Norman Kirk - Humanitarian and Visionary
I remember the night of 31 August 1974 very well. Mum and Dad took my sisters and myself to a posh restaurant called La Boheme. After that we watched a very funny film called Paper Moon. We were full of laughter in the car coming home. When I got home and to turned on the radio around 11:30 to hear announcer Alan Gaskell say, "We will have more news on the death of the Prime Minister". Our laughter turned to sadness. Norman Kirk had died.
Norman Kirk, who ordered a New Zealand frigate to sail to waters off Mururoa Atoll to show the French Government that it did not have the right to exclude ships from international waters so that it could test nuclear weapons; Norman Kirk who re-opened the New Zealand Embassy in Moscow; Norman Kirk who established diplomatic relations with China, and Norman Kirk who, at a speech at the United Nations General Assembly, called for an international treaty to ban all testing of nuclear weapons.
Norman Kirk understood the needs of people:
"Basically there are four things that matter to people: they have to hav somewhere to live, they have to hav something to eat, they have to have clothing to wear, and they have to have something to hope for."
His death had a profound effect. Someone told me that he organised a strike so that he and his workmates could attend Norman Kirk's funeral. If you ask people if they remember Norman Kirk, many will say they remember when he died.
Maybe Norman Kirk foresaw the rise of neoliberalism and its consequences. Here is an exceprt from his last public speech at the opening of St Peter's high school in Palmerston North:
"“We live in an age where many of us are intent on sacrificing our individuality and humanity for the superficial benefits of the affluent age. The quality of concern for others, of compassion, tolerance and understanding, are being eroded by a slow, deadly, process.
“The end-product will surely be a desert of arid minds and soul-less men.”
posted by Warwick Taylor @ 7:38 pm
0 comments
