United Government of New Zealand

The United Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 1928 to 1931, defeating the long-lived Reform Government. The United Party had been formed in 1927 from the remnants of the Liberal Party under Sir Joseph Ward, who had made a political comeback. They did not manage an outright win, but formed a government with Labour Party support. However, Ward was in poor health and was eventually succeeded by George Forbes. The new cabinet was notable for its inexperience, with four ministers not having sat in the House of Representatives previously.^[1]

Significant policies

Economic

During the election campaign, Ward startled both his supporters and his audience by promising to borrow £70 million in a year to revive the economy; while this is believed to have been a mistake caused by Ward's failing eyesight, or was intended to be £70 million over eight to ten years, borrowed at £6 to £8 million per year (possibly a sympathetic amendment by the newspaper),^[2]^{: 100–101} it was popular with the electorate. Labour lost two urban seats: Auckland East (John A. Lee) and Grey Lynn (Fred Bartram), and many town workers and unionists must have heard "the musical chink of the seventy million". ... More by accident than design United seems to have manage to recreate to some extent the old Liberal combination of urban worker and rural support. In the circumstances it was ephemeral.^[2]^: 103 Chapman says that it is now clear that Ward inadvertently substituted 'seventy' for 'seven' when reading out the amount he would borrow in the first twelve months, and the correction to seventy millions spread over ten or eight years actually represented a shade less than Reform had already raised. But Reform's tactic of emphasising the larger amount backfired as many voters did not share Reform's financial orthodoxy. Ward amended the loan scheme in his final address in Dunedin to raise the sixty million portion for settlers by issuing bonds over the counter like packets of tea, and said that United would vote with Labour to oust the (Reform) Government. The resulting three-party vote astounded everyone, and was similar to 1919.^[3]

Formation

Defeat

Electoral results

Election	Parliament	Seats	Total votes	Percentage	Gain (loss)	Seats won	Change	Majority
1928	23rd	80	228,438	30.20%		27	+16
1931	24th	80	396,004	55.4%		51	-3	11

Prime ministers

The government was led by Sir Joseph Ward from 1928 to 1930, and then George Forbes from 1930 to 1931. Wilson gives the dates of office-holding as 10 December 1928 to 28 May 1930 for the Ward Ministry, and 28 May 1930 to 22 September 1931 for the Forbes Ministry.

Prime Ministers of the United Government
Joseph Ward
served 1928-1930
George Forbes
served 1930-1931

Cabinet ministers

Party key		United Party
Party key		Independent

Portfolio		Start	End
Prime Minister	Joseph Ward	10 December 1928	28 May 1930
Prime Minister	George Forbes	28 May 1930	22 September 1931
Minister of Agriculture	George Forbes	10 December 1928	28 May 1930
Minister of Agriculture	Alfred Murdoch	28 May 1930	22 September 1931
Attorney-General	Thomas Sidey	10 December 1928	22 September 1931
Minister of Customs	William Taverner	10 December 1928	20 December 1929
	James Donald	20 December 1929	28 May 1930
	George Forbes	28 May 1930	22 September 1931
Minister of Defence	Thomas Wilford	10 December 1928	10 December 1929
Minister of Defence	John Cobbe	10 December 1929	22 September 1931
Minister of Education	Harry Atmore	10 December 1928	22 September 1931
Minister of Finance	Joseph Ward	10 December 1928	28 May 1930
Minister of Finance	George Forbes	28 May 1930	22 September 1931
Minister of Foreign Affairs	Joseph Ward	10 December 1928	28 May 1930
Minister of Foreign Affairs	George Forbes	28 May 1930	22 September 1931
Commissioner of State Forests	William Taverner	10 December 1928	28 May 1930
Commissioner of State Forests	Alfred Ransom	28 May 1930	22 September 1931
Minister of Health	Arthur Stallworthy	10 December 1928	22 September 1931
Minister of Immigration	John Cobbe	10 December 1928	28 May 1930
Minister of Immigration	Sydney George Smith	28 May 1930	22 September 1931
Minister of Industries and Commerce	John Cobbe	10 December 1928	18 December 1929
	James Donald	18 December 1929	28 May 1930
	Philip De La Perrelle	28 May 1930	22 September 1931
Minister of Internal Affairs	Philip De La Perrelle	10 December 1928	22 September 1931
Minister of Island Territories	Joseph Ward	10 December 1928	28 May 1930
Minister of Island Territories	George Forbes	28 May 1930	22 September 1931
Minister of Justice	Thomas Wilford	10 December 1928	18 December 1929
	Thomas Sidey	18 December 1929	28 May 1930
	John Cobbe	28 May 1930	22 September 1931
Minister of Labour	Bill Veitch	10 December 1928	28 May 1930
Minister of Labour	Sydney George Smith	28 May 1930	22 September 1931
Minister of Marine	John Cobbe	10 December 1928	28 May 1930
Minister of Marine	James Donald	28 May 1930	22 September 1931
Minister of Mines	Bill Veitch	10 December 1928	28 May 1930
Minister of Mines	Alfred Murdoch	28 May 1930	22 September 1931
Minister of Native Affairs	Āpirana Ngata	10 December 1928	22 September 1931
Postmaster-General	James Donald	10 December 1928	18 December 1929
	Joseph Ward	18 December 1929	28 May 1930
	James Donald	28 May 1930	22 September 1931
Minister of Railways	William Taverner	10 December 1928	28 May 1930
Minister of Railways	Bill Veitch	28 May 1930	22 September 1931
Minister of Revenue	Joseph Ward	10 December 1928	28 May 1930
Minister of Revenue	George Forbes	28 May 1930	22 September 1931
Minister of Science & Industrial Research	Harry Atmore	10 December 1928	28 May 1930
Minister of Science & Industrial Research	George Forbes	28 May 1930	22 September 1931
Minister of Transport	Bill Veitch	10 December 1928	28 May 1930
Minister of Transport	William Taverner	28 May 1930	22 September 1931
Minister of Works	Alfred Ransom	10 December 1928	28 May 1930
Minister of Works	William Taverner	28 May 1930	22 September 1931

References

^ Undiplomatic Dialogue: Letters between Carl Berendsen and Alister McIntosh 1943–52 edited by Ian McGibbon page 219 note 2 (1993, Auckland University Press) ISBN 1-86940-095-X
^ ^a ^b Brown, Bruce The Rise of New Zealand Labour (1962, Price Milburn, Wellington).
^ Chapman R. M. The Political Scene 1919–1931 (1969, New Zealand History Topic Book by Heinemann), pp. 50–54.

[1] Undiplomatic Dialogue: Letters between Carl Berendsen and Alister McIntosh 1943–52 edited by Ian McGibbon page 219 note 2 (1993, Auckland University Press) ISBN 1-86940-095-X

[Brown-2] Brown, Bruce The Rise of New Zealand Labour (1962, Price Milburn, Wellington).

[3] Chapman R. M. The Political Scene 1919–1931 (1969, New Zealand History Topic Book by Heinemann), pp. 50–54.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Governments of New Zealand
Executives without power	Fitzgerald Forsaith
Responsible government	Sewell Fox (first) Stafford (first) Fox (second) Domett Whitaker–Fox Weld Stafford (second) Fox (third) Stafford (third) Waterhouse Fox (fourth) Vogel (first) Pollen Vogel (second) Continuous Ministry Atkinson (first) Atkinson (second) Grey Hall Whitaker Atkinson (third) Stout–Vogel (first) Atkinson (fourth) Stout–Vogel (second) Atkinson (fifth)
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