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Today marks the 50th anniversary of the death of former Labour Prime Minister Norm Kirk. Below is an email from Labour Party President Jill Day to mark the occasion.
“Today, Saturday 31 August, marks the 50th anniversary of one of the saddest days in the history of the Labour Party – the death of Prime Minister Norm Kirk. I know that all of our thoughts and love are with the Kirk family, including Norm’s great-niece and current Labour MP Jo Luxton.
Although Noam’s time as Prime Minister was very brief, he left behind a remarkable legacy. His advocacy for a truly independent foreign policy, his path for New Zealand’s relationship with Māori, and his determination to see a more inclusive New Zealand continue to resonate and inspire us today.
To mark this anniversary, I want to share with all Labour members a speech in Parliament by Norm’s friend, Labour MP Kerry Burke, in which he spoke about how it felt to be shocked by Norm’s death in the days that followed. Here is what Kerry said:
It is with great sadness that I pay tribute to the career and work of Norman Kirk. I cannot recall a time, or indeed ever, when I felt such sadness as I did when I heard of his death. In a very real sense, he shaped my life. I had the privilege of representing the area in Parliament where he lived, where he built his home and raised his children, where he first held public office, and where he began to demonstrate the abilities and qualities that fueled his drive and made him irresistibly successful in attaining the most powerful position in the country. For the people of North Canterbury, and especially Kaiapoi, his death comes with a special sadness. He was a man who loved his people and they loved him. His family roots were in Kaiapoi. He often said that when he first ran for Mayor, more than half the people on the list were related to him. Judging from this, he thought he was sure to win, and he did. He inspired the then Council to launch the most ambitious improvement program in Kaiapoi’s history. It can be said that he later did the same for his country. The people of Kaiapoi and North Canterbury feel that they have lost a friend, and rightly so, and on their behalf I extend my deepest condolences to Mrs Ruth Kirk and her family.
As well as representing the area where he lived, I had the privilege of growing up in Lyttelton, the electorate he later represented. He used to give speeches on the street corner of our house. I went to high school with his eldest children, along with my sister and brother. I joined the Labour Party in Lyttelton and, like many young MPs in Parliament, I was drawn to the charisma of Norman Kirk. The wise men of the Lyttelton Labour Party saw their young MP as a future Prime Minister, which he was; and a great Prime Minister, which he was. I speak today on behalf of the thousands of young people in our community who were an inspiration to them, an example of what we all hope to be, and the promise of a better world for mankind and a better country for New Zealanders. His greatest wish was that this example and inspiration would live on. Many lost friends – the poor, the weak, the humble, both at home and abroad – because he was their champion. He was also a champion of what we call working people, ordinary people whose only wish was to be given the opportunity from society to make the best use of their talents, and perhaps with a little help.
Norman Kirk brought to life all his talents – his extraordinary mind, his enormous capacity for work, his pragmatic approach to problem solving, his great social conscience and his ability to move his audience and his country with his captivating oratory. He was a political genius and a truly great man. He had a unique ability to take seemingly contradictory arguments and synthesize them into statements of policy and attitude that satisfied all the protagonists. He was able to bridge the gap between the young and the old. This was amply demonstrated by the large number of young people in all kinds of costumes who came to the building over the past two days to pay their last respects.
The social conditions that shaped Norman Kirk are gone; we will not see his like again. There is a sense of unrealized potential. It is a tragedy that his tenure was so brief; it would have been a greater tragedy if it had not occurred at all. He gave us the best these islands had to offer: the sight of a great and humble man living among his people and dedicating his life to their service. Those of us who witnessed his noble vision, those of us who knew him and loved him and shared his dream, count his death as our greatest loss; but we count it as our greatest joy and privilege that we and the nation could walk for a time with him.
Thank you very much, – Jill Day, Labour President”
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