Robert Muldoon

Robert David Muldoon was born in Auckland on 25 September 1921 to parents James Henry Muldoon, a government inspector, and Amie Rusha Muldoon (née Browne). His father's family, the Muldoon (Irish: Ó Maoldúin) family, were of Irish descent; his grandfather was an Irish-born Scouser who emigrated from Liverpool. His grandfather was a Methodist evangelist and social worker. At the age of five, 'Rob' Muldoon slipped while playing on the front gate, damaging his cheek and resulting in a distinctive lopsided smile that remained with him for life. When Muldoon was aged eight, his father was admitted to Auckland Mental Hospital at Point Chevalier, Lady Muldoon, who died at age 87 in 2015, was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1993 New Year Honours and made a Companion of the Queen's Service Order in the 1986 New Year Honours. Muldoon was protective of his family life and, in particular, his wife. He said that people could comment about him but his family was off limits. ==Early career==

Muldoon joined the New Zealand Military Forces in November 1940 during the Second World War, and served in the South Pacific with 37th Battalion. He was later sent to Italy and served with the same unit (Divisional Cavalry Regiment) as two other future National Party colleagues, Duncan MacIntyre and Jack Marshall. Muldoon completed his training as an accountant, sitting his final exams to become an accountant while in Italy, from Jack Marshall's tent. Muldoon then worked in a chartered accountancy firm in the United Kingdom for a year. According to Muldoon, Muldoon's 1977 autobiography, he returned to New Zealand after the war as the country's first fully qualified cost accountant, though there are no other sources confirming this. Member of Parliament In March 1947 Muldoon joined the newly founded Mount Albert branch of the Junior Nationals, the youth wing of the conservative New Zealand National Party. He quickly became active in the party, making two sacrificial-lamb bids for Parliament against entrenched but vulnerable Labour incumbents in 1954 (Mount Albert) and 1957 (Waitemata). But in 1960 he won election as MP for the suburban Auckland electorate of Tamaki, winning against Bob Tizard, who had taken the former National seat in 1957. In 1960, an electoral swing brought Keith Holyoake back to power as Prime Minister of the Second National Government. Muldoon would represent the Tamaki constituency for the next 32 years. Muldoon, along with Duncan MacIntyre and Peter Gordon who entered parliament in the same year, became known as the "Young Turks" (a common nickname for a group of young rebels) because of their criticism of the party's senior leadership. Marshall fought the 1972 election on a slogan of "Man For Man, The Strongest Team" – an allusion to Marshall's own low-key style, particularly compared to his deputy. Muldoon commented on Labour's election promises with "They can't promise anything because I've spent it all". Labour, led by the charismatic Norman Kirk, was swept into office, ending 12 years in power for National. ==Leader of the Opposition==

Many members of the party caucus regarded Marshall as not up to the task of taking on the formidable new prime minister Norman Kirk. In July 1974, less than a year before a statutory general election, the caucus voted to hold a new leadership election. Marshall resigned after longtime colleague George Gair told him he stood no chance in a leadership vote, and Muldoon was elected unopposed as Leader of the Opposition on 9 July 1974. A day later, Muldoon's first autobiography, The Rise and Fall of a Young Turk, was published. (centre left) with National members celebrating on election night, 29 November 1975 Muldoon relished the opportunity to match up against Kirk – but had it for only a short time, until Kirk's sudden unexpected death on 31 August 1974. Kirk was replaced as prime minister by Bill Rowling shortly afterwards. In the 1975 election, National ran on a platform of "New Zealand – The Way YOU Want It", a slogan Muldoon came up with himself. He promised a generous national superannuation scheme to replace Kirk and Rowling's employer-contribution superannuation scheme (which the famous "Dancing Cossacks" television advertisement implied would turn New Zealand into a communist state), and promised to fix New Zealand's "shattered economy". Labour responded with a campaign called Citizens for Rowling, described by Muldoon as "not even a thinly disguised" attack on himself. At the election, Muldoon overwhelmed Rowling, reversing the 55-32 Labour majority to a 55–32 National majority. ==Prime Minister (1975–1984)==

