Hugh Watt
Hugh Watt was a New Zealand politician who was a Labour member of Parliament and the acting prime minister of New Zealand between 31 August and 6 September 1974, following the death of Prime Minister Norman Kirk. He had been the fifth deputy prime minister of New Zealand since 8 December 1972. Watt later served as high commissioner to the United Kingdom.
Biography
Early life
Watt was born in Perth, Western Australia, in 1912. His father, William Watt, was a mining engineer, and his family emigrated to New Zealand in 1914, when he was two years old, settling in Auckland. His father lost an arm in Australia and moved back to New Zealand to take up a position as a watchman at the Auckland Harbour Board. Watt attended Remuera Primary School, where his headmaster was Sir Leslie Munro's father.Watt attended Seddon Memorial Technical College, where he studied engineering and also played senior grade rugby for the Tech Old Boys' club. He became an apprentice engineer and joined the Engineers' Union, of which he was a member for 16 years. He enjoyed his union membership but never aspired to hold any office within it. He established his own engineering business in 1947. He was director of the business, Hugh Watt & Coy Ltd, which operated in both engineering operations and sheet metal working. He continued to run the business until 1969, when he accepted a doctor's advice to lessen his workload. Previously, in 1962, he had also reduced his workload by resigning as executive director of the Auckland City Development Association after one year in the role. He was succeeded by Allan Highet.
Watt was married twice: first to Alice Merry Fowke from 1935 to 1965, when they divorced; and then to Irene Frances Ray from 1968. He had two sons and two daughters with his first wife. Watt was Australian-born, like Labour Party founders such as Harry Holland, Michael Joseph Savage, Bob Semple, and Paddy Webb, and later MPs such as Mabel Howard and Jerry Skinner. He was born on the same street where Australian Prime Minister John Curtin, of whom Watt was a great admirer, once lived.
Political career
Member of Parliament
Watt was the chairman of the Labour Representation Committee and a member of the Labour Party's national executive. He stood unsuccessfully for Labour in in and in in. His initial failures were to help his subsequent development as a politician, saying, "I learned early in my political life that you've got to take the kicks with the congratulations". At the 1953 local elections he was elected a member of the Auckland Harbour Board for the Onehunga, Newmarket, and combined districts. He was then successful in winning the parliamentary seat of in a after the death of Arthur Osborne, and held it until 1975.Second Labour Government
Watt was first appointed as a minister in the Second Labour Government led by Walter Nash; he was Minister of Works from 1957 to 1960, and additionally, Minister of Electricity from 1958 until 1960. He resigned from the Auckland Harbour Board in December 1957 after his appointment to the cabinet. As Minister of Works, he quickly became known for both his vitality and his genial style of inspecting infrastructure sites. During the Second Labour Government, he oversaw one of the most constructive and positive periods of public development New Zealand had seen. He started construction on the Benmore Dam and ensured that when it was completed it was £12 million under the original estimates. Watt was also the Chairman of the National Roads Board from 1957 to 1960. He thought his reform of the National Roads Board levy system was his biggest achievement in the government's term and saw a large improvement in urban motorways as a result of diversifying the board members to come from cities as well as rural areas.In January 1960 Watt signed an agreement with Consolidated Zinc to establish an aluminium smelter to be built in Southland to make aluminium out of alumina shipped from Australia. The smelter was to be powered by a huge hydro-electric project at Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau. The decision was not without controversy as Watt received many letters of protest warning against damage to the scenery which would be caused by raising the lake levels. The New Zealand Scenery Preservation Society sent a deputation to meet with Nash and Watt. Watt quoted an assurance made by the company that the engineering works would be constructed so as to enhance the scenic effects, nor would the lake levels be raised so high as to endanger the town of Te Anau. Labour's manifesto at the 1957 election pledged industrialisation and the smelter was seen as following this pledge. Industrialisation was emphasised even more in Labour's manifesto at the which Labour was to lose ending his role as a minister.
Opposition
Soon after the government's defeat, Watt was speculated as Labour's likely candidate for Mayor of Auckland at the 1962 local elections. Labour was putting up a full council ticket for the first time in several election cycles and thought that the Labour ticket should include a mayoral candidate as well to assist in publicity. Watt was already well known as an MP and former minister and thought ideal for the role. However, Watt ruled himself out stating he felt he could make a greater contribution to the city's development by remaining in national politics and that he wished to do so by serving in the cabinet of the next Labour government.When Labour was in opposition, several previous ministers had either died or retired and Watt soon found himself as one of the party's most experienced MPs. He stood for the position of Deputy Leader in 1962 following the death of Jerry Skinner but was defeated by Fred Hackett. Following Hackett's own death in 1963 he stood again and was this time elected, narrowly ahead of Norman Kirk. At 11 years, 4 months and 12 days Watt is Labour's longest-serving deputy leader, first under Arnold Nordmeyer and then under Kirk. He was the Shadow Minister of Works and Electricity while Labour was in opposition. Watt, and the Labour Party as a whole, were opposed to the Vietnam War. Whilst acting Leader of the Opposition he boycotted an official welcome function for South Vietnamese leader Nguyễn Cao Kỳ during his visit to New Zealand in January 1967.
