Peter Fraser

Infobox_Prime Minister
honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable
name=Peter Fraser
honorific-suffix =
MP
order=24^th Prime Minister of New Zealand
monarch=George VI
governor-general=


caption=The Right Honorable Peter Fraser, Prime Minister of New Zealand, circa 1942.
term_start=27 March 1940
term_end=December 13 1949
predecessor=Michael Joseph Savage
successor=Sidney Holland
birth_date=birth date|1884|8|28|df=y
birth_place=Tain, Scotland
death_date=death date and age|1950|12|12|1884|8|28|mf=y
death_place=Wellington, New Zealand
spouse=Janet Henderson Munro
party=Labour
order2=15^th Leader of the Opposition
term_start2=13 December 1949
term_end2=12 December 1950
predecessor2=Sidney Holland
successor2=Walter Nash
constituency_MP3 = Wellington Central
term_start3 = 1918
term_end3 = 1946
parliament3 = New Zealand
predecessor3 = Robert Fletcher
successor3 = Charles Henry Chapman
majority3 =
constituency_MP4 = Brooklyn
term_start4 = 1946
term_end4 = 1951
parliament4 = New Zealand
predecessor4 = "None, seat created"
successor4 = Arnold Nordmeyer
majority4 =
religion=
profession=Stevedore

Peter Fraser (1884 - 1950) served as Prime Minister of New Zealand from 27 March 1940 until 13 December 1949. He held the office through most of the Second World War. Historians see him as a major figure in the history of the New Zealand Labour Party; he was one of the longest serving Prime Ministers next to Helen Clark, who was 14 years and 69 days.

Early life

Peter Fraser, born on 28 August 1884, in Hill of Fearn, near Tain, Scotland, Easter Ross, Scotland, received a basic education, but had to leave school due to his family's poor financial state. Though apprenticed to a carpenter, he eventually abandoned this trade due to extremely poor eyesight - later in his life Fraser would have difficulty reading official documents, and would insist on spoken reports rather than written ones. Before the deterioration of his vision, however, Fraser read extensively - with writers such as Keir Hardie and Robert Blatchford (both socialists) among his favourites.

Fraser quickly became active in politics, becoming secretary of the local Liberal Association at the age of 16, and joining the Independent Labour Party in 1908.

Union activity

After unsuccessfully seeking employment in London, Fraser decided to move to New Zealand at the age of 26. He apparently chose New Zealand in the belief that the country possessed a strong progressive spirit.

Arriving in Auckland, Fraser gained employment as a wharfie. He became involved in union politics, and also joined the New Zealand Socialist Party. When Michael Joseph Savage (later to become the Labour Party's first Prime Minister) stood as the Socialist candidate for Auckland Central electorate, Fraser worked as his campaign manager. Fraser also became involved in the New Zealand Federation of Labour, and represented it at Waihi during the Waihi miners' strike of 1912. Shortly after this, Fraser moved to Wellington, New Zealand's capital city.

In 1913, Fraser became involved in the founding of the Social Democratic Party. Later that year the police arrested him for breaches of the peace - this related to his union activities. While the arrest led to no serious repercussions for him, it did prompt a change of strategy - Fraser moved away from direct action and began to promote a parliamentary route to power.

When the First World War broke out, Fraser strongly opposed New Zealand participation. Like many people on the left, Fraser considered the conflict an "imperialist war", fought for reasons of national interest rather than of principle.

The New Zealand Labour Party

In 1916, Fraser became involved in the foundation of the New Zealand Labour Party, which absorbed much of the moribund Social Democratic Party's membership. The members selected Harry Holland as the Labour Party's leader. Michael Joseph Savage, Fraser's old ally from the New Zealand Socialist Party, also participated.

Later in 1916, the government had Fraser and several other members of the new Labour Party arrested on charges of sedition. This resulted from their outspoken opposition to the war, and particularly their call to abolish conscription. Fraser received a sentence of one year in gaol. He always rejected the verdict, claiming he would only have committed subversion had he taken active steps to undermine conscription, rather than merely voicing his disapproval.

After his release from prison, Fraser worked as a journalist for the official Labour Party newspaper. He also resumed his activities within the Labour Party, initially in the role of campaign manager for Harry Holland.

In a 1918 by-election, Fraser himself gained election to Parliament, winning the electorate of Wellington Central. He soon distinguished himself through his work to counter the influenza epidemic of 1918 - 1919.

One year after his election to parliament Fraser married Janet Henderson Munro, also a political activist. The couple would remain together until Janet Munro's death in 1945, five years before Fraser's own passing. They had no children.

Early parliamentary career

During his early years in parliament, Fraser developed a clearer sense of his political beliefs. Although initially enthusiastic about the Russian October Revolution of 1917 and its Bolshevik leaders, he rejected them soon afterwards, and eventually became one of the strongest advocates of excluding communists from the Labour Party. His commitment to parliamentary politics rather than to direct action became firmer, and he had a moderating influence on many Labour Party policies.

Fraser's views clashed considerably with those of Harry Holland, still serving as leader, but the party gradually shifted its policies away from the more extreme left of the spectrum. In 1933, however, Holland died, leaving the leadership vacant. Fraser contested it, but eventually lost to Michael Joseph Savage, Holland's deputy. Fraser became the new deputy leader.