First term: 1975–1978 during an official visit to the United States, 1977 Muldoon was sworn in as New Zealand's 31st Prime Minister on 12 December 1975, at the age of 54. A populist, he promised to lead "a Government of the ordinary bloke". His government immediately faced problems with the economy; a recession from June 1976 to March 1978 caused New Zealand's economy to shrink 4.1% and unemployment to rise 125%. Superannuation and Fitzgerald v. Muldoon One of Muldoon's first actions was to issue a press release stating that he would advise the Governor-General to abolish Labour's superannuation scheme without new legislation. Muldoon felt that the dissolution would be immediate, and he would later introduce a bill in parliament to retroactively make the abolition legal. The Bill of Rights 1689 was then invoked in the case of Fitzgerald v Muldoon and Others, The Chief Justice, Sir Richard Wild, declared that Muldoon's actions were illegal as they had violated Article 1 of the Bill of Rights, which provides "that the pretended power of dispensing with laws or the execution of laws by regal authority...is illegal." Ultimately Muldoon, as a member of the executive branch, was acting beyond his prescribed powers, as only parliament has the power to make and unmake laws. Therefore, Muldoon's actions were not only illegal, but unconstitutional, as they violated the rule of law and the sovereignty of parliament. This is encapsulated in Sir Richard Wild's judgment, in which he stated that "The Act of Parliament in force required that those deductions and contributions must be made, yet here was the Prime Minister announcing that they need not be made. I am bound to hold that in so doing he was purporting to suspend the law without consent of Parliament. Parliament had made the law. Therefore the law could be amended or suspended only by Parliament or with the authority of Parliament." Economics correspondent Brian Gaynor has claimed that Muldoon's policy of reversing Labour's saving scheme cost him a chance to transform the New Zealand economy. The National superannuation scheme was one of Muldoon's 1975 election promises: it was described as a "generous" policy, and was effective in realigning Muldoon's support from elderly voters. However, the high cost of the scheme had an immense impact on the budget; Margaret McClure determined that the scheme's superannuation was substantially higher than that of similar policies elsewhere in the world. The United States' superannuation for a married couple was effectively 49% of the average wage rate, and 40% in Australia and 38% in Britain; however, New Zealand's was set at 80%. Therefore, by 1981 the spending on this scheme had doubled, and made up 17.3% of the government's budget. This resulted in other social policy programs, particularly education, being deprived of funds during this period. Justice Stephen Kós has also stated that the "increase, without contribution, was utterly unsustainable." , Wellington, September 1976 Economic challenges Muldoon's government inherited a number of economic and social challenges. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, New Zealand's economy had significantly declined due to several international developments: a decline in international wool prices in 1966, Britain joining the European Economic Community in 1973 (which deprived New Zealand of its formerly most important export market), and the 1973 oil crisis. The "Muldoon Years" were to feature Muldoon's obstinate and resourceful attempts to maintain New Zealand's "cradle to the grave" welfare state, dating from 1935, in the face of a changing world. Muldoon had remained National's Finance spokesman when he became party leader, and as a result became his own Minister of Finance when National won power in 1975—thus concentrating enormous power in his hands. He is the last to hold both posts . In his first term (1975–1978) Muldoon focused on reducing expenditure, but struggled with the growing cost of his own superannuation scheme, partly due to the many tax rebates and exemptions he passed for lower income earners. By March 1978 the economy was growing again, Muldoon's government accelerated and increased the Kirk government's police raids against Pacific overstayers. These operations involved special police squads conducting dawn raids on the homes of overstayers throughout New Zealand. Overstayers and their families were usually deported to their countries of origin. The Dawn Raids were widely condemned by various sections of New Zealand society, including the Pacific Islander and Māori communities, church groups, employers and workers' unions, anti-racist groups, and the opposition Labour Party. The raids were also criticised by elements of the New Zealand Police and the ruling National Party for damaging relations with the Pacific Islander community. At the time, Pacific Islanders comprised only one third of the overstayers (who were primarily from the United Kingdom, Australia, and South Africa), but made up 86% of those arrested and prosecuted for overstaying. Homosexual activity between men was illegal in New Zealand at the time. After changing his story several times, Moyle resigned from Parliament. He later said that he