Michael Cullen (politician)
Sir Michael John Cullen KNZM (born February 5, 1945 in London , † August 20, 2021 in Whakatāne ) was a New Zealand politician . The Labor Party member held both the party's office of vice-chairman and deputy prime minister. From 1999 he was also Minister of Finance , Minister for Tertiary Education, Attorney General and Chairman of the New Zealand Parliament.
Career
Adolescence
Even in his youth immigrated born in London Cullen to New Zealand and visited Christchurch the Christ's College . He later earned a Masters Degree in History from the University of Canterbury . After receiving a scholarship from the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan , he was finally able to earn a doctorate in social and economic history at the University of Edinburgh . From 1971 to 1981 he was a lecturer at the University of Otago , where he completed a year as a visiting professor at the Australian National University from 1975 to 1976 .
In 1974 he joined the Labor Party and was a member of the board of directors there from 1976 to 1981. In 1981 he was elected to the New Zealand Parliament for the St Kilda constituency in Dunedin .
Fourth Labor Government
When the Labor Party formed government in 1984, Cullen was named the leading whip . Because he was well versed in economic matters, he became more and more involved in the dispute over then Finance Minister Roger Douglas , who pursued a rigorous policy of tax cuts and privatization, which contradicted the actual principles of the Social Democratic Labor Party and many party members and the public angry. When then Prime Minister David Lange sought to limit Douglas's influence on New Zealand politics, he found an ally in Cullen. After re-election in 1987, Cullen became an "Associate Treasury Secretary," as well as Minister for Social Welfare; both to limit Douglas' influence.
After both the radical Treasury Secretary Douglas and Cullen's ally, Prime Minister Lange, had to resign within a short period of time, Cullen was appointed "Associate Minister of Health" to counter the liberal financial policies of David Caygill , Douglas' successor.
Time in opposition
When the Labor Party lost the 1990 election, Cullen became the party spokesperson for social affairs. A year later he took over the office of party spokesman for financial policy from David Caygill. When he retired from politics in 1996, Cullen also took over his office as vice chairman of the Labor Party. Before the polls began to improve for the party, he tried in vain to oust Helen Clark from the party leadership. Nevertheless, there doesn't seem to be any resentment between the two of them. He himself and commentators often feel that he is a typical “number two person” with qualities more in the administration than in leadership.
Fifth Labor Government
With the Labor Party electoral victory in 1999, Cullen became Treasury Secretary. After the Labor Party's coalition partner, the Progressive Party , performed surprisingly poorly in the 2002 election, its contribution to the coalition was found to be too small for its chairman, Jim Anderton , to hold the post of Vice Prime Minister again, and that position was handed over to Michael Cullen.
In 2005, Cullen was appointed Attorney General . This move caused some controversy because he was only the second Attorney General to not be a judicial expert and because he had recently criticized the judiciary. His term of office ended in the 2005 elections, where he held this office repeatedly in 2006 after David Parker stepped down.
When he was appointed Secretary of the Treasury, much of the economy was concerned that Cullen would adopt unrealistic attitudes because of his political stance. Slowly, however, those fears faded and it turned out that Cullen was a competent steward. However, he did not abandon his basic political stance, which was evident from the nationalization of the railway that was privatized in the early 1990s. Under his leadership, it was announced in May 2008 that it would buy the railway operations from Toll Rail , an offshoot of the Australian Toll Holdings .
Web links
- Biography on the New Zealand Parliament website
- Michael Cullen . New Zealand Labor, archived from the original on March17, 2005; Retrieved on August 29, 2014(English, original website no longer available).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Labor's Sir Michael Cullen dies at 76 after battle with lung cancer , nzherald.co.nz, August 20, 2021
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cullen, Michael |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cullen, Sir Michael John (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | New Zealand politician |
| BIRTH DATE | February 5, 1945 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 20, 2021 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Whakatāne |