Bob Tizard

Robert James Tizard (7 June 1924 – 28 January 2016) was a Labour politician from New Zealand.

He served as the sixth deputy prime minister, the minister of Finance, minister of Health and minister of Defence.

Born in Auckland on 7 June 1924, Tizard was the son of Jessie May Tizard (née Phillips) and Henry James Tizard.

He was educated at Meadowbank School and Auckland Grammar School, and earned a university scholarship in 1940.

He was the dux of the school in 1941.

In March 1943 he joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

A navigator, he was commissioned as a pilot officer in February 1945, and promoted to flying officer in August 1945.

After the war, Tizard studied at Auckland University College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1948 and a Master of Arts in 1950.

Majoring in history, his MA thesis was entitled Mr H.E. Holland's Blueprint for New Zealand and the World, Harry Holland having been a previous leader of the New Zealand Labour Party.

He was involved in student politics and unionism and was president of the Auckland University Students' Association in 1948.

He became a lecturer at Auckland University and was also a teacher at Tamaki College and Mount Albert Grammar School.

Tizard made his first foray into national politics when he unsuccessfully ran for the Remuera electorate at the 1951 general election and again at the 1954 general election.

By 1957 he was Mount Albert Grammar School's assistant headmaster.

He was finally successful at the 1957 election, winning in the electorate of.

Tizard was the Member of Parliament for Tamaki for the next three years.

For the duration of the Second Labour Government Tizard was a backbencher.

In the dying days of the government, Prime Minister Walter Nash overruled security services advice and approved the naturalization of a European emigrant living in Tizard's constituency who had in his youth been linked with Marxist circles, but had lived in New Zealand for many years and had a New Zealand wife and children.

The police had not given him a clearance because, in their view, he had not accepted "New Zealand ideals".

Nash minuted in 1960 that he should be allowed to naturalise.

The file lay on his desk without action for many months however.

Tizard found the file and took it to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Bill Anderton (who was the only minister in Wellington during the 1960 election period because he was not standing) and he signed the necessary approval.

At the 1960 general election he was defeated by National's Robert Muldoon.

Thereafter Tizard and Muldoon developed an intense rivalry with each other, occasionally bitter.

He returned to parliament in a in the electorate, but in the 1963 general election was elected MP for Pakuranga.

When United States Vice President Spiro Agnew visited Wellington in mid-January 1970, Tizard along with several other Labour Members of Parliament including Arthur Faulkner, Jonathan Hunt, and Martyn Finlay boycotted the state dinner to protest American policy in Vietnam.

However, other Labour MPs including Opposition Leader Norman Kirk attended the function which dealt with the Nixon Doctrine.

In 1972 he became MP for Otahuhu again.

Contrary to expectation, Tizard was instead appointed as Minister of Health and Minister of State Services when the Third Labour Government was elected in 1972.

Bill Rowling was made Minister of Finance.

Tizard was unhappy when informed of the decision but vowed he would put his all in to the job he was given.

When exiting Kirk's office he said to colleague Warren Freer "I'll show the bastard what can be done with health".

Tizard and Muldoon (the outgoing finance minister) believed Kirk withheld the finance portfolio for personal reasons and that Kirk's ill health made him impatient to achieve his objectives and wanted to eliminate the possibility of progress being hampered by a potentially reluctant minister.

Both Freer and Deputy Prime Minister Hugh Watt had favoured Tizard for Finance, but Kirk thought he was not steady enough for the role and was suspicious of him as an "intellectual".

Regardless, he soon proved one of Kirk's most effective ministers.

As health minister he established a new practice nurse scheme, instigated changes to group practices and amalgamated several hospitals.

Following the death of Kirk in 1974, Tizard was elected the Labour Party's deputy leader and consequently became Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand.

He was elected in an exhaustive caucus ballot, in the final iteration he defeated the Minister of Defence Arthur Faulkner 28 votes to 26.

In 1984 he became MP for Panmure, until he retired in 1990.

Tizard was Shadow Minister of Finance under leader Norman Kirk.

At his retirement in 1990 Tizard said he was still then complimented on his work in the health portfolio.