had not been obliged to resign, but had done so because "the whole thing just made me sick". It has been suggested that Muldoon saw him as a leadership threat and acted accordingly. In a 1990 interview, Moyle said that the scandal had made him a "sadder and wiser person". The subsequent was won by David Lange, and the attention that this got him helped propel Lange to the leadership of the Labour Party and his landslide victory over Muldoon in the 1984 election. Appointment of Holyoake as Governor-General (third from left) with West German President Walter Scheel (fourth from right), pictured in the conservatory at Government House Wellington in October 1978 As prime minister, Muldoon had the sole right to advise Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, on whom to appoint as governor-general. With the term of Sir Denis Blundell as Governor-General coming to an end in 1977, a new appointee was needed. Muldoon sent a message to the Queen on 15 December 1976 putting forward former prime minister Sir Keith Holyoake as his appointee, which the Queen approved. The announcement was made by the Queen at the end of her tour of New Zealand on 7 March 1977, from the Royal Yacht Britannia in Lyttelton Harbour. This choice was controversial because Holyoake was a sitting Cabinet minister. Both opponents and supporters of Muldoon's government claimed that it was a political appointment; a number of National MPs, including his deputy, disagreed with the precedent of having a politician as governor-general. The Leader of the Opposition, Bill Rowling complained that he had not been consulted on the appointment, and then stated that he would act to remove Holyoake as Governor-General should the Labour Party win the 1978 general election. As a result of the appointment, Holyoake resigned from Parliament, resulting in the Pahiatua by-election of 1977. He was succeeded in his seat by John Falloon. 1978 election A month before the general election Muldoon remained the preferred prime minister, though his support slipped from 60% to 48% while Rowling's rose 8 points to 38%. At the election, held on 25 November, National lost three seats and it dropped 7.9 percentage points in the vote. Although the party had been returned to office with a majority of seats, it had lost the popular vote to a resurgent Labour Party. National Party President George Chapman argued National struggled at the election because of the many boundary changes and issues with the electoral roll, contrary to Muldoon's claims that the media going against National had caused the decline in support. Second term: 1978–1981 's tour of New Zealand in October 1981; Muldoon is seated on the Queen's right Taxation Muldoon initially opposed indirect consumer taxation on the basis that it would penalise poor people and increase inflation due to compensatory wage increases. However, in May 1979 he attempted to increase tax revenue by levying 10% to 20% taxes on a wide range of goods, including petrol, lawnmowers, caravans and boats. The taxes were criticised for being discriminatory, ineffective, and a "quick fix" that precluded necessary fundamental reform of the taxation system (as there were no income tax cuts to reflect the shift to indirect taxation). The boat and caravan levies, in particular, crippled both industries, as potential buyers could not afford the 20% tax on top of the construction costs, resulting in additional unemployment as workers were laid off. Communism and the Soviet Union As with other conservative governments during the Cold War, Muldoon adopted an anti-Soviet stance. As a long-time National Party activist, Muldoon rejected Communism as an "alien" collectivist philosophy. During the television programme Gallery in the later 1960s, he also rebuked left-leaning clergymen who had criticised apartheid in South Africa for failing to oppose Soviet communism. Muldoon was critical of Communist influence in New Zealand's trade union movement. He also viewed the Moscow-aligned Socialist Unity Party (SUP), a break-away faction from the Communist Party of New Zealand, as a Soviet fifth column that was trying to subvert New Zealand and the South Pacific island states. In various speeches and press releases, he would accuse the SUP and other Communist groups of instigating strikes and organising protests against US naval visits and New Zealand's sporting contacts with South Africa. As prime minister, he accepted both the American and Chinese views that the Soviet Union was an aggressive power with hegemonic ambitions in the South Pacific. Muldoon would also join the United States President Jimmy Carter and other Western leaders in condemning the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and boycotting the 1980 Summer Olympics. However, his government did not participate in the US-led trade boycott against the Soviet Union because it would have hurt New Zealand's predominantly agricultural export economy. In 