NZ HERALD: John Key-Part two

3:00PM Saturday July 26, 2008By Carroll du Chateau, Paula Oliver and Eugene Bingham

Key giving his State of the Nation speech this year. Photo / Martin Sykes


Part One of the John Key story
John Key in photos
John Key in his own words
Parliament's $50m MP
'I'm more liberal than I look'
John Key Timeline

For someone whose career had been a series of champagne glass-chinking highs, John Key's first day in Parliament was a shock. Flushed with his victory in Helensville, he was almost jumping out of his skin at the chance to get started on the next part of his life plan. The first day of his journey to be Prime Minister.

And he walked into a blood bath.

The country had been brutal in its judgment of National in 2002, its support on polling day collapsing to 20.9 per cent, the 66-year-old party's worst-ever election result.

Amid the carnage, Key had been the bright spot. Auckland's Westies had reacted well to the new face with its big smile and a man willing to roll up his sleeves and hammer together his own hoardings. As it had earlier in his life, Key's self-confidence and willingness had paid off, and he won the Helensville seat by 1705 votes.

On the Tuesday morning following the election, Key flew to Wellington for his first caucus meeting. "I went in feeling euphoric and left feeling depressed," he recalls.

The departing MPs, some retiring, many defeated, stepped up to receive their farewell gift (a silver tray), said their farewells, and left. The survivors and the few newcomers - Key, Don Brash, Judith Collins, Brian Connell and Sandra Goudie - huddled together.

It was a sober introduction to Parliamentary life for this retired merchant banker. Last week, in part one of this project, we told his background story, the steps he took to reach Parliament. This week we examine Key's rise to the top of the party and explore what he stands for.

Key achieved his goal of getting elected, even as voters mauled his party. His longer term ambition to be Prime Minister is now within reach. But which John Key will emerge? The centrist figure who has embraced so many existing policies that his critics label "Labour-lite"; or the career banker and money-man, who linked fast economic growth with fewer holidays for workers (two weeks' annual leave, in fact), said he could not see any reason to own Air New Zealand, and accused some DPB mothers of "breeding for business".

In a little more than three months, New Zealanders will know if Key occupies the Beehive. The bigger question is will they know what to expect from him? In this, the second part of our far-reaching examination of the 46-year-old, we push past the window dressing to reveal what he believes in and how he operates.

We have read hundreds of Key's speeches, trawled through the Parliamentary records of his questions to ministers, and pored over interview transcripts dating back to the start of his political career. As well, we have interviewed dozens of MPs, including those from other parties in an attempt to glean as full a picture as possible. Those interviews are among about 100 we have now undertaken as part of this project.



Related Political Animal reading

Part One of the John Key story

Next page
View as a single page

c Political Animal 2008

NZ HERALD & POLITICAL ANIMAL COMMENTARY: In search of John Key

According to yesterday's Roy Morgan Poll and a trend in polls going back to the end of last year, John Key looks like he is going to win the Prime Minister-ship of this once great country, New Zealand.

Inspirational where Helen Clark is confrontational, practical instead of academic, Key has the promise of the majority of Kiwis behind him, for a return to a prosperous, inclusive New Zealand, where hard work meant reward and welfare was reserved as a backstop not a lifestyle.

Motivating and leading individuals by example to achieve independence, success, wealth and a good life, an anathema to Helen Clark, her Cabinet and those that vote for her.

As the NZ Herald has reported though, we only know Key from some of the mud slung from the left and the fact that he came from an impoverished, poor background-unlike Helen Clark who was brought up in very comfortable surroundings and had an easy life- and worked his way to the top, principally because of his mother, who instilled in him the seed to get on in life.

Something sadly missing from our record numbers of families on welfare today.

People can see in him already the character of the struggling kiwi that once was and that we all have inside us, but need to let go of the State apron strings first to truly fly.

I'm quite excited by the promise to come for the country and hope he has the determination and will that has made his life such a success, from such humble beginnings, to inspire a whole country to get behind him and succeed individually, and to break the current slide into State dependence.

*The first part of the Herald story starts today and finishes next week with part two.

*Read: "Helen Clark: Absolute Power" by Ian Wishart

3:00PM Thursday June 19, 2008
By Eugene Bingham, Carroll du Chateau and Paula Oliver

A young John Key. Photo / Supplied

John Key Timeline

* In three months John Key will be standing for the country's highest office
* Polls suggest that the 47-year-old will be New Zealand's next Prime Minister
* Yet he remains relatively unknown. Who really is John Key? Where did he come from and what motivates his ambition?

One day around 1971, John Key arrived home from school, flopped down his bag and made an announcement: "I'm going to learn to play golf."

He was about 10, a cheerful but unremarkable pupil at Cobham Intermediate. His family - mother Ruth and older sisters Liz and Sue - lived in a state house on Hollyford Ave in the Christchurch suburb of Burnside. Inside, the turquoise carpet was offset by orange and black sofas, the lounge cleaned and tidied to motel standard. There wasn't room to practise putting, let alone a chip shot, on the bare, sloping front yard.

The family blanched. "He might as well have said he wanted to fly to the moon as far as we were concerned," says Sue. "Mum said, 'Why do you want to do that? That's going to cost money!"'

John, the man of the house since his father died several years before and the light in his Jewish mother's eyes, sat down and explained himself.

"He'd figured out that business guys have golf lunches," says Sue. "He told us 'I have to start working on those skills now so when I need them they're in place'."This is one of hundreds of anecdotes the Weekend Herald gathered from scores of interviews for this project. His sisters spoke candidly about him after they were approached in the course of this inquiry, revealing family stories that even their famous brother wasn't aware of. The golf tale is a telling insight because it shows that Key, even as a child of 10, was driven and had calculated what he would have to do to achieve his goals.

The interesting thing about the Key family is that no-one tried to divert him from his golfing ambition. Ruth, who had worked nights to keep the money coming in, probably half expected it.

She would constantly tell the children, especially John: "You can do better than this; I expect you to work your way up in the world."

Step one in John Key's audacious plan was in place.

More than 35 years later, Key is making a bid to be prime minister. But who is he? Compared with others who have stood to lead the country, Key is a relative unknown. He swooped back into New Zealand six years ago, a multi-millionaire thanks to a lucrative investment bank career, then quickly rose to the top of the National Party. Poll ratings suggest he has a royal chance of seizing control.

For five months, the Weekend Herald has researched Key's background to ascertain the essence of the man. The picture which has emerged is of a person of driving ambition and determination who is prepared to do what it takes to achieve what he is aiming for. In pursuit of his goals, Key will not hesitate to seek out people he thinks are best-placed to help him. He is decisive and appears genuine, but at the same time does not like giving offence - it's this aspect of his character which, as we shall explore in part two next week, provides the ammunition for his political opponents to label him "Slippery John".

Next page

View as a single page

Related Political Animal reading

Pointing Fingers in the playground

Desperation by Labour backfires

What happened to risk?

Helen Clark's words ring hollow

c Political Animal 2008