Rodney Hide
Encyclopedia
Rodney Hide is a New Zealand
politician who was leader of the political party ACT New Zealand from 2004 to 2011. From 2005 to 2011 he represented the electorate of Epsom
as its Member of Parliament. Rodney Hide was Minister of Local Government, Associate Minister of Commerce and Minister of Regulatory Reform. The latter is a new portfolio mainly aimed at controlling government regulation (Red Tape), which has been one of Rodney Hide's core policies in his election campaign. He stepped down as ACT leader in April 2011 after succumbing to a leadership challenge from Don Brash.
in Canterbury
. His father, Philip Hide, owned a small mixed-farm at Cust and also drove trucks. In 1960, due to sickness, Philip Hide sold the small farm and moved to Rangiora
, continuing to drive trucks until his retirement. Hide gained a degree in zoology
and botany
from the University of Canterbury
. After completing his degree, he travelled overseas, eventually finding himself in Scotland
. He worked for some time on oil rig
s in the North Sea
. Hide eventually returned to New Zealand by way of Romania
, Egypt
, India
, Bangladesh
, and Malaysia. In Malaysia he re-met Jiuan Jiuan, with whom he had shared a house in Christchurch
- the two married in 1983 (in 2007 they separated). After returning to New Zealand, Hide gained a degree in resource management
from Lincoln College, Canterbury. He then took up a teaching position at Lincoln, first in resource management and later in economics. He completed his master's degree in economics
from Montana State University
in record time.
In 1993, Alan Gibbs
, an Auckland
business
man, offered Hide a job as an economist. He accepted, and also began working at a radio station
owned by Gibbs. Later, Hide also met Roger Douglas
, a former Minister of Finance
whose radical economic reforms had made a considerable impression on him.
When Douglas established the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers (which later formed the ACT party), Hide had close involvement as the organisation's first chairman and president.
after the retirement of Richard Prebble
in 2004. He then went on to win the Epsom electorate from sitting National Party
MP Richard Worth
in 2005 with the campaign message "ACT is back".
Hide has a reputation for strong views, for his media profile, and for his confrontational style. Some commentators dubbed him the "leader of the opposition" when he still sat on the back benches. His supporters often describe him as one of the most effective opposition MPs, and praise him for his motivation
and commitment
.
. ACT received enough votes for Hide to enter Parliament, making him one of the party's "founding" MPs. He gradually rose through the party's ranks, reaching second place in the ACT list for the 2002 elections
.
In his maiden speech
, Hide made a specific attack on "perks" enjoyed by MPs, and this "perk-busting" has become a characteristic of his political career ever since. Hide has developed a substantial reputation for finding and exposing "scandals", whether they relate to MPs' perks or to other governmental matters. Hide's critics often claim that his "scandals" rely on sensationalism and exaggeration, and have as their only purpose the gaining of media attention; but his supporters believe that Hide's constant scrutiny "keeps the government honest" and ensures that the administration does not waste taxpayers' money.
Roger Douglas
himself has emerged as one of Hide's more prominent critics, referring to Hide's "stunts" as detracting from ACT's core economic message, shifting focus to populist issues of law and order and to provocative race relations policies. At a party conference, Douglas condemned MPs
"who run any fickle line capable of grabbing short-term votes and attention", a comment allegedly directed at Hide or at his supporters. Hide acknowledges the criticism, but defends himself on the grounds that a focus on pure economic theory will not attract interest: "the problem is that the so-called stunts are particularly well-reported and my work explaining free market ideas disappears without trace." The tension between Douglas
and Hide increased when Hide made a bid for the vice-presidency of ACT in 2000: supporters of Douglas interpreted this action as a challenge to Douglas' organisational authority within the party. Both Douglas and Hide stood down from their roles as President and Vice-President, suggesting an uneasy truce between these two factions. In 2008 the two men worked closely together with Douglas holding third place on the party list following Hide and Heather Roy.
for his position, although such a challenge never emerged. When Prebble eventually announced his retirement, his critics [who?] claimed that this had been brought about by secret campaigning by Hide. However, Prebble himself has denied this claim and it appears more likely that he stood down for personal reasons, as he publicly claimed.
