Derek Quigley
Template:Short description Template:Use New Zealand English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox officeholder Derek Francis Quigley Template:Post-nominals (born 31 January 1932) is a New Zealand former politician. He was a prominent member of the National Party during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and was known for his support of free-market economics and trade liberalisation. Quigley left the National Party after clashing with its leadership, and later co-founded the ACT New Zealand party.
Early life
Quigley was born on 31 January 1932 in Waikari, a small town in the northern Canterbury Region, the son of Francis John Quigley.<ref name="Whos who"/> He attended Waipara Primary school before continuing with education in Christchurch; first at Medbury School, then Christ's College, followed by the University of Canterbury.Template:Sfn He later donated his personal parliamentary library, which covers his political career until 1984, to Canterbury University's Macmillan Brown Library.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Quigley farmed at Waipara from 1949. He gained one of two scholarships for young farmers from the Meat and Wool Board and used it to study farming in Britain and the United States. He completed a law degree while farming and joined a Christchurch law firm, where he became a senior partner and practised as a lawyer.Template:Sfn
In 1956, Quigley married Judith Ann Dickson, and the couple had four children.<ref name="Whos who"/> He later married Susan McAffer.<ref name="Whos who"/>
Member of Parliament
Quigley was National's electorate chairman for the Rangiora electorate. In the Canterbury-Westland division, he was deputy chairman. He was a member of the Dominion Council and served on its executive committee.Template:Sfn
He also stood in the safe Labour seat of Template:NZ electorate link against cabinet minister Mabel Howard in the Template:NZ election link year and Template:NZ election link year elections.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He also sought the National nomination for the safe National seat of Template:NZ electorate link at a 1961 by-election, but was unsuccessful.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As a 30-year-old, Quigley stood as the National Party's candidate in the Template:By-election link in the Template:NZ electorate link electorate, but was beaten by Labour's candidate Sir Basil Arthur.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Quigley stood in the Template:NZ electorate link electorate in the Template:NZ election link.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The electorate had been taken from National by Kerry Burke of the Labour Party at the previous election, but was won back by Quigley.Template:Sfn
Cabinet Minister
Template:NZ parlbox header Template:NZ parlbox Template:NZ parlbox Template:NZ parlbox Template:NZ parlbox break Template:NZ parlbox Template:End After three years as a backbencher, Quigley was appointed to Cabinet, and held a number of ministerial roles. He was Minister of Housing (1978–1982), Minister of Tourism (1981), Minister of Works and Development (1981–1982), and Associate Minister of Finance (1978–1981).Template:Sfn He held further minor ministerial posts as Minister of Earthquake and War Damage (1978–1982),Template:Sfn Minister of Government Life Insurance (1978–1982),Template:Sfn Minister of Public Trust (1978–1981),Template:Sfn and Minister for State Insurance (1978–1982).Template:Sfn
Quigley rapidly earned the hostility of senior National Party figures, however, with his criticism of the government's economic policies. The Prime Minister of the day, Robert Muldoon, favoured decidedly interventionist policies, but Quigley preferred a more laissez-faire approach, and considered Muldoon's interventionism to be contrary to the traditional spirit of the National Party.Template:Sfn In February 1981, Quigley contested the deputy leadership of the party, despite Muldoon openly saying that he could not work with him. Quigley's main opponent (and Muldoon's strong favourite) was Duncan MacIntyre, a long-serving Muldoon loyalist. Bill Birch retired from the contest in favour of MacIntyre, and Jim Bolger was eliminated first. Quigley was narrowly defeated by MacIntyre.Template:Sfn
A week after Quigley lost the deputy leadership race, he was dismissed by Muldoon as Associate Finance Minister, reducing his ability to criticise Muldoon's economic policies effectively; Warren Cooper succeeded him.Template:Sfn This was also related to a preceding event in December 1980 when Quigley spoke of releasing an "alternative economic manifesto" and Muldoon threatened to sack him from the Cabinet. Muldoon eventually relieved Quigley not only of the finance associate portfolio but removed him from the Cabinet expenditure committee as well.<ref name="divisions">Template:Cite news</ref>
