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Aussie Malcolm

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Aussie Malcolm
26th Minister of Health
In office
11 December 1981 – 26 July 1984
Prime MinisterRobert Muldoon
Preceded byGeorge Gair
Succeeded byMichael Bassett
40th Minister of Immigration
In office
12 February 1981 – 26 July 1984
Prime MinisterRobert Muldoon
Preceded byJim Bolger
Succeeded byKerry Burke
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Eden
In office
29 November 1975 – 14 July 1984
Preceded byMike Moore
Succeeded byRichard Northey
Personal details
Born
Anthony George Malcolm

(1940-12-11)11 December 1940
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
DiedSeptember 2024(2024-09-00) (aged 83)
Whangārei, New Zealand
Political partyNational
Spouse
Astrid Silver
(m. 1965; died 2000)
Children4
Alma materVictoria University of Wellington

Anthony George "Aussie" Malcolm (11 December 1940 – September 2024) was a New Zealand National Party politician.

Early life

Malcolm was born in Melbourne, Australia, on 11 December 1940. He was educated in Canada and Australia (Sydney Church of England Grammar School), and then attended Wellington College and Victoria University of Wellington. He was the son of Joseph Anthony Malcolm, a New Zealand government official serving overseas.[1] At school his classmates gave him the nickname "Aussie", which stuck with him the rest of his life.[2]

Malcolm's early career was as a social worker with the Child Welfare Division of the Department of Education in Wellington and Palmerston North but by the mid 1970s he was owner of Malcolm & Hansard Ltd, an accredited advertising agency in Auckland.[1]

Member of Parliament

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1975–1978 38th Eden National
1978–1981 39th Eden National
1981–1984 40th Eden National

Malcolm became the member of parliament for the Eden electorate in 1975, defeating Mike Moore, remaining there until he was in turn defeated in 1984 by Richard Northey.[3]

Cabinet minister

Malcolm was a cabinet minister during the third term of the Muldoon National government, serving at various times as Associate Minister of Transport, Civil Aviation and Railways, Minister of Health, and Minister of Immigration.[4]

Rail

As Associate to Colin McLachlan, Malcolm's focus was on New Zealand Railways. He managed the transition from government department to corporation, upgraded Wellington's commuter services with Hungarian built Ganz-Marvag electric units, electrified commuter services to Paraparaumu and commenced electrification of the main trunk line.[5][6]

Immigration

Malcolm became involved with immigration as Parliamentary Under Secretary to Jim Bolger in 1977 and continued, as Minister, until 1984.[7] Malcolm made use of his ministerial discretion to stop dawn raid deportations when children or other exceptional circumstances were involved. The Prime Minister Robert Muldoon publicly disagreed with Malcom's decision to end legal action against Pacific visa overstayers and Malcolm twice attempted to resign, which Muldoon did not accept. Malcom's attempts to resign caused Muldoon to publicly u-turn on the issue.[8]

His response to the Indo-Chinese refugee crisis was the foundation for New Zealand refugee policies that persist to the present. Seven hundred refugees were taken in from Indo-China by New Zealand.[9] For both approaches, he received criticism from the political right. Later, by issuing visas to the 1981 Springboks, he received criticism from the political left.[10] Malcolm was highly interventionist, making individual case decisions and instituting policies some regarded as "quirky" at the time, such as permitting restaurants to employ ethnic chefs, Chinese market gardeners to employ family members to replace their own children who were moving into the professions, the entry of skilled musicians and artists, and the first "entrepreneur" policy.[11] His legislation re-emerged later as the Labour-sponsored Immigration Act of 1987.[12]

Tobacco

As the Minister of Health during the 1981–84 National government, Malcolm features in a 1985 tobacco industry document, a report written by a Tobacco Institute of America official who had visited New Zealand. The official was accompanied by Donald Hoel, a lawyer in the US law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon, who worked for the tobacco industry. He negotiated a voluntary agreement restricting tobacco advertising while minister and that the agreement remain in place while a petition of 4,270 signatures calling for the abolition of cigarette advertising was being considered by Parliament.[13]

The document described a February 1985 lunch meeting attended by Michael Thompson of the Tobacco Institute of New Zealand, people from the tobacco company Rothmans and the local British American Tobacco branch.[14][full citation needed]