When Prebble announced his retirement, Hide quickly indicated that he would seek the caucus leadership. Prebble, however, appeared unenthusiastic about the prospect of Hide succeeding him, and in a speech praising each of the new leadership contenders, pointedly dwelled on the others. The succession method chosen by Prebble also appeared to disfavour Hide: rather than a simple caucus
vote, which a conventional leadership challenge would have called, a four-way election involved all ACT party members (although the election remained only "indicative"). Many people consider that the party organisation, in which Douglas has considerable influence, dislikes Hide.
Hide campaigned against Stephen Franks
, Ken Shirley
, and Muriel Newman
for the ACT party parliamentary leadership. In the race he claimed that his high public profile and his image of strength would prove crucial to ACT's political survival. Stephen Franks, seen as the primary "anti-Hide" candidate and a social conservative, had the backing of Roger Douglas
. In the end, however, Hide prevailed, and the party introduced Hide as its new leader on 13 June 2004.
. As a consequence of its reduced share of the vote, ACT has received a significant cut in taxpayer-funded Parliamentary resourcing.
The subsequent reduction in ACT's size has seen Rodney Hide shut down his high-profile electorate office in Remuera
and consolidate his electorate office with that of the ACT Party's head office in a less visible spot in Newmarket
.
As a post-election strategy, Rodney Hide has focused on his high-profile attacks on prominent Labour Party
MPs. His campaign against alleged abuse of schoolchildren by Labour Party minister David Benson-Pope
, which was verified by the now grown children involved [reference?], continued to make headlines in late 2005. With Hide holding the Epsom seat all votes for ACT counted and the party saw a substantial increase in votes in 2008 election and increased its representation in parliament from two seats to five. Hide commenced his political year in 2006 by voicing speculation on the leadership cadre of the National Party
, a strategy which gained him headlines but which has raised the ire of National parliamentarians, complicating the once co-operative relationship between ACT and National.
Hide announced in late April 2006 that he would appear in the celebrity
-based Dancing with the Stars
television
series, paired off with a professional dancer and competing against other celebrities, with the funds raised through his performance going to St John's Ambulance
. Hide stated that he appeared on the show as a personal challenge, having never danced before.
Hide danced his way to fourth place on the show, despite harsh criticism from the show's judges.
Hide has also sought to reposition the party. While not moving away from ACT's key tenets of freedom, choice and personal responsibility
, Hide has said that provided the governing Labour Party promise (amongst other things) significant tax-cuts, ACT could provide the centre-left party with support. Many see this as a departure from ACT's position of providing the National Party with staunch support. Others see ACT as a centre-right liberal party (as opposed to National, a conservative party) and, as such, sharing many areas of agreement with Labour (seen as more liberal than National).
This new approach by the ACT Party has emerged, at least publicly, since Rodney Hide and deputy leader (and fellow MP) Heather Roy
returned from a privately funded tour of Europe. During this trip, Hide and Roy met with a number of political parties, including the Irish Progressive Democrats
and the German Free Democrats
, both parties with similar ideologies to ACT but substantially better electoral records.
when its share of the vote rose to a little under four percent, winning five seats in parliament and making it the fourth largest party there. Hide also did well in Epsom, and was re-elected with about 55 percent of the electorate vote, nearly triple the votes of the second place-getter. The National Party
won the most seats overall and formed a minority government
with the support of ACT, the Maori Party
and United Future. Hide became a Minister outside Cabinet, holding portfolios of Minister of Local Government, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Associate Minister of Commerce.
As ACT leader, Hide criticised National's Emissions Trading Scheme in September 2008 and said climate change and global warming were a "hoax". He said that the data and the hypothesis did not hold together, and that the legislation would drive up the cost of basic goods, ruining businesses and farmers.
.
