Juggernaut: The Story of the Fourth Labour Government
The Spinoff
Forty years ago a brandy-soaked snap election set in motion a seismic chain of events in New Zealand politics. Across a series of extraordinary scenes, Aotearoa...
A special edition of The Fold: The future of The Spinoff
Normally on The Fold, we discuss events in the wider media, but today, the subject is us and the future of The Spinoff. Published on site today is an open letter from Duncan, The Spinoff’s editor Madeleine Chapman, and its CEO Amber Easby. It toplines where The Spinoff is right now as a platform – this paradoxical place where our audience is the strongest it has ever been, outside of events like Covid or elections – but that the stagnant ad market, and a hard drop in public funding for our work, has left us in a really tricky situation needing to make a very real call for help.
First, Duncan speaks to our editor, Madeleine Chapman, and our head of audience, Anna Rawhiti-Connell about what we’re asking for and why we’re asking for it. Duncan is then joined by Spinoff CEO Amber Easby to dig into some numbers that show just how radically our revenue picture has changed and explain why our audience is now our last, best shot at retaining the ability to carry on doing what we do.
Please take the time to read the open letter at https://thespinoff.co.nz/sos.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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51:18
Bonus episode: Ross Vintiner - The Lange I Knew
Ross Vintiner was right by David Lange's side in opposition and in government as his head of press. If you enjoyed the Juggernaut series on the fourth Labour government, you'll enjoy his insights into the singular figure of Lange and the whirl of the ninth floor across those wild years.
Juggernaut was made with the support of NZ On Air.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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1:10:29
6. Breakup
The Lange-Douglas relationship frays further as the prime minister unilaterally pulls the pin on a flat tax package signed off by cabinet. A furious Douglas flies back from Europe, but the split only deepens, as Lange declares it’s time for radical reforms to pause and calls for a “cup of tea” and the two Beehive offices go to war, with Douglas loyalists putting the blame on Lange’s lover, Margaret Pope. Something has to give, and soon it does.
New and exclusive interviews with Roger Douglas, Stephen Mills, Richard Prebble, Geoffrey Palmer, Hekia Parata, Gary McCormick and Margaret Wilson.
Click here for full details of archive material used in this series
Juggernaut was made with the support of NZ On Air.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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51:40
5. Nine Day Wonder
At the urging of the gay community, Fran Wilde takes the homosexual law reform bill to parliament in 1985. The campaign encounters fierce resistance from MPs on both the National and Labour sides of the house. Is it fair for Labour today to claim it as a party triumph? At the same time, strides are being taken in introducing the Treaty of Waitangi into political and legal structures, as part of a blizzard of reforms. In one crucial example, change will come after David Lange misreads his notes.
New and exclusive interviews with Fran Wilde, Bill Logan, Hekia Parata, Roger Douglas, Richard Prebble and Margaret Wilson.
Click here for full details of archive material used in this series
Juggernaut was made with the support of NZ On Air.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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51:00
4. Quantum Leap
Roger Douglas’s radical overhaul of the NZ economy kicks through the gears. A new investor class gets high on champagne and shares. What could go wrong? A bonfire of subsidies leaves farmers on their knees. Corporatisation sends thousands of state workers to the dole queue. Labour is returned to power in 1987 despite a campaign with starkly contrasting messages. For Lange, victory is bittersweet. When the global crash smashes New Zealand, Douglas seizes the opportunity to go harder, and go faster.
New and exclusive interviews with Richard Prebble, Rudi Robinson-Cole, Kevin Geddes, Kim Workman, Bob Harvey, Geoffrey Palmer, Richard Prebble and Margaret Wilson.
Click here for full details of archive material used in this series
Juggernaut was made with the support of NZ On Air.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
About Juggernaut: The Story of the Fourth Labour Government
Forty years ago a brandy-soaked snap election set in motion a seismic chain of events in New Zealand politics. Across a series of extraordinary scenes, Aotearoa lurches from crisis to crisis, with strongman prime minister Rob Muldoon replaced by a Labour Party led by the charismatic David Lange and a finance minister, Roger Douglas, determined to shift the country from the developed world’s most regulated economy to the most embracing of the free market.
An economic revolution comes alongside a battle with the US over nukes on the global stage, a terrorist attack in Auckland harbour, and sweeping social and cultural shifts. The reverberations are still being felt today – for many, the impacts remain raw.
In a new six-part series, Toby Manhire interviews more than 20 people at the heart of those changes, dives deep into the archives, and presents compelling audio of David Lange that has never been heard publicly, to tell the story of an incredible, whiplash chapter in New Zealand history.
Juggernaut was made with the support of NZ On Air.
New Zealand