George Gair: National’s man-of-the-hour?

Press, 4 December 1985, Page 21

George Gair: National’s man-of-the-hour?

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

As the once-proud National Party continues to languish in the public estimation — it was 17 per cent behind Labour in the most recent public opinion poll — the rosy haze of nostalgia begins to illuminate some of its heroes from the past. Of none is this more true than Mr George Gair. Any listing of what is wrong with National today can only throw into sharper relief the loyalty, constancy, intelligence and industry Mr Gair has displayed since first elected to Parliament in 1966. Only two of Natibnal’s 38 Members of Parliament these days held Cabinet rank for National in the halcyon days of the Holyoake Governments of the 19605. One of these is Sir Robert Muldoon. After 10 years as leader, and eight and a half years as Prime Minister, Sir Robert has been replaced as leader, and demoted to bottom ranking for his continued criticisms of his successors and covert disloyalty to them. The other is Mr Gair. For so long he has been a bridesmaid, for so long the holder of key portfolios, for so long seen as an eventual leader, for so long ranked fourth or fifth but always overtaken and passed by those his juniors in experience. Not one word of public criticism has Mr Gair ever uttered. Whatever he has thought, he has kept to himself; whatever provocation he has been offered, and he has been offered a great deal he has soldiered on uncomplaining. Mr Gair’s virtues have never received any tangible reward; but they may yet. Elected to represent an electorate from Auckland’s North Shore in 1966, he soon made his mark in Parliament. When the call went out after National’s narrow squeak back into office in 1969 for new men — for the next wave after the 1960 intake of Mr Robert Muldoon, Mr Duncan Mclntyre, Mr Peter Gordon, Mr David Thomson, Mr Bert Walker and Mr Lance AdamsSchneider — it was found there was only one person since who had the potential to match their capa-

city. That was Mr Gair. He was' appointed Minister of Customs and was busy making a reputation for himself when National suffered its sweeping electoral defeat in 1972. He had the reputation of being “flash,” whatever that meant, but none doubted his ability or that he was a rising star.

His next three years in Opposition confirmed this opinion of him. He was a fine speaker, a sensible thinker, showed a capacity for hard work, and flourished at a time when the Labour Government was making a dog’s breakfast of power. Even more encouraging for his future was his role in Mr Muldoon’s replacement of Mr Jack Marshall as leader. It was Mr Gair’s articulation of the belief that National could not win in 1975 with Mr Marshall that encouraged some waverers to support Mr Muldoon. When the dust settled after National’s sweeping victory in 1975, Mr Gair sat on the Government’s front bench as an Associate Minister of Finance under Mr Muldoon and with the major Energy portfolio.

Already he was being touted as Mr Muldoon’s successor, indeed as his only possible successor, if some years down the track. Mr Gair confronted his next three years before the 1978 general election with confidence and enthusiasm.

But the very factors which made him seem Mr Muldoon’s logical successor were already conspiring to make Mr Muldoon suspicious of him. Mr Muldoon did not relish having an heir apparent. He retained his close friends who had come in with him in 1960, and began grooming for office those who had arrived in Parliament in 1975 as part of the landslide over which he had presided. This growing coolness became more apparant during the abortion debates of 1977. The conservative approach was led by Mr Muldoon’s

close friend Air Commodore Frank Gill while the liberal approach was led by Mr Gair. The divisions opened among political allies by this conscience vote went deep, and between Mr Muldoon and Mr Gair they never healed. For Mr Gair, the rift led on to some awful experiences. The rudeness of Mr Muldoon to him in private, and at Cabinet meetings, become legendary around Parliament Buildings. Mr Gair sought consolation in hard work. From 1978-81 he was both Minister of Health and of Social Welfare. Not only did he handle the terrific administrative burden but also found time to be innovative.

That long-time and sardonic observer of National Governments from the back benches of the Labour Opposition, Dr Gerry Wall (Porirua), once said — before his elevation to Speaker precluded such utterances — that he had seen two great political feats. The first was the performance month after month, and indeed year after year, of Mr AdamsSchneider as Minister of Trade and Industry convincing everyone that a rising Consumers’ Price Index was a good thing and proof that National was governing effectively. The second was the feat of Mr George Gair in making populationbased funding of hospital boards seem a good thing. So high was Mr Gair’s reputation that after National’s narrow 1981 election win he was paid what may be a unique compliment. After years of being run down by its Minister and permanent head, the Ministry of Transport had a new head — Mr Jack Healey. He approached Mr Muldoon after the election and said his Ministry needed a new Minister who was strong and capable — and asked for Mr Gair. Mr Gair was indeed an excellent Minister of Transport. But his position in the Cabinet remained

unchanged. He was overtaken and passed by newer men, notably the Minister of Energy, Mr Birch, and the Minister of Labour, Mr Bolger, who were more congenial to Mr Muldoon. So National stumbled on to electoral disaster in 1984. It was swept from office, and attention was turned to replacing Sir Robert Muldoon, as he had become, as Leader. In nine years the situation had changed. Mr Gair had accomplished a tremendous amount and his reputation was still very high, but the preferential treatment Mr Birch, Mr Bolger, and the Minister of Justice, Mr Jim McLay, had received meant that they had leaped past him in the estimation of most of their caucus colleagues.

When the leadership battle had been fought and the dust had settled, Mr Gair was only fourth in the National hierarchy. He was given Labour as his portfolio in Opposition, and seen as yesterday’s man. Yet, a year later that estimation is now acknowledged within the National caucus as being far too glib. And this view is held even though Mr Gair had been a querulous rather than dynamic Labour spokesman and has made little impression in an area where the Labour Government has had much it could have been pushed to defend. The glibness lay in the lack of appreciation of how heavily National had lost support in the big

cities, and of how well Mr Gair represented big-city attitudes and aspirations. Of the 45 metropolitan electorates, National holds only six, and only one outside Auckland. Mr Philip Burdon holds Fendalton, and the other five are in Auckland. Two are held by Sir Robert Muldoon and Mr Merv Wellington, who have become anathema to main-stream metropolitan voters, and one by Mr McLay whose leadership is now under such pressure. That leaves Mr Doug Graham (Remuera), a first-term Member of Parliament, and Mr Gair. If National wants to reclaim the big cities, and is looking for a Leader who can do it, then there is only Mr Gair. If it is a measure of National’s desperation to make an impact in the big cities that it is considering Mr Gair to replace Mr McLay, who is 20 years his junior, then it is equally a measure of the lack of clear thought within the National caucus that this is more apparent to the party members and organisation than it is to National’s Members of Parliament. - Nonetheless, the claims of Mr Gair cannot be ignored, even if most of his Parliamentary colleagues seem determined to do so. He has years of first class achievement behind him; he is a link with the golden days of the Holyoake era and with the best years of the Muldoon era; he has an unimpeachable record as a liberal on social issues; he was loyal to Sir Robert Muldoon but never in recent years a Muldoon man; he is a fine speaker with a rich knowledge on a wide range of issues.

After so many years in the shadow of others, being slighted behind closed doors and passed over in public, of being a bridesmaid but never a bride, Mr Gair’s time might yet come. As the darkness gathers around the leadership of Mr McLay, and the National Party itself the record and qualities of Mr Gair stand out more and more.