The process has brought criticism of his handling of the matter. Recommendations of the Royal Commission were not fully accepted, selecting instead a local structure of 20-30 community boards, without a separate concept of Maori representation.
Issues of satellite city boundaries, assets, financing & political consolidation have brought criticism from parties including North Shore City mayor Andrew Williams
.
Hide was criticised in November 2009 for taking his girlfriend Louise Crome
on a tax-payer funded private holiday to Hawaii and on a tax-payer funded trip to London, Canada and the United States. He repaid the money for the Hawaii trip.
In November 2009, a special ACT-party caucus meeting was held to discuss the Hide's position as party leader, where he was chosen to be retained.
On 28 April 2011, he resigned as leader of ACT after a successful challenge from former National leader Don Brash. Hide indicated to Brash he would not be standing in the 2011 general election
. When he left parliament he chose not to give a valedictory speech.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
politician who was leader of the political party ACT New Zealand from 2004 to 2011. From 2005 to 2011 he represented the electorate of Epsom
Epsom (New Zealand electorate)
Epsom is a New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Epsom is Rodney Hide MP of the ACT Party. He has held this position since 2005.-Population centres:...
as its Member of Parliament. Rodney Hide was Minister of Local Government, Associate Minister of Commerce and Minister of Regulatory Reform. The latter is a new portfolio mainly aimed at controlling government regulation (Red Tape), which has been one of Rodney Hide's core policies in his election campaign. He stepped down as ACT leader in April 2011 after succumbing to a leadership challenge from Don Brash.
Early life
Hide was born in OxfordOxford, New Zealand
Oxford is a small town of 1,716 people serving the farming community of North Canterbury, New Zealand. It is part of the Waimakariri District. Oxford is a linear town, approximately two kilometres long. For a time Oxford was serviced by the Oxford Branch railway, and had two stations, East Oxford...
in Canterbury
Canterbury, New Zealand
The New Zealand region of Canterbury is mainly composed of the Canterbury Plains and the surrounding mountains. Its main city, Christchurch, hosts the main office of the Christchurch City Council, the Canterbury Regional Council - called Environment Canterbury - and the University of Canterbury.-...
. His father, Philip Hide, owned a small mixed-farm at Cust and also drove trucks. In 1960, due to sickness, Philip Hide sold the small farm and moved to Rangiora
Rangiora, New Zealand
Rangiora is a rural town in the South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest town in north Canterbury and the seat of the Waimakariri District Council.-Geography:...
, continuing to drive trucks until his retirement. Hide gained a degree in zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
and botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
from the University of Canterbury
University of Canterbury
The University of Canterbury , New Zealand's second-oldest university, operates its main campus in the suburb of Ilam in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand...
. After completing his degree, he travelled overseas, eventually finding himself in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. He worked for some time on oil rig
Oil platform
An oil platform, also referred to as an offshore platform or, somewhat incorrectly, oil rig, is a lаrge structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process oil and natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing...
s in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. Hide eventually returned to New Zealand by way of Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, and Malaysia. In Malaysia he re-met Jiuan Jiuan, with whom he had shared a house in Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
- the two married in 1983 (in 2007 they separated). After returning to New Zealand, Hide gained a degree in resource management
Resource management
In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective deployment of an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or information technology...
from Lincoln College, Canterbury. He then took up a teaching position at Lincoln, first in resource management and later in economics. He completed his master's degree in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
from Montana State University
Montana State University - Bozeman
Montana State University – Bozeman is a public university located in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's land-grant university and primary campus in the Montana State University System, which is part of the Montana University System...
in record time.
In 1993, Alan Gibbs
Alan Gibbs
Alan Gibbs is a New Zealand businessman, entrepreneur, and art patron; and one of New Zealand's wealthiest residents. National Business Review magazine estimates his wealth at $450 million.-Career:...
, an Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
man, offered Hide a job as an economist. He accepted, and also began working at a radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
owned by Gibbs. Later, Hide also met Roger Douglas
Roger Douglas
Sir Roger Owen Douglas , is a New Zealand politician who formerly served as a senior New Zealand Labour Party Cabinet minister. He became arguably best-known for his prominent role in the radical economic restructuring undertaken by the Fourth Labour Government during the 1980s...
