Forty years ago a brandy-soaked snap election set in motion a seismic chain of events in New Zealand politics. Across a series of extraordinary scenes, Aotearoa lurches from crisis to crisis, with strongman prime minister Rob Muldoon replaced by a Labour Party led by the charismatic David Lange and a finance minister, Roger Douglas, determined to shift the country from the developed world’s most regulated economy to the most embracing of the free market.
An economic revolution comes alongside a battle with the US over nukes on the global stage, a terrorist attack in Auckland harbour, and...
Ross Vintiner was right by David Lange's side in opposition and in government as his head of press. If you enjoyed the Juggernaut series on the fourth Labour government, you'll enjoy his insights into the singular figure of Lange and the whirl of the ninth floor across those wild...
Published 07/24/24
The Lange-Douglas relationship frays further as the prime minister unilaterally pulls the pin on a flat tax package signed off by cabinet. A furious Douglas flies back from Europe, but the split only deepens, as Lange declares it’s time for radical reforms to pause and calls for a “cup of tea”...
Published 07/17/24