Michael Cullen (politician)
Sir Michael John Cullen is a former New Zealand politician. He served as Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, also Minister of Finance, Minister of Tertiary Education, and Attorney-General. He was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1996 until November 2008, when he resigned following a defeat in the general election. He resigned from Parliament in April 2009, to become the deputy chairman of New Zealand Post from 1 November 2009 and chairman from 1 November 2010. On 6 March 2020 he announced that he had resigned from the Lakes and Bay of Plenty district health boards respectively. At the same time he also announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 small-cell lung cancer, which had also spread to his liver.
Early life and education
Cullen was born in Enfield in north London on 5 February 1945, the son of Ivy May Cullen and John Joseph Thomas Cullen. His father was a spectacle frame maker and his mother was a secretary. The family emigrated from Tottenham to New Zealand in 1955, where friends gave him the nick-name "Pom", and Cullen attended secondary school at Christ's College in Christchurch. He went on to study history at the University of Canterbury, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1965, and a Master of Arts in 1968. Receiving a Commonwealth Scholarship he then gained a PhD in social and economic history from the University of Edinburgh. He was the first person in his family to attend university. From 1971 to 1981 he was a lecturer at the University of Otago, with a term as a visiting fellow at the Australian National University from 1975 to 1976. One of his students was future MP Michael Laws, of whom he said "A very bright student, but you knew there was something not quite right, even then."Whilst Cullen was researching his thesis on poverty in the late 19th century in London he discovered that the street in which his maternal grandparents grew up was famed for semi-criminal activities. They proceeded to become working class respectables and then his father became a semi-skilled tradesman.
Cullen became a naturalised New Zealand citizen in 1975.
Member of Parliament
Cullen joined the Labour Party in 1974, and served on the party's Executive and Council between 1976 and 1981. In 1981 he was elected MP for the Dunedin electorate of St Kilda.Fourth Labour Government
When Labour entered government in 1984, Cullen became Senior Whip. Due to his knowledge of economics, Cullen became increasingly involved in the disputes surrounding the Minister of Finance, Roger Douglas, who supported the liberalisation of trade and the sale of state assets plus deep tax cuts. These goals, which were against traditional Labour policies, angered both party members and the public. When the Prime Minister, David Lange, attempted to limit the influence Douglas had on the government's direction, Cullen became involved on Lange's side. After Labour's re-election in 1987, Cullen was made Associate Minister of Finance and Minister of Social Welfare.After Cullen had been elevated to Cabinet, his father died after a long and painful illness, his marriage ended and his dog died prompting him to ponder resigning; "I seriously considered quitting from Cabinet, but the least I could do was stay there for Helen and David and make sure we didn't lose social policy to the Rogernomes who were driving so much of the policy." Eventually, Douglas was forced to resign, but a month later the political controversies around the dispute prompted the resignation of Lange himself. Douglas was succeeded as Finance Minister by David Caygill, one of his allies. Cullen was made Associate Minister of Health, in an attempt reduce the effect of reforms on that sector.
In 1989 he married fellow Labour MP Anne Collins.
Opposition
When Labour lost the 1990 election – attributed to public anger at Douglas' reforms, and disarray within the Labour Party – Cullen returned to being Labour's spokesperson on social welfare. The following year, he replaced David Caygill as the party's chief finance spokesperson. Before Labour's position in the polls improved, Cullen was also involved in an attempt to oust Helen Clark as party leader, which was not successful. Soon after, when Caygill decided to retire from politics in 1996, Cullen took the deputy leader's post unopposed as well. Cullen has claimed to be happy with his position as second, saying that in terms of personality, he is "a number two sort of person". Many commentators agree, believing that Cullen's strength lies more in administration than leadership.On 26 August 1999, Cullen was named by the Speaker Doug Kidd for saying that the National Member Max Bradford had lied, and that he was a "stooge" of the Employers Federation.
Fifth Labour Government
Labour's electoral victory in 1999 resulted in Cullen becoming Minister of Finance. After the 2002 election, the electoral support for Labour's junior coalition partner was not sufficient to justify its leader holding the Deputy Prime Minister position, resulting in Michael Cullen replacing Jim Anderton as Deputy Prime Minister.In 2005 Helen Clark appointed Cullen to the post of Attorney-General following the election of Margaret Wilson as Speaker of the House. His appointment became controversial because of his non-legal background and because of his previous criticisms of the judiciary, including of the Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias. His term in the position ended following the 2005 general election. However, with the resignation of David Parker in March 2006, Cullen took over the position again.
He had a reputation as one of the Labour Party's best parliamentary debaters, and is known for his sometimes "acerbic" sense of humour.
Budget 2006
Cullen presented his seventh budget in 2006. Cullen's guiding principle was, he stated, "The fool who spends on the upturn will find himself broke on the downturn".Budget 2007
Labour's eighth budget in 2007 reduced company tax from 33% to 30%and introduced a 15% research and development tax credit. It also made a number of changes to the KiwiSaver scheme.
Budget 2008
The New Zealand economy entered recession in December 2007. Cullen's final budget was delivered in this context in May 2008; it reduced income tax on the first $9,500 earned from 15% to 12.5%, and the company tax rate from 30% to 29%.Resignation
The day after the defeat of Labour in the 2008 general elections and Helen Clark's resignation as party leader, Cullen announced his resignation as deputy leader of the Labour Party. When he resigned from Parliament in 2009 he was replaced as an MP from the party list by Damien O'Connor.Political views
Cullen identifies as a social democrat.In 2004 Cullen declared his support for the monarchy of New Zealand, describing himself as "a sort of token monarchist in the Cabinet these days". However, in 2010 he repudiated that stance, taking the view that New Zealand should move towards a republic once the Queen's reign ends.
Cullen voted in favour of the third reading of the Civil Union Bill 2004, which legalised civil unions in New Zealand.
Post politics
After leaving parliament, Cullen held a number of roles on the New Zealand civil service, including serving on the Tax Working Group and chairing the Earthquake Commission.In March 2020, Cullen stood down from most of his public roles after announcing that he had been diagnosed with stage IV small-cell lung cancer.
Honours and awards
In 1990, Cullen was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. On 16 December 2009, Cullen received an honorary LLD from the University of Otago in recognition of "his contributions as an Otago academic and as a respected and highly influential politician".In the 2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours, Cullen was appointed Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.