THE WRAP UP

A farewell to Jim Anderton; meet our great dames; Kiwi MPs share their holiday snaps

He was originally a teacher, then owned a business making supermarket trolleys. But Jim Anderton couldn’t ignore a strong passion for social justice and entered politics to do his bit to help others.

Even after his retirement, Jim, who died last week aged 79, couldn’t help getting involved in good causes, supporting a campaign to have the Christchurch Cathedral restored after it suffered severe earthquake damage.

The former deputy prime minister was remembered as a “powerful advocate for the voiceless and marginalised, and for a better, kinder, fairer New Zealand,” said ex prime minister Helen Clark.

And current PM Jacinda Ardern paid tribute to a man of “strong values” and with a “genuine passion for people”.

“He will be remembered as someone who stood up for his principles. His integrity during difficult times marked him out as a true leader.”

Jim, who was just two weeks short of his 80th birthday, started out in local body politics in Auckland in 1965, eventually becoming a Labour Party MP for the Christchurch electorate of Sydenham in 1984. He fell out with the party over Rogernomics – its radical plan to overhaul the country’s economic system – and resigned after refusing to vote in favour of selling the Bank of New Zealand.

He went on to found New Labour, Alliance and later the Progressive Party, and was deputy prime minister for three years from 1999 when Alliance worked in coalition with Labour. His political legacy included establishing KiwiBank and helping to found the NZ Superannuation Fund.

In September 2017, Jim was presented with a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in Christchurch. Jim, who had long-standing heart problems, was unable to be invested in Wellington due to ill health. Jim is survived by his wife Carole.