‘I’ve Had A Wonderful Life’: 90 Years Of Jim Bolger

Sunday
Morning

Jim
Bolger, who was the prime minister between 1990 and 1997,
turned 90 on Saturday.

He reflected on the last nine
decades of his life on Sunday Morning – after having
celebrated with a “big gathering” of family, friends, and
neighbours.

On his political career, Bolger said the
biggest issue was to get Pākehā to “face up to the reality
that we owed Māori”.

“We took big steps in the
economy, and got the economy going, and all the rest, but
the country and society is more than the economy,” he
said.

“Māori … had been badly, badly treated by the
early settlers, we owed Māori redress and change.

“I
put that higher than managing the books, as it were, with
the help of others, and of course you’re always helped by
others, but the Treaty principles and recognition that the
early European settlers did not treat Māori fairly, I think
was hugely important.”

Bolger said he did not
understand those, such as David Seymour – who had also been
sworn in as deputy prime minister on Saturday – who “want to
diminish the role of Māori in New Zealand”.

“They
were here first, they were here very much before everybody
else, and they have been part of our history from that time
on.”

He said the current prime minister, Christopher
Luxon, needed to tell Seymour “to shut up with his
anti-Māori rhetoric” – and to thank Winston Peters for what
he’s doing in foreign affairs – “because I think he’s doing
that job well”.

“Winston’s a very interesting
political figure, there’s no question about it. He’s
certainly left his mark on politics in New
Zealand.”

Bolger said his Irish ancestry helped him
engage emotionally and attitudinally with Māori.

“I
sort of instinctively knew what it was like to be treated as
second-class citizens, and Māori were treated as
second-class citizens. And some people still want to do
that.”

Bolger grew up in coastal Taranaki, and said he
was not taught “a single word” about the invasion of a
pacifist settlement at Parihaka, but was taught about War of
the Roses in England.

Reflecting on his life outside
of his political career, he could not say what he was most
proud of – “I think it’d be foolish to try and select one
over another.”

He began as a farmer – from helping his
neighbour to milk cows at nine, to leaving Ōpunake High
School at 15 to work on the family dairy farm, and owning
his own near Rahotu at 27. He got married and moved to a
sheep and beef farm in Te Kūiti two years
later.

Bolger then joined the National Party and was
an MP, the leader of the opposition, and then the prime
minister after National won the 1990 general
election.

He later became New Zealand’s Ambassador to
the United States, was elected Chancellor of the University
of Waikato, and has been the chairman of a number of
state-owned enterprises and other
organisations.

Bolger was awarded the Queen Elizabeth
II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977, the New Zealand 1990
Commemoration Medal, the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial
Medal in 1993, and was appointed a Member of the Order of
New Zealand in 1998.

He also has nine children and 18
grandchildren.

“They were all important and very
interesting positions to have, and I enjoyed it,” Bolger
said.

“When you get to 90, and reflecting back over my
variety of positions I’ve had across the world, and the
countries I’ve visited, which are without number, there’s so
many, that it’s just been very fortunate.

“I’ve had a
wonderful life with a wonderful wife and family, and it’s
all been good.”

As for advice he would give to New
Zealanders, Bolger said the main thing would be to listen to
others.

“Don’t try and dictate to them, listen to
them, see what they’re saying, see what their issues are,
see what their concerns are, and then you might be able to
make a sensible suggestion to help their lives.

“And
if you approach it from that direction, you know, how can I
help this person or that person, then I’m sure you’ll be
much more satisfied with your life, and hopefully, they will
be better
off.”

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