While Savage represented perhaps less moderate views than Fraser, he lacked the extreme ideology of Holland. With Labour now possessing a "softer" image and the existing conservative coalition struggling with the effects of the Great Depression, Savage's party succeeded in winning the 1935 elections and forming a government.

Cabinet minister

In the new administration, Fraser became Minister of Health, Minister of Education, Minister of Marine, and Minister of Police. He showed himself extremely active as a minister, often working seventeen hours a day, seven days a week. He had a particular interest in education, which he considered vital for social reform. His appointment of C.E. Beeby to the Education Department provided him with a valuable ally for these reforms. Fraser also became the driving force behind the 1938 Social Security Act.

When the Second World War broke out in 1939, Fraser had already taken over most of the functions of national leadership. Michael Joseph Savage had been ill for some time and was near death, although the authorities concealed this from the public. Fraser had to assume most of the Prime Minister's duties in addition to his own ministerial ones.

However, internal disputes within the Labour Party made Fraser's position more difficult. John A. Lee, a notable socialist within the Party, vehemently disapproved of the party's perceived drift towards the political centre, and strongly criticised Savage and Fraser. Lee's attacks, however, became strong enough that even many of his supporters denounced them. Fraser and his allies successfully moved to expel Lee from the Party (25 March 1940).

Prime Minister

After Savage's death (27 March 1940), Fraser successfully contested the leadership against Gervan McMillan and Clyde Carr. He had, however, to give the party's caucus the right to elect people to Cabinet without the Prime Minister's approval - this practice continues as a feature of the Labour Party today.

Despite this concession, however, Fraser remained in command, sometimes alienating his colleagues with his "authoritarian" style. Some of his determination to exercise control may have come about due to the war, on which Fraser focused almost exclusively. Nevertheless, certain measures he implemented (such as censorship, wage controls, and conscription) proved unpopular with the party. In particular, conscription provoked strong opposition, especially since Fraser himself had opposed it during the First World War. Fraser replied that fighting in the Second World War, unlike in the First World War, had indeed a worthy cause, making conscription a necessary evil. Despite opposition from within the Labour Party, enough of the general public supported conscription to allow its acceptance.

During the war, Fraser attempted to build support for an understanding between Labour and its main rival, the National Party. However, opposition within both parties prevented reaching an agreement, and Labour continued to govern alone. Fraser did, however, work closely with Gordon Coates, a former Prime Minister and now a National-Party rebel - Fraser praised Coates for his willingness to set aside his party loyalty, and appears to have believed that National leader Sidney Holland placed "party advantage before national unity".

In terms of the war effort itself, Fraser had a particular concern with ensuring that New Zealand retained control over its own forces. He believed that the more populous countries, particularly Britain, viewed New Zealand's military as a mere extension of their own, rather than as the armed forces of a sovereign nation. After particularly serious New Zealand losses in the Greek campaign in 1941, Fraser determined to retain a say as to where to deploy New Zealand troops. Fraser insisted to British leaders that Bernard Freyberg, commander of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force, should report to the New Zealand government just as extensively as to the British authorities. When Japan entered the war, Fraser had to choose between recalling New Zealand's forces to the Pacific (as Australia had done) or keeping them in the Middle East (as Winston Churchill requested). Fraser eventually opted for the latter course.

Fraser had a very rocky relationship with U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull, particularly over the Canberra Pact in January 1944. Hull gave Fraser a sharp and rather demeaning dressing-down when Fraser visited Washington D.C. in mid-1944, which resulted in New Zealand's military becoming sidelined to some extent in the conduct of the Pacific War.

After the war ended in 1945, Fraser worked with his newly-created Department of External Affairs, headed by Alister McIntosh, and devoted much of his attention to the formation of the United Nations. He became particularly noteworthy for his strong opposition to vesting powers of veto in permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and often spoke unofficially for smaller states. Many historians consider Fraser's performance "on the world stage" show him at his best.Fact|date=February 2007

Fraser had a particularly close working relationship with McIntosh, who also acted as head of the Prime Minister's department during most of Fraser's premiership. McIntosh privately described his frustration with Fraser's workaholism, and with Fraser's insensitivity towards officials' needs for private lives; but the two men had a genuinely affectionate relationship.

Fraser also took up the role of Minister of Native Affairs (which he renamed Māori Affairs) in 1947. Fraser had had an interest in Māori concerns for some time, and he implemented a number of measures designed to reduce inequality.

Although he relinquished the role of Minister of Education early in his term as Prime Minister, he and Walter Nash continued to have an active role in developing educational policy with C. E. Beeby. In 1946, Fraser moved to the Wellington seat of Brooklyn, which he held until his death.

Fraser's other domestic policies, however, came under criticism. His slow speed in removing war-time rationing and his support for compulsory military training during peacetime particularly damaged him politically. With dwindling support from traditional Labour voters, and a population weary of war-time measures, Fraser's popularity declined. In the 1949 elections the National Party defeated his government.

Leader of the Opposition

Fraser became Leader of the Opposition, but declining health prevented him from playing a significant role. Fraser died in Wellington on 12 December 1950. He is buried in Wellington.

Walter Nash succeeded him as leader of the Labour Party.

External links

* [http://www.primeminister.govt.nz/oldpms/1940fraser.html Prime Minister's Office biography]

References

* Bassett, Michael: "Tomorrow Comes The Song: A Biography of Peter Fraser". Penguin 2004.
* McGibbon, I., ed. "Undiplomatic dialogue". Auckland, 1993