The 4th Labour Government - Two Perspectives

The Fourth Labour government - two perspectives Labour's centenary historians note that the fourth Labour government has been subject to more analysis than any other administration in New Zealand's history. Most accounts emphasise economic policy and the anti-nuclear policy, but there were significant reforms in many other areas. In Labour's centenary year, author and journalist Colin James and former Labour party staff member Mike Smith will offer their perspectives on those turbulent years and their comments on the lessons to be drawn for today. Colin James has written extensively about that period particularly in The Quiet Revolution and New Territory and updated his assessment in a talk to Canterbury Labour in May (http://www.colinjames.co.nz/2016/05/20/when-the-cord-breaks-colin-james-on-the-fourth-labour-government/). Mike Smith was the Trade Union Liaison Officer on the Labour Party staff between 1984 and 1987, and subsequently with the Engineers Union.