Senior Commonwealth Prime Minister

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32322, 13 June 1970, Page 1

Senior Commonwealth Prime Minister

Sir Keith Holyoake is the first New Zealand Prime Minister to accept a knighthood while in office. He is the senior Commonwealth Prime Minister and already the third longestserving New Zealand Prime Minister, coming after R. J. Seddon and W. F. Massey.

Sir Keith Holyoake has been Prime Minister continuously since •December, 1960, and has held the office for nine years, eight months and 23 days.

His predecessor, Sir Sidney • Holland, was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath in 1957 after his retirement. Sir Walter Nash was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George in 1965, when he was a private member of the House.

Sir Keith Holyoake has been a Companion of Honour since 1963 and a Privy Councillor since 1954. The Order of St Michael and St George, instituted in 1818, is headed by the Queen and the Grand Master is the Duke of Kent. The Chancellor of the Order is Lord Norrie, a former Governor-General of New Zealand. The motto of the order is "Auspiciam Melioris Aevi” or “Token of a Better Age.” Family Of Seven

One of a family of seven, Sir Keith Holyoake left school at the age of 12 to work on the family farm in Nelson,’ growing apples and pears, hops and tobacco. A few years later he was managing the farm. He entered Parliament in 1932, winning the Motueka seat in a by-election. At the time he was the youngest member in Parliament He lost the seat in 1938 and did not reappear until his 1943

victory in the Pahiatua electorate, which he still represents.

An active sportsman in his youth Sir Keith Holyoake represented Golden Bay-Motu-eka at Rugby, Motueka at tennis and was also a prominent cyclist. Farming Interest

A farmer himself, he has alway taken,a keen interest in the industry, and was ’Minister of Agriculture from 1949 to 1957 after serving the Farmers’ Union—forerunner of Federated Farmers—as Dominion vice-president for almost 10 years. Sir Keith Holyoake was Prime Minister between September and December, 1957,

and spent the next three years as Leader of the Opposition.

In 1955 he was president of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation conference at Rome. Married in 1935, Sir Keith and Lady Holyoake have two sons and three daughters. The Prime Minister gives his recreations as tennis and gardening.