47 Facts About Jim Anderton

Jim Anderton was born on 21 January 1938 in Auckland to Matthew Byrne and Joyce Savage.

Jim Anderton's father left the family and his mother married Victor Anderton.

Jim Anderton undertook all his education in Auckland, attending Seddon Memorial Technical College and the Auckland Teachers' Training College.

Jim Anderton graduated as a qualified teacher, but spent only two years in a teaching role before moving on to work as a child welfare officer in Wanganui.

Jim Anderton later moved into business, working as an export manager for a textiles company before establishing a manufacturing company, Jim Anderton Holdings, with his brother Brian in 1971 and bought a superette in Parnell.

Jim Anderton joined the Labour Party in 1963 and first attended a Labour party branch meeting in Mangere in 1964.

Jim Anderton had another tilt at the Auckland City mayoralty in 1977, but was again beaten by the incumbent though he did manage to reduce Robinson's majority by nearly 1,500 votes.

Jim Anderton became the party's president in 1979, a year before his term with the Auckland Regional Authority ended.

Jim Anderton was a long-standing member of the party's policy council.

Jim Anderton was more bemused than angered and Gerbic's speech finished with a more booing than applause.

Jim Anderton got involved in the public discourse over the Mount Erebus disaster where an Air New Zealand plane crashed in Antarctica on 28 November 1979.

Jim Anderton was publicly critical of the backlash that Justice Peter Mahon QC, who presided over the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the crash, received after the commission concluded that the primarily cause of the accident was an alteration of the flight path coordinates the night before the disaster while not informing the pilots of the change.

Jim Anderton particularly defended Mahon after a particularly attack on both him and his report by Prime Minister Robert Muldoon.

The meeting got heated with Jim Anderton being confrontational in tone and lasted only 8 minutes.

Jim Anderton was dumped from the shadow cabinet in February 1982 as a result.

At the conference Jim Anderton was challenged by Allan O'Neill, president of the Auckland Carpenters Union, but won easily 1,120 votes to 126.

Some on the left of the party, including Helen Clark, tried to persuade Jim Anderton to remain president of the party, however he declined to stand again at the 1984 conference believing the president should not be an MP.

Jim Anderton was appointed chairperson of Labour's caucus sub-committee on industrial relations.

Jim Anderton soon came into conflict with the party's leadership, and became one of the most outspoken critics of Minister of Finance Roger Douglas.

Jim Anderton released a policy document on 27 July 1988 which was described by Jim Sutton as "looking like a Soviet prescription for a Polish shipyard".

At the 1988 Labour Party conference in Dunedin, Jim Anderton announced his intention to stand for the party presidency .

When Jim Anderton disobeyed party instructions to vote in favour of selling the Bank of New Zealand, he was suspended from caucus.

Fellow MP and then-cabinet minister Michael Bassett commented "while Jim Anderton liked to portray his differences as ideological, we knew from past experience that his real problem was that he wasn't the one in control of the government, and he could see no way of seizing power".

Jim Anderton was the first MP in New Zealand political history to leave an established party, found another and be re-elected to Parliament representing that new party.

In parliament, Jim Anderton attacked the policies of the new National Party government, particularly Ruth Richardson's continuation of Rogernomics.

Jim Anderton became leader of the new party and in the 1993 election, was joined in parliament by Alliance colleague Sandra Lee.

Jim Bolger spoke to him after the 1993 election where Anderton was "courteous and sensible and spoke about co-operating, but made it clear he would never enter into a coalition with a National-led government".

Jim Anderton briefly stepped down as leader of the Alliance in November 1994 following the suicide of his daughter the year before, but returned in May 1995.

Jim Anderton retained his constituency seat, now renamed Wigram, and he was joined in Parliament by 12 list MPs.

Jim Anderton was the most prominent critic of the rash of party-switching that characterised the 45th Parliament, although remained silent about his own past party-switching.

Former prime minister Jim Anderton Bolger resigned from parliament triggering the 1998 Taranaki-King Country by-election.

Jim Anderton was given the newly created post of Minister of Economic Development, which had an emphasis on job creation and regional development initiatives.

Jim Anderton, along with fellow Alliance MP Laila Harre, was an invaluable advocate in the creation and implementation for 12 weeks paid parental leave.

Towards the end of the Alliance's first term in Government, Jim Anderton came into conflict with the Alliance's administrative wing.

Party president Matt McCarten and his allies claimed that the Alliance had become too close to Labour and that it should take a less moderate path; Jim Anderton replied that some moderation was required for the Alliance to accomplish any of its goals.

Jim Anderton gave up the deputy prime minister's post to Minister of Finance and Labour deputy leader Michael Cullen.

Jim Anderton remained Minister of Economic Development, and held other ministerial portfolios.

Jim Anderton ranked third in Cabinet, behind Clark and Cullen.

Jim Anderton became Minister of Agriculture, Minister for Biosecurity, Minister of Fisheries, Minister of Forestry, Minister Responsible for the Public Trust, Associate Minister of Health, and Associate Minister for Tertiary Education.

Jim Anderton retained his seat but the Progressives' share of the party vote remained low, at less than one percent.

Jim Anderton said that a priority for the Progressives would be to support better access to dental care.

Jim Anderton announced in May 2010 that he would contest the Christchurch mayoralty that October.

However, following the 2010 Canterbury earthquake Jim Anderton announced he would stand down as MP for Wigram if elected mayor so he could fully focus on rebuilding the city.

Jim Anderton effectively told me to shut up as he still had more to say.

Jim Anderton was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services as a Member of Parliament.

Jim Anderton died in Christchurch on 7 January 2018, at age 79.

Figures from across the political spectrum praised Jim Anderton following his death, and the leaders of New Zealand's parliamentary parties paid tributes.