Politicians’ tributes to Anderton
Veteran Taranaki politician Harry Duynhoven has paid tribute to former deputy prime minister Jim Anderton, saying he was a ‘‘man of considerable principle’’.
Duynhoven, former Labour MP for New Plymouth, said: ‘‘I worked with him over several periods, most notably the period of the Clark government.
‘‘I was a junior minister and Jim was a senior minister. He was a very capable guy, very determined about policy and direction. He was a man of considerable principle.
‘‘He obviously has his differences at times with the Labour Party, but in later year Helen Clark and Jim worked very well together.’’
He added: ‘‘Jim was a guy who cared enormously about New Zealanders having a fair deal, having opportunity, having the knowledge that there would be a safety net for people in times of adversity or when they were unwell or unemployed. These were the major principles that drove him.’’
Meanwhile, it was revealed yesterday that dignitaries including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will gather in Christchurch on Thursday to farewell Anderton, who died on Sunday aged 79.
His requiem mass will be at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Addington at 2pm on Thursday.
The church is near where the veteran politician lived. Its hall hosted political meetings during the 27 years Anderton represented the Sydenham and then Wigram electorates.
His successor in the Wigram seat, Megan Woods, said as well as being courageous and principled, Anderton was a passionate advocate for his community and constituents.
‘‘He always thought about some of the highest political decisions through the filter of what they would mean for the people he represented, and his neighbours and the people he saw every day,’’ she said.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern would be at the service, a member of her office said. Woods said several caucus colleagues planned to attend.
‘‘Jim Anderton dedicated so much of his life to public service and achieved that thing that almost all politicians strive for – he left a legacy,’’ Ardern said in a statement posted to Facebook on Sunday.
Anderton was first elected as the Labour MP for Sydenham in 1984. He left the party due to differences over its neoliberal economic policies and reforms, called Rogernomics after thenminister of finance Roger Douglas.
‘‘I didn’t leave the Labour party. The Labour party left me’’, he famously said after he’d had enough of Rogernomics and resigned to form New Labour in 1989.
He went on to lead the Alliance Party until its dissolution in 2002, after which he formed Jim Anderton’s Progressive Coalition, which later became known as Jim Anderton’s Progressive Party.
Woods, a former member of the party, described Anderton as a ‘‘towering figure’’ in New Zealand politics who had ‘‘real courage to stand up for what he believed in even when it wasn’t the easiest thing to do’’.
The service on Thursday would be filmed for a documentary about Anderton’s life, provisionally titled ‘Jim Anderton: A New Zealand Story’.
Producer Sally Griffin, one of Anderton’s former staffers, said the project was borne in part from the realisation Anderton would not be able to finish an autobiography due to his deteriorating health.
‘‘I always knew Jim would make a very good film because he was a multi-faceted character.’’