Quigley nevertheless continued his attacks. In June the following year, he made a public denunciation of the government's policies, saying that the state should have a passive role in the economy while giving a speech to the Young Nationals in which he raised doubts about the government's Think Big growth strategy, which aimed to overcome crippling foreign exchange losses by using cheap power in the manufacture of steel, aluminium and timber products to export.<ref name="resignation">Template:Cite news</ref> Subsequently, Muldoon told Quigley to attempt to prevent the editor of The Dominion from publishing the full transcript of the speech. Quigley declined, saying such an approach might be misinterpreted. Muldoon also told him that if he went through with his scheduled appearance on the Newsmakers current affairs programme that it would require his subsequent resignation. Yet again Quigley defied Muldoon and went on the show where he made no attempt at retracting his criticisms of government economic policy.<ref name="divisions"/> Muldoon and his allies reacted furiously to this continued public criticism with Muldoon saying that Quigley had "offended, embarrassed and angered his parliamentary colleagues" and that his speech had gone beyond what was acceptable from a cabinet minister.<ref name="resignation"/> Quigley was given the choice of either giving a public apology or resigning from Cabinet; he chose to resign.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
After quitting the cabinet Quigley said he was considering leaving from Parliament altogether. This would have forced a by-election which could bring down the Muldoon Government, which only had a one-seat working majority.<ref name="resignation"/> Ultimately he did not resign his seat, to the relief of the National Party who were nervous at the prospect of defending it at a by-election.<ref name="divisions"/>
At the Template:NZ election link, he resigned from politics altogether, becoming a business consultant.Template:Sfn
ACT New Zealand
After leaving Parliament, his consultancy firm Strategos carried out some major consultancy jobs for the Lange government reviews of multiple government departments including Ministry of Defence, Treasury, Ministry of Justice and Police. When National won power in 1990, curiously, the government consultancy jobs his firm were being offered ceased.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1994, Quigley re-entered the political arena, joining forces with Roger Douglas to form the ACT New Zealand party. The new MMP electoral system, which made it easier for smaller parties to win seats, convinced Quigley that a strongly free-market party could indeed be successful. In the 1996 election, the first conducted under MMP, Quigley was returned to Parliament as an ACT list MP. He unsuccessfully sought to be Speaker of the House,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was instead appointed the chair of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee. Under Quigley's chairmanship, the select committee produced The Defence Beyond 2000 Report, which became the blueprint for the Clark government's radical restructuring of the New Zealand Defence Force.
Quigley did not stand for re-election in 1999 election and was immediately appointed by the incoming Prime Minister, Helen Clark, to review the contract the previous government had signed with the United States for New Zealand to acquire 28 near new F-16 fighter aircraft. Quigley advised the government to renegotiate the contract and acquire a lesser number of aircraft. One of his reasons for this recommendation was that cancellation of the contract would result in the abandonment of the RNZAF's air combat capability. The government disputed this and cancelled the contract. Two years later, it disbanded the RNZAF's air combat capability, just as predicted.
In early 2004 Quigley moved to Canberra to take up a position as a visiting fellow at ANU's Strategic & Defence Studies Centre. He researched and wrote on trans-Tasman and regional security issues and on the ongoing situation between the United States and New Zealand over the latter's anti-nuclear policy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Honours and awards
In 1977, Quigley was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal, and in 1990 he received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.<ref name="Whos who">Template:Cite journal</ref> In the 2004 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Notes
References
Further reading
- Quigley's contribution is a paper entitled: "Should the state play a role as an insurer?"
- Quigley's contribution is a statement of the policy of the ACT Party.
- This report is known better as either the Quigley Report or the Strategos Report.
Template:S-start Template:S-off Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft |- Template:S-par Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft Template:End
- Pages with broken file links
- 1932 births
- Living people
- ACT New Zealand MPs
- Academic staff of the Australian National University
- Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
- Ministers of housing of New Zealand
- New Zealand National Party MPs
- 20th-century New Zealand lawyers
- New Zealand libertarians
- People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch
- University of Canterbury alumni
- New Zealand list MPs
- 20th-century New Zealand farmers
- Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
- New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates
- Unsuccessful candidates in the 1963 New Zealand general election
- Unsuccessful candidates in the 1960 New Zealand general election
- People from Waikari