Ahiahi mārie, welcome to The Spinoff Daily.
Today on The Spinoff, we launch Juggernaut: The Story of the Fourth Labour Government – a podcast in six parts, made with support from NZ On Air.
Why do those Lange-Douglas years cast such a long shadow 40 years on? Host Toby Manhire on the ghosts of 1984:
“You needn’t rummage too deep into the basement to rouse the ghosts of the fourth Labour government. Tap ‘fourth Labour government’ (the usual shorthand for the two-term administration elected in 1984) or ‘Rogernomics’ (the byword for those tumultuous economic reforms) into Hansard, the online record of parliamentary debate, and they come scurrying to the door…
…It’s not just the weight and contestation that keeps the fourth Labour government so alive in memories. There’s also the gobsmacking theatre of it all: a series of scenes scored into the national political memory. So many scenes.”
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