Later life

In 1984 Malcolm was involved in the KZ 7 campaign, joining the project as campaign director. The team finished second in the 1987 Louis Vuitton Cup.[15] Malcolm later established Malcolm Pacific Limited, an immigration consultancy firm, where he was a Director.[2] He briefly considered re-entering politics, contemplating seeking the National Party nomination for the 1992 Tamaki by-election after Muldoon's resignation from parliament. He decided against it and supported Clem Simich, Muldoon's preferred successor.[16]

In 1999 Malcolm and diving friend Jeroen Jongejans formed Dive! Tutukaka, New Zealand's largest dive charter company, operating at the Poor Knights Islands.[2]

Personal life and death

On 27 February 1965, Malcolm married Astrid Margaret Silver, the daughter of Frederick Brailsford Silver and Helga Adela Elisabeth Silver (née Henkel).[17][18][19] Astrid Malcolm was elected to the Auckland City Council for the Mount Eden ward on the Citizens & Ratepayers ticket from 1989 to 1998. She died of a suspected embolism during a diving accident at the Poor Knights Islands in 2000.[20][17] The couple had one son and three daughters.[17]

On 12 September 2024, it was announced that Malcolm had died in Whangārei at the age of 83.[2]

Honours and awards

In 1977, Malcolm was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal, and in 1990 he received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.[21] On 31 August 1984, Malcolm was granted retention of the title "The Honourable", in recognition of his term as a member of the Executive Council.[22]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Traue 1978, p. 188.
  2. ^ a b c d McConnell, Glenn (12 September 2024). "Former minister and America's Cup director, Aussie Malcolm dies". Stuff. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  3. ^ Wilson 1985, pp. 218, 221, 223.
  4. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 96.
  5. ^ "Rail Units Accepted". The Press. Christchurch, NZ. 12 June 1982. p. 11.
  6. ^ "Electrification of Railway to Go Ahead". The Press. Christchurch, NZ. 17 December 1983. p. 1.
  7. ^ Mackay, Scott William (2018). Australia and the Pacific: The Ambivalent Place of Pacific Peoples Within Contemporary Australia (PhD). Melbourne: School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne. p. 93. hdl:11343/219354. OCLC 1315695763.
  8. ^ Gustafson 2000, p. 365.
  9. ^ "N.Z. to Take 700 Asian Refugees". The Press. Christchurch, NZ. 28 April 1982. p. 14.
  10. ^ "Govt Defends Stand on Visas for Springboks". The Press. Christchurch, NZ. 21 March 1981. p. 1.
  11. ^ "Entrepreneurs welcome". The Press. Christchurch, NZ. 20 April 1982. p. 28.
  12. ^ Bassett 2008, pp. 238–9.
  13. ^ "Agreement on tobacco advertising renegotiated". The Press. Christchurch, NZ. 8 September 1984. p. 8.
  14. ^ Wills New Zealand, and Aussie Malcolm. Malcolm was described as "currently serving on a committee of the W.D. & H.O. Wills Co." p. 9.
  15. ^ Royal Perth Club 1986, p. 25.
  16. ^ Gustafson 2000, p. 460.
  17. ^ a b c "Diving surprise ends in tragedy". The New Zealand Herald. 30 June 2000. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  18. ^ "Birth search: registration number 1942/62559". Births, Deaths & Marriages Online. Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  19. ^ "Weddings: Silver–Henkel". The Dominion. Vol. 34, no. 76. 23 December 1940. p. 4. Retrieved 12 September 2024 – via PapersPast.
  20. ^ Bassett, Michael (2013). City of Sails: The History of Auckland City Council, 1989–2010. Upstart Press. p. 369. ISBN 978-1927262009.
  21. ^ Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. p. 239. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
  22. ^ "Retention of the Title 'The Honourable'" (PDF). New Zealand Gazette. No. 157. 6 September 1984. p. 3609. Retrieved 12 September 2024.

References

  • Bassett, Michael (2008). Working with David: Inside the Lange Cabinet. Auckland: Hodder Moa. ISBN 978-1-86971-094-1.
  • Gustafson, Barry (2000). His Way: A Biography of Robert Muldoon. Auckland: Auckland University Press. ISBN 1-86940-236-7.
  • America's Cup '87: The Official Programme: Supporting the New Zealand Challenge. Royal Perth Club with Aurum Press and New Zealand Yachting Magazine. 1986. OCLC 154544662.
  • Traue, James Edward (1978). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1978 (11th ed.). Wellington, NZ: Reed Publishing.
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington, NZ: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Eden
1975–1984
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Health
1981–1984
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Immigration
1981–1984
Succeeded by