, a former Minister of Finance
Minister of Finance (New Zealand)
The Minister of Finance is a senior figure within the government of New Zealand. The position is often considered to be the most important Cabinet role after that of the Prime Minister....
whose radical economic reforms had made a considerable impression on him.
When Douglas established the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers (which later formed the ACT party), Hide had close involvement as the organisation's first chairman and president.
Member of Parliament
Hide first entered Parliament in 1996 as a list MP. He won the party parliamentary leadership role in a closely contested primaryPrimary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
after the retirement of Richard Prebble
Richard Prebble
Richard William Prebble CBE, born 7 February 1948, was for many years a member of the New Zealand Parliament. Initially a member of the Labour Party, he joined the newly formed ACT New Zealand party under Roger Douglas in 1996.-Early and personal life:...
in 2004. He then went on to win the Epsom electorate from sitting National Party
New Zealand National Party
The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...
MP Richard Worth
Richard Worth
Richard Westwood Worth, OBE, VRD, KStJ is a former New Zealand politician. He was a member of the National Party parliamentary caucus until he resigned on Friday 12 June 2009.-Background:...
in 2005 with the campaign message "ACT is back".
Hide has a reputation for strong views, for his media profile, and for his confrontational style. Some commentators dubbed him the "leader of the opposition" when he still sat on the back benches. His supporters often describe him as one of the most effective opposition MPs, and praise him for his motivation
Motivation
Motivation is the driving force by which humans achieve their goals. Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic. The term is generally used for humans but it can also be used to describe the causes for animal behavior as well. This article refers to human motivation...
and commitment
Commitment
Commitment may refer to:*Promise, or personal commitment*Contract, a legally binding exchange of promises*Brand commitment*Involuntary commitment, the use of legal means or forms to commit a person to a mental hospital, insane asylum or psychiatric ward...
.
Entry into Parliament
Hide held the seventh place on the ACT party list for the 1996 electionsNew Zealand general election, 1996
The 1996 New Zealand general election was held on 12 October 1996 to determine the composition of the 45th New Zealand Parliament. It was notable for being the first election to be held under the new Mixed Member Proportional electoral system, and produced a parliament considerably more diverse...
. ACT received enough votes for Hide to enter Parliament, making him one of the party's "founding" MPs. He gradually rose through the party's ranks, reaching second place in the ACT list for the 2002 elections
New Zealand general election, 2002
The 2002 New Zealand general election was held on 27 July 2002 to determine the composition of the 47th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the reelection of Helen Clark's Labour Party government, as well as the worst-ever performance by the opposition National Party.Arguably the most controversial...
.
In his maiden speech
Maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country...
, Hide made a specific attack on "perks" enjoyed by MPs, and this "perk-busting" has become a characteristic of his political career ever since. Hide has developed a substantial reputation for finding and exposing "scandals", whether they relate to MPs' perks or to other governmental matters. Hide's critics often claim that his "scandals" rely on sensationalism and exaggeration, and have as their only purpose the gaining of media attention; but his supporters believe that Hide's constant scrutiny "keeps the government honest" and ensures that the administration does not waste taxpayers' money.
Roger Douglas
Roger Douglas
Sir Roger Owen Douglas , is a New Zealand politician who formerly served as a senior New Zealand Labour Party Cabinet minister. He became arguably best-known for his prominent role in the radical economic restructuring undertaken by the Fourth Labour Government during the 1980s...
himself has emerged as one of Hide's more prominent critics, referring to Hide's "stunts" as detracting from ACT's core economic message, shifting focus to populist issues of law and order and to provocative race relations policies. At a party conference, Douglas condemned MPs
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
"who run any fickle line capable of grabbing short-term votes and attention", a comment allegedly directed at Hide or at his supporters. Hide acknowledges the criticism, but defends himself on the grounds that a focus on pure economic theory will not attract interest: "the problem is that the so-called stunts are particularly well-reported and my work explaining free market ideas disappears without trace." The tension between Douglas
Roger Douglas
Sir Roger Owen Douglas , is a New Zealand politician who formerly served as a senior New Zealand Labour Party Cabinet minister. He became arguably best-known for his prominent role in the radical economic restructuring undertaken by the Fourth Labour Government during the 1980s...
