Michael Joseph Savage

The Right Honourable Michael Joseph Savage MP
Michael Joseph Savage in the 1920s.
23rd Prime Minister of New Zealand
In office 6 December 1935 – 27 March 1940
Monarch	George V Edward VIII George VI
Governor General	George Monckton-Arundell
Preceded by	George William Forbes
Succeeded by	Peter Fraser
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Auckland West
In office 1919 – 1940
Succeeded by	Peter Carr
Personal details
Born	23 March 1872(1872-03-23) Tatong Victoria Australia
Died	27 March 1940(1940-03-27) (aged 68) Wellington New Zealand
Political party	Labour
Profession	Trade unionist
Religion	Initially Roman Catholicism, then Rationalism, then Roman Catholicism again

Michael Joseph Savage (23 March 1872 – 27 March 1940) was the first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Early life

Born in Tatong, Victoria, Australia, Savage first became involved in politics while working in that state. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1907. There he worked in a variety of jobs, as a miner, flax-cutter and storeman, before becoming involved in the union movement. Savage initially opposed the formation of the 1910 New Zealand Labour Party as he viewed the grouping as insufficiently socialistic. Instead he became the chairman of the New Zealand Federation of Labour, known as the "Red Feds".

Political career

Socialist origins

Parliament of New Zealand
Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1919–1922	Labour
1922–1925	Labour
1925–1928	22nd	Auckland West		Labour
1928–1931	Labour
1931–1935	24th	Auckland West		Labour
1935–1938	25th	Auckland West		Labour
1938–1940	Labour

In the 1911 general election Savage unsuccessfully stood as the Socialist candidate for Auckland Central. During World War I he opposed conscription, arguing that the conscription of wealth should precede the conscription of men. After the war the voters of the Auckland West electorate put Savage into Parliament as a Labour member in the 1919 general election. He became one of eight Labour Members of Parliament, and in due course became the party leader following the death of Harry Holland in 1933. He helped engineer the Labour/Ratana alliance (formalised in 1936).

Prime Minister

Main article: First Labour Government of New Zealand

Grave and memorial near Bastion Point.

The state funeral procession for Michael Joseph Savage, April 1940

During the depression, Savage toured the country, and became an iconic figure. An excellent speaker, he became the most visible politician in the land, and led Labour to victory in the 1935 election. Along with the Premiership he appointed himself the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Maori Affairs. The first Labour government swiftly proved popular and easily won the 1938 general election with an increased popular mandate. Savage, suffering from cancer of the colon at the time, had delayed seeking treatment to participate in the election campaign. He died from the cancer in 1940.

Savage led the country into World War II, officially declaring war on Nazi Germany on 3 September 1939, just hours after Britain.^[1] Unlike Australia, which felt obligated to declare war, as it too had not ratified the Statute of Westminster, New Zealand did so as a sign of allegiance to Britain, and in recognition of Britain's abandoning its former appeasement of the dictators, a policy that New Zealand had opposed. This led to Prime Minister Savage declaring (from his bed) two days later that:

With gratitude for the past and confidence in the future we range ourselves without fear beside Britain. Where she goes, we go; where she stands, we stand. We are only a small and young nation, but we march with a union of hearts and souls to a common destiny.

Savage brought an almost religious fervour to his politics. This, and his death while in office, has made him become something of an iconic figure to the Left. The architect of the welfare state (see Social welfare in New Zealand), his picture reportedly hung in many Labour supporters' homes. Savage rejected rationalism during later life and returned to his Catholic roots. His state funeral included a Requiem Mass celebrated at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Hill St, Wellington before his body was taken amidst general and public mourning by train to Auckland where he was interred initially in a temporarily adapted harbour defence gun installation. He was soon after removed to a side chapel of St Patrick's Cathedral in Auckland, while a national competition was announced, decided, and the winning design of the monumental tomb and memorial gardens at Bastion Point constructed, forming his permanent resting site. While younger generations have less awareness of him, many older New Zealanders continue to revere him.

Death and commemoration

He was a life-long bachelor, and lived with Alf and Elizabeth French in Auckland from 1908 until he died. Alf came to New Zealand in 1894 on the ship Wairarapa which was wrecked on Great Barrier Island, and helped in the rescue of a girl. Savage also served as the patron of the New Zealand Rugby League.^[2]

Savage lies buried at Bastion Point on Auckland's Waitemata Harbour waterfront in the Savage Memorial, a clifftop mausoleum crowned by a tall minaret, and fronted by an extensive memorial garden and reflecting pool.

References

1. ^ "Fighting for Britain – NZ and the Second World War". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 2 September 2008. http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/second-world-war/fighting-for-britain. 
2. ^ Jessup, Peter (12 October 2002). "Kiwi players let their hair down at Clark bash". The New Zealand Herald. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=2998849. Retrieved 25 October 2011. 

Further reading

• Gustafson, Barry (1986). From the cradle to the grave: a biography of Michael Joseph Savage. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0474001385. 

External links

• Michael Joseph Savage biography from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
• Official biography

Persondata
Name	Savage, Michael Joseph
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	23 March 1872
Place of birth	Tatong Victoria Australia
Date of death	27 March 1940
Place of death	Wellington New Zealand