Supplied Content
Wellington, February 7, 2020
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced a funeral service for former Labour Prime Minister Mike Moore, who passed away in Auckland on February 2, 2020.
A public service will be held on Friday, February 14, 2020 at 2 pm at Dilworth School Senior Campus, 2 Erin Street, Epsom, Auckland.
“The service will be a celebration of Mike’s life and a chance for his family, friends and members of the public to pay their respects. It will be an opportunity to acknowledge Mike’s major contribution through years of public service to New Zealand and New Zealanders, and for his considerable roles in the international arena,” Ms Ardern said.
The Service is being arranged in coordination with Mr Moore’s widow, Yvonne Moore.
A Condolence Book is available to the public in the main foyer of Parliament House in Wellington.
Health issues
Mr Moore, who was the country’s 34th Prime Minister, suffered a stroke in 2015 when he was New Zealand’s Ambassador in Washington DC and had been in declining health in recent years.
Ms Moore said her husband had numerous health issues since his stroke.
“Mike was born in Whakatane but grew up in Kawakawa and Moerewa in the Far North and wanted to spend his final months in the place that gave him his drive, spirit and courage. Mike wanted to be in Northland one last time so he spent much of summer in Matauri Bay and only came back to Auckland in recent weeks because of his health. Northland made him the battler and fighter for ordinary Kiwis he was throughout his life and career and that was what drove him to become a member of the New Zealand Labour Party at 16-years-old. He was stubborn, optimistic, generous and kind,” she said.
Political career
First elected to the Auckland seat of Eden in 1972, Mr Moore was New Zealand’s youngest Member of Parliament at 23-years-old. He held the seat for one term and was defeated in the Rob Muldoon landslide victory in 1975. Soon after, he had the first of his three bouts of cancer.
In 1978, he was elected to the Christchurch seat of Papanui, defeating National Cabinet Minister Bert Walker. He held that seat, which later became Christchurch North and Waimakariri, until his retirement from Parliament in 1999.
In the fourth Labour Government from 1984 to 1990, Mr Moore held the portfolios of Overseas Trade & Marketing, Tourism, Sport & Recreation, America’s Cup, External Relations & Trade, Deputy Finance, and Foreign Affairs.
He was the 11th Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and, therefore, Prime Minister and later Leader of the Opposition, from September 4, 1990 until December 1, 1993.
Mr Moore was the World Trade Organisation’s third Director General, the highest international role ever held by a New Zealander, from 1999 to 2002 and oversaw China’s entry into the global rules based trading system. He also launched the Doha Development Round in 2002.
He was appointed New Zealand Ambassador to the United States in 2010 and played a significant role in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement and enhancing the relationship between the two countries.