and Hide increased when Hide made a bid for the vice-presidency of ACT in 2000: supporters of Douglas interpreted this action as a challenge to Douglas' organisational authority within the party. Both Douglas and Hide stood down from their roles as President and Vice-President, suggesting an uneasy truce between these two factions. In 2008 the two men worked closely together with Douglas holding third place on the party list following Hide and Heather Roy.
ACT Party leadership
Many people had known for some time that Hide saw himself as a potential parliamentary leader of the ACT party, and he himself showed no reluctance in saying so. At several points, rumours circulated that Hide planned to challenge party leader Richard PrebbleRichard Prebble
Richard William Prebble CBE, born 7 February 1948, was for many years a member of the New Zealand Parliament. Initially a member of the Labour Party, he joined the newly formed ACT New Zealand party under Roger Douglas in 1996.-Early and personal life:...
for his position, although such a challenge never emerged. When Prebble eventually announced his retirement, his critics [who?] claimed that this had been brought about by secret campaigning by Hide. However, Prebble himself has denied this claim and it appears more likely that he stood down for personal reasons, as he publicly claimed.
When Prebble announced his retirement, Hide quickly indicated that he would seek the caucus leadership. Prebble, however, appeared unenthusiastic about the prospect of Hide succeeding him, and in a speech praising each of the new leadership contenders, pointedly dwelled on the others. The succession method chosen by Prebble also appeared to disfavour Hide: rather than a simple caucus
Caucus
A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement, especially in the United States and Canada. As the use of the term has been expanded the exact definition has come to vary among political cultures.-Origin of the term:...
vote, which a conventional leadership challenge would have called, a four-way election involved all ACT party members (although the election remained only "indicative"). Many people consider that the party organisation, in which Douglas has considerable influence, dislikes Hide.
Hide campaigned against Stephen Franks
Stephen Franks
Stephen Franks in Wellington, New Zealand is a commercial lawyer. At one time, he was Chairman and Partner of the large firm Chapman Tripp. Franks has been a member of two political parties. He previously served as a List MP for the right wing Act New Zealand...
, Ken Shirley
Ken Shirley
Kenneth Lex Shirley , generally called Ken Shirley, was a New Zealand politician. He was a member of the ACT New Zealand party, although was previously a member and Cabinet minister of the Labour Party.-Member of Parliament:...
, and Muriel Newman
Muriel Newman
Dr. Muriel Newman is a former New Zealand politician. She was the deputy leader of the ACT New Zealand.-Early years:Newman was born in northern England, but arrived in New Zealand at the age of eight. She was raised in Whangarei. She gained a BSc in mathematics from University of Auckland, and...
for the ACT party parliamentary leadership. In the race he claimed that his high public profile and his image of strength would prove crucial to ACT's political survival. Stephen Franks, seen as the primary "anti-Hide" candidate and a social conservative, had the backing of Roger Douglas
Roger Douglas
Sir Roger Owen Douglas , is a New Zealand politician who formerly served as a senior New Zealand Labour Party Cabinet minister. He became arguably best-known for his prominent role in the radical economic restructuring undertaken by the Fourth Labour Government during the 1980s...
. In the end, however, Hide prevailed, and the party introduced Hide as its new leader on 13 June 2004.
Post-2005 general election
Under Hide's leadership, the vote in the September 2005 elections severely reduced ACT's party parliamentary representation. ACT's share of the party vote dropped from over 7% of the total to around 1.5% and its representation in Parliament fell from nine MPs to two. Such dramatic declines were seen in most the smaller parties that year primarily due to the close nature of the race. The party remained in parliament due to Hide winning the Epsom seatEpsom (New Zealand electorate)
Epsom is a New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Epsom is Rodney Hide MP of the ACT Party. He has held this position since 2005.-Population centres:...