During this period Watt suffered several health scares. In 1962 he had an operation in Auckland Hospital for an undisclosed illness. Later, in 1967 he had his appendix removed and in 1969 he suffered a heart attack. Later that same year he was admitted to hospital yet again with both influenza and inflammation round the heart. He had also been a diabetic since 1955. Due to his precarious health there was much speculation that the Labour caucus might replace him as deputy leader. In February 1971, Arthur Faulkner and potentially Bill Rowling were contemplating standing against him, however neither did allowing Watt to be re-elected once again unopposed.
Third Labour Government
During the Third Labour Government, in the ministry led by Norman Kirk, he was Minister of Labour and Minister of Works and Development. As the only member of the government with prior cabinet experience Watt carried a significant amount of responsibility handling both the strenuous Labour portfolio and had high demands in foreign relations as Deputy Prime Minister. Mike Moore, a backbencher at the time, said Watt had "carried the 1972–75 Labour government."In the highly demanding role of Minister of Labour he offered an "open door policy" to all parties in industrial disputes. However he quickly found that this was causing excessive demands on his time by warring trade unions and employers and he found himself in a position of being "too accessible". From 1973 he was given an Under-Secretary in the Labour portfolio, Eddie Isbey, which eased his workload. Regardless, his tenure as Minister of Labour was seen as successful in keeping disruptive industrial disputes to a minimum.
As Deputy Prime Minister he made a "futile but necessary" trip to Paris in April 1973 to voice New Zealand's opposition to nuclear weapons testing in French Polynesia. He also visited London and met with Prime Minister Edward Heath in an attempt to win British support, even offering to let Heath skipper the protest vessel, but failed to persuade the British government to support New Zealand's stand.
Watt continued to have a high workload and Kirk mooted taking the Works and Development portfolio from him to help, however Watt was reluctant to drop Works and Development as he enjoyed the role. He preferred to give up the Labour portfolio, but Kirk wanted him to remain in it as he was "making his mark" in it. In early 1974 he announced that he would stay on as Minister of Labour "in the national interest" but would be replaced as Minister of Works and Development.
Following Kirk's sudden death on 31 August 1974, the government was left with a leadership vacancy. Watt, who was then serving as Deputy Prime Minister, acted as prime minister for six days before a new leader was elected. Watt was quick to declare his candidacy stating that he would be available for the leadership if asked stating "I have always said if the situation arose when I was called on to do the job I would not hesitate to put my name forward. Of course there is nothing to stop any other members of caucus doing the same." At the same time he also dispelled rumours that if successful he would just be an interim leader saying he would have every intention of leading Labour at the. Although Watt was initially seen as the front-runner, the Minister of Finance and former party president Bill Rowling soon appeared to have more momentum than Watt. The party's National Executive and the Federation of Labour preferred Watt to Rowling and made their support known. Ultimately, on 6 September, Rowling was elected by the caucus to replace Kirk as Labour Party Leader and Prime Minister at the leadership election. After losing the leadership ballot Watt decided to retire as deputy leader. Though disappointed, Watt took the defeat graciously and fought back tears informing reporters he had been defeated, later admitting that losing the leadership vote was "the greatest, most tragic disappointment of my life, it knocked me tremendously". Most of the votes Watt received were from Labour's senior MPs such as Henry May who thought Watt deserved the leadership and that many backbenchers, who did not appreciate the administrative burden he carried, unfairly voted against him. However most in the parliamentary party felt at 61 he was too old and that Labour needed a younger leader.
In the Rowling ministry, Watt regained his cherished Works and Development portfolio and was also designated Minister in charge of Earthquake and War Damage Commission until March 1975, and was subsequently appointed to the Executive Council as a Minister without portfolio. In 1974, he was also appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom alongside former Prime Minister Jack Marshall. Marshall said Watt's appointment was well deserved as "he had served the House for so long and so faithfully". Watt then decided to retire at the next general election in 1975 to be succeeded by Frank Rogers.