1980, the National government also expelled the Soviet Ambassador, Vsevolod Sofinski, for providing funding to the SUP. Despite his antagonism towards the Soviet Union and domestic Communist movements, Muldoon's government still maintained economic relations with the Soviet Union. Arthur Allan Thomas After David Yallop drew Muldoon's attention to the case of Arthur Allan Thomas, twice convicted for the murders of farming couple Harvey and Jeannette Crewe, Muldoon asked Robert Adams-Smith, a QC, to review the case. Adams-Smith reported 'an injustice may have been done', and Muldoon pushed through a royal pardon for Thomas. A subsequent Royal Commission of Inquiry exonerated Thomas and recommended he be paid $950,000 as compensation for the time he served. , in November 1977. Despite an abrasive personality, the Prime Minister was known for his eccentric behaviour – including an unexplained affection for Mickey Mouse. East Coast Bays by-election Muldoon's appointment of Frank Gill as New Zealand's ambassador to the United States led to a by-election in Gill's seat of East Coast Bays. Muldoon's favoured candidate was Sue Wood, at the time National's vice president and later party President. National selected the economically liberal Don Brash, a future Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and later leader of the National Party, as its candidate. Brash lost the by-election to Social Credit's Gary Knapp, a major upset and a blow for Muldoon's leadership. Muldoon blamed Brash and the party organisation for the defeat, but was strongly rebuked by the party for this stance. The loss of the by-election provided the catalyst for growing opposition within the National Party to Muldoon's leadership. Colonels' Coup Following the loss of the East Coast Bays by-election, Muldoon faced an abortive attempt in October–November 1980 to oust him as leader. Known as the Colonels' Coup after its originators—Jim Bolger, Jim McLay and Derek Quigley—it aimed to replace Muldoon with his more economically liberal deputy, Brian Talboys. Muldoon, who was overseas at the time, saw the plotters off with relative ease, especially since Talboys himself was a reluctant draftee. No other serious challenge to his leadership occurred in his years as prime minister until after the 1984 election. Springbok Tour Professing a belief that politics should not interfere with sport, Muldoon resisted pressure to bar the 1981 tour by the Springboks, the national rugby union squad of apartheid-era South Africa. By allowing "the Tour", Muldoon was accused of breaking the 1977 Gleneagles Agreement (to form a common policy on sporting with South Africa amongst the Commonwealth, signed after the boycott of the Montreal Olympics in 1976). Muldoon noted, however, that the Gleneagles Agreement had been amended and, in an article in The Times, that he had not broken the Gleneagles Agreement because "New Zealand and subsequently other countries made it clear that they could not subscribe to an agreement which required them to abrogate the freedoms of their sportsmen and prohibit sporting contacts". "The Tour", as it has become known, provoked massive public demonstrations and some of the worst social schisms New Zealand has ever seen. Muldoon came down firmly on the pro-Tour side, arguing that sport and politics should be kept separate. He argued that his refusal to ban the Springboks was anti-authoritarian, leaving it up to individual consciences whether to play sports with representatives of apartheid. He also argued that allowing their rugby team to tour did not mean supporting apartheid. Think Big (agricultural centre) in Rotorua, November 1980 The Iranian Revolution had led to the second oil shock of 1979. Economic growth in New Zealand had only just begun to recover from the 1976–78 recession when the oil shock hit. In response, Muldoon introduced his Think Big strategy, in which the government borrowed heavily to invest in large-scale industrial projects, predominantly energy-related. The Clyde dam, which generated electricity to be used to manufacture aluminium for export, was typical of Muldoon's efforts to shelter New Zealand from the troubles of the rest of the world. Despite Muldoon's promise before the 1975 election to erase debt, the already high levels of debt remained. Economic recession and wage and price freeze With Think Big failing to deliver on its promise, Muldoon imposed an incomes policy: a freeze on wages and most prices (items excluded included fresh meat, frozen meat, items sold at auction and "women's fashion clothing other than standard lines"), interest rates and dividends across the country in April 1982. In the British House of Commons, Margaret Thatcher responded by saying that "The New Zealand Government and people have been absolutely magnificent in their support of this country, of the Falkland Islanders and of the rule of liberty and the rule of law. I shall gladly convey that to Mr