. As a consequence of its reduced share of the vote, ACT has received a significant cut in taxpayer-funded Parliamentary resourcing.
The subsequent reduction in ACT's size has seen Rodney Hide shut down his high-profile electorate office in Remuera
Remuera
Remuera is a residential suburban area within Auckland city, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located four kilometres to the southeast of the city centre...
and consolidate his electorate office with that of the ACT Party's head office in a less visible spot in Newmarket
Newmarket, New Zealand
Newmarket is an Auckland suburb to the south-east of the central business district. With its high building density, especially of retail shops, it is considered New Zealand's premier retailing area, and a rival of local competitor Auckland CBD...
.
As a post-election strategy, Rodney Hide has focused on his high-profile attacks on prominent Labour Party
New Zealand Labour Party
The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....
MPs. His campaign against alleged abuse of schoolchildren by Labour Party minister David Benson-Pope
David Benson-Pope
David Henry Benson-Pope is a New Zealand Labour Party politician who sat in the Parliament of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008. He formerly served as a cabinet minister....
, which was verified by the now grown children involved [reference?], continued to make headlines in late 2005. With Hide holding the Epsom seat all votes for ACT counted and the party saw a substantial increase in votes in 2008 election and increased its representation in parliament from two seats to five. Hide commenced his political year in 2006 by voicing speculation on the leadership cadre of the National Party
New Zealand National Party
The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...
, a strategy which gained him headlines but which has raised the ire of National parliamentarians, complicating the once co-operative relationship between ACT and National.
Hide announced in late April 2006 that he would appear in the celebrity
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
-based Dancing with the Stars
Dancing with the Stars (New Zealand TV series)
Dancing with the Stars is a New Zealand television series based on the British series Strictly Come Dancing. The show introduces eight local celebrities paired with professional ballroom danceers who each week compete against each other in a competition to impress a panel of judges and the viewing...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series, paired off with a professional dancer and competing against other celebrities, with the funds raised through his performance going to St John's Ambulance
St. John Ambulance
St John Ambulance, branded as St John in some territories, is a common name used by a number of affiliated organisations in different countries dedicated to the teaching and practice of medical first aid and the provision of ambulance services, all of which derive their origins from the St John...
. Hide stated that he appeared on the show as a personal challenge, having never danced before.
Hide danced his way to fourth place on the show, despite harsh criticism from the show's judges.
Hide has also sought to reposition the party. While not moving away from ACT's key tenets of freedom, choice and personal responsibility
Moral responsibility
Moral responsibility usually refers to the idea that a person has moral obligations in certain situations. Disobeying moral obligations, then, becomes grounds for justified punishment. Deciding what justifies punishment, if anything, is a principle concern of ethics.People who have moral...
, Hide has said that provided the governing Labour Party promise (amongst other things) significant tax-cuts, ACT could provide the centre-left party with support. Many see this as a departure from ACT's position of providing the National Party with staunch support. Others see ACT as a centre-right liberal party (as opposed to National, a conservative party) and, as such, sharing many areas of agreement with Labour (seen as more liberal than National).
This new approach by the ACT Party has emerged, at least publicly, since Rodney Hide and deputy leader (and fellow MP) Heather Roy
Heather Roy
Heather Roy , is a New Zealand politician and has served as an ACT Member of Parliament since 2002. From 2006 until 17 August 2010, Roy was ACT's Deputy Leader...
returned from a privately funded tour of Europe. During this trip, Hide and Roy met with a number of political parties, including the Irish Progressive Democrats
Progressive Democrats
The Progressive Democrats , commonly known as the PDs, was a pro-free market liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland.Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Malley and other politicians who had split from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats took liberal positions on...
and the German Free Democrats
Free Democratic Party (Germany)
The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government...
, both parties with similar ideologies to ACT but substantially better electoral records.
