and covert operations. The ...

' of 1958, in which the Labour government had raised taxes on alcohol, petrol and cigarettes. Although the government argued that it was necessary to address a

balance of payments In international economics, the balance of payments (also known as balance of international payments and abbreviated BOP or BoP) of a country is the difference between all money flowing into the country in a particular period of time (e.g., ...

crisis, National continually attacked the government for it, and most historians consider that it lost Labour the election after only one term in office. Another, less important factor, may have been the age of Labour's leadership. Prime Minister

Walter Nash Sir Walter Nash (12 February 1882 – 4 June 1968) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 27th prime minister of New Zealand in the Second Labour Government from 1957 to 1960. He is noted for his long period of political service, hav ...

was 78 in 1960, and had been

Finance Minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

in the first Labour government 25 years earlier. Voters probably considered him and many of his team old and out of touch in contrast with National leader

, who in 1960 was only in his mid 50s. The phrase Young Turk was used by

Ian Templeton Ian Campbell Templeton (born 24 March 1929) is a veteran New Zealand political reporter who celebrated 50 years of reporting the New Zealand Parliament from the press gallery in 2007. He has written several books on politics. He was the only pri ...

to describe three of the new National MPs elected in 1960, Peter Gordon, Duncan MacIntyre and

Robert Muldoon Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party. Serving as a corporal and sergeant in th ...

. The description stuck ( Zavos).

The 1963 election

In many ways the 1963 election was a re-run of the 1960 election. No new major issues had arisen, and Labour continued to be damaged by the '

' of 1958. Although five years had passed since the budget, its architect,

Arnold Nordmeyer Sir Arnold Henry Nordmeyer (born Heinrich Arnold Nordmeyer, 7 February 1901 – 2 February 1989) was a New Zealand politician. He served as Minister of Finance (1957–1960) and later as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition ...

, was now Labour Party leader following the retirement of Nash earlier in 1963. Voters continued to associate Nordmeyer, and therefore the party, with the unpopular budget. It is normal for governments to lose some support during their term, but National's share of the popular vote was only 0.5% less than in 1960, and it lost only one seat, retaining a majority of 10.

The 1966 election

Shortly before the 1966 election, Labour had replaced Nordmeyer as leader with

Norman Kirk Norman Eric Kirk (6 January 1923 – 31 August 1974) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 29th prime minister of New Zealand from 1972 until his sudden death in 1974. Born into poverty in Southern Canterbury, Kirk left school at ...

, but Kirk had insufficient time to consolidate his position and the party was damaged by this and division over economic policy. The main difference between the parties in terms of policy was commitment to the

. The National government had committed a small number of troops, seeing support for American wars as a necessary payment for America's commitment (through the

ANZUS The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS or ANZUS Treaty) is a 1951 non-binding collective security agreement between Australia and New Zealand and, separately, Australia and the United States, to co-operate on milita ...

pact) to protect New Zealand. Labour was opposed to New Zealand involvement in the war and made troop recall a major platform. However the strongest anti-war sentiment was probably amongst young people, and at this stage the voting age was 21. The election resulted in National losing 3.5% of the popular vote, and one seat, to

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

. This marked the first time since 1943 that a seat had been won by a party other than Labour or National.

The 1969 election

Before the 1969 election the voting age was lowered from 21 to 20, and the number of electorates was increased from 80 to 84, to reflect population growth. These changes seem to have benefited National, as its share of the popular vote rose by 1.6% and it regained the seat it had lost ( Hobson) to Social Credit. This is a rare example of a government increasing its share of the vote while in power.

Defeat

Like Labour in 1960, National in 1972 appeared old, worn-out and out of touch. Holyoake's retirement in favour of deputy

Jack Marshall Sir John Ross Marshall New Zealand Army Orders 1952/405 (5 March 1912 – 30 August 1988) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. He entered Parliament in 1946 and was first promoted to Cabinet in 1951. After spending twelve years ...

did little to revitalise the party, as Marshall lacked the charisma of Labour leader

. The government was defeated less on any particular policy than on a general feeling that, as Labour's campaign material put it, it was time for a change.

Election results

Prime ministers

was

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

for almost the entire term of this government, from 12 December 1960 until 7 February 1972 when he resigned. He was replaced by

, with the terms of other ministers commencing on 9 February 1972. The Marshall Ministry stepped down on 8 December 1972. File:Keith Holyoake (crop).jpg,

served 1960–1972 File:Jack Marshall, 1972.jpg,

served 1972