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.

His health, however, deteriorated, and when the New Zealand Army called him up for military service in 1941 it found him medically unfit.

After recovering somewhat, he returned to work, holding a number of different jobs.

Born into poverty in Southern Canterbury, Kirk left school at age 13 and joined the New Zealand Labour Party in 1943.

In 1943, Norman Kirk married Lucy Ruth Miller, known as Ruth, who was born in Taumarunui.

The couple had three sons and two daughters.

Also in 1943, Kirk joined the Labour Party's branch in Kaiapoi, where he and his wife had decided to build a house.

Kirk bought a 1261 m2 section at 12 Carew Street for just NZ£40 (compared to today's land valuation of NZ$126,000).

Owing to a shortage of funds and building materials following World War II, Kirk built the house himself entirely, right down to the casting of the bricks.

The house still stands today, albeit with an extension at the back and a hipped corrugated iron roof to replace the original leak-susceptible flat malthoid roof.

He was mayor of Kaiapoi from 1953 until 1957, when he was elected to the New Zealand Parliament.

He became the leader of his party in 1964.

Following a Labour victory in the, Kirk became Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and New Zealand changed into a far more assertive and consequential nation.

He stressed the need for regional economic development and affirmed New Zealand's solidarity with Australia in adopting independent and mutually beneficial foreign policy.

Having withdrawn New Zealand troops from Vietnam upon taking office, he was highly critical of US foreign policy.

The same year, he strongly opposed French nuclear tests in the Pacific, and threatened to break off diplomatic relations if they continued.

He promoted racial equality at home and abroad; his government prevented the South African rugby team from touring New Zealand during 1973.

However, his government has been criticised for the launching of the Dawn Raids, the aggressive crackdown on alleged overstayers that near-exclusively targeted Pasifika New Zealanders.

Kirk relented to public pressure and discontinued the raids in April 1974.

Kirk had a reputation as the most formidable debater of his time and once famously said that "there are four things that matter to people: they have to have somewhere to live, they have to have food to eat, they have to have clothing to wear, and they have to have something to hope for", often misquoted as "somewhere to live, someone to love, somewhere to work and something to hope for".

In private, he suffered from effects of obesity and work exhaustion; his health rapidly deteriorated in the winter of 1974, and he died suddenly on 31 August that year.

His death shocked the nation and led to an outpouring of grief; he is the most recent New Zealand Prime Minister to die in office.

He was given a combined state funeral and tangi in two locations, with a combination of European and Māori rites.

Owing to his energy, charisma and powerful oratory, as well as his untimely death, Kirk remains one of the most popular New Zealand prime ministers.

In 1974, while her husband was Prime Minister, she became patron of the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child.

She took part in anti-abortion protest marches in Wellington and Hamilton.

In 1975 Ruth Kirk was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE).

He was succeeded as head of government by Bill Rowling, who lost the subsequent election and remained party leader until 1981.

Born in Waimate, a town in South Canterbury, New Zealand, Norman Kirk came from a poor background, and his household could not afford things such as daily newspapers or a radio.

His father, also named Norman Kirk, was a carpenter, while his mother Vera Janet (née Jury) had migrated from the Wairarapa.

Throughout his life, it was often speculated that Norman Kirk had Māori whakapapa, and was of mixed Kāi Tahu ancestry.

This led to allegations that Kirk was passing as Pākehā.

It was also claimed that Kirk had Māori relatives, which is true at least through his great-niece Jo Luxton, the current Member of the House of Representatives for Rangitata.

While Kirk never denied being Māori, a study of his genealogy found no evidence he was Kāi Tahu and he never publicly identified himself as such.

While very intelligent, Kirk did not perform well academically.

He left school shortly before he turned thirteen after his father lost his job.

Despite this, however, he enjoyed reading, and often visited libraries.

In particular, he enjoyed the study of history and geography.

After leaving school, Kirk worked in a number of jobs, initially as an assistant roof-painter and later as a stationary engine driver, operating boilers in various factories.

She died on 20 March 2000, aged 77.