2008 election
ACT's fortunes improved at the 2008 electionNew Zealand general election, 2008
The 2008 New Zealand general election was held on 8 November 2008 to determine the composition of the 49th New Zealand parliament. The conservative National Party, headed by its Parliamentary leader John Key, won a plurality of votes and seats, ending 9 years of government dominated by the social...
when its share of the vote rose to a little under four percent, winning five seats in parliament and making it the fourth largest party there. Hide also did well in Epsom, and was re-elected with about 55 percent of the electorate vote, nearly triple the votes of the second place-getter. The National Party
New Zealand National Party
The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...
won the most seats overall and formed a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
with the support of ACT, the Maori Party
Maori Party
The Māori Party, a political party in New Zealand, was formed on 7 July 2004. The Party is guided by eight constitutional "kaupapa", or Party objectives. Tariana Turia formed the Māori Party after resigning from the Labour Party where she had been a Cabinet Minister in the Fifth Labour-led...
and United Future. Hide became a Minister outside Cabinet, holding portfolios of Minister of Local Government, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Associate Minister of Commerce.
As ACT leader, Hide criticised National's Emissions Trading Scheme in September 2008 and said climate change and global warming were a "hoax". He said that the data and the hypothesis did not hold together, and that the legislation would drive up the cost of basic goods, ruining businesses and farmers.
Post-2008 general election
One of the main focuses of his work in cabinet has been pushing the 'Super City' proposal for unification of the various local authorities of AucklandAuckland Council
The Auckland Council is the council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It began operating on 1 November 2010, combining the functions of the existing regional council and the region's seven previous city and district councils into one "super council" or "super city" governed by a mayor, 20...
.
The process has brought criticism of his handling of the matter. Recommendations of the Royal Commission were not fully accepted, selecting instead a local structure of 20-30 community boards, without a separate concept of Maori representation.
Issues of satellite city boundaries, assets, financing & political consolidation have brought criticism from parties including North Shore City mayor Andrew Williams
Andrew Williams (New Zealand)
Andrew Williams is a New Zealand politician. In 2007 he was elected as Mayor of North Shore City, New Zealand's fourth largest city. Williams served on a community board during 2004-07, and was a councillor in the term before that in 2001-04. North Shore City Council was abolished in October...
.
Hide was criticised in November 2009 for taking his girlfriend Louise Crome
Louise Crome
Louise Crome is a professional squash player from New Zealand.In 2004, Crome finished runner-up in the women's doubles event at the World Doubles Squash Championships, partnering Lara Petera. Crome graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Commerce in Information Systems and a...
on a tax-payer funded private holiday to Hawaii and on a tax-payer funded trip to London, Canada and the United States. He repaid the money for the Hawaii trip.
In November 2009, a special ACT-party caucus meeting was held to discuss the Hide's position as party leader, where he was chosen to be retained.
On 28 April 2011, he resigned as leader of ACT after a successful challenge from former National leader Don Brash. Hide indicated to Brash he would not be standing in the 2011 general election
New Zealand general election, 2011
The 2011 New Zealand general election on Saturday 26 November 2011 determined the membership of the 50th New Zealand Parliament.One hundred and twenty-one MPs were elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives, 70 from single-member electorates, including one overhang seat, and 51 from party...
. When he left parliament he chose not to give a valedictory speech.
Publications
- Hide's contribution is entitled "Taking the brake off business."
- Hide's contribution is entitled "Free trade: route to poverty or growth?"
- Hide's contribution (co-authored with Owen McShane) is entitled " Can privatization succeed in a western democracy? Lessons from New Zealand"
- Hide contributed a foreword for this book. This book originally appeared in 1999 - published by Alister Taylor IRD Press (with the ISBN 0-908-57872-5), and also with a foreword by Hide.
- The foreword for this book was provided by Dave Henderson (see above)
- Hide's contribution is entitled "ACT - survival in Epsom."
- Hide's contribution is entitled "The classical liberal view."
External links
- Rodney Hide MP official site
- Profile at ACT party