Citizens for Rowling

The Citizens for Rowling campaign was a failed campaign to stop Robert Muldoon winning the 1975 New Zealand election. It was named after then Labour Prime Minister Bill Rowling in the lead-up to the 1975 general election. Members of the campaign publicly signed the "Citizens for Rowling" petition warning against a National government led by Robert Muldoon. The campaign was largely organised by David Exel, a former television producer and current affairs interviewer.

Central to the campaign was a booklet, in the form of a petition, which attacked Muldoon's leadership style, which was stated as being "divisive" and "moving towards factional strife". Ads were run in major papers around New Zealand asking people to 'stand up and be counted' as supporting Bill Rowling and the campaign. Many offshoot groups were formed, such as Lawyers for Rowling and Clergy for Rowling. Rowling's eldest son, Carl, also joined the campaign.

Prominent members

Prominent members of the campaign included:

Outcome

Despite gaining a lot of press for Labour, the campaign did not succeed, with Muldoon launching a public denial of the claims and stating "The average chap doesn't want to be told how to vote."[2] Labour went on to lose power after the 1975 general election.

The publication came up again after the controversial appointment by Muldoon to appoint Keith Holyoake as Governor-General in 1977. Rowling said that should Labour win the 1978 general election he would remove Holyoake as Governor-General, and openly stated he would have appointed Sir Edmund Hillary to the post.[3] In turn this was criticised by Muldoon's government, due to Hillary notably backing Labour in the "Citizens for Rowling" campaign in 1975.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Listener, Ask that Philosopher, 1–7 May 2004, Volume 193, Number 3338 Source
  2. ↑ Rowling: The man and the myth by John Henderson, Australia New Zealand Press, 1980
  3. ↑ Henderson, 1980.
  4. ↑ Ross Doughty (1977). The Holyoake years. Feilding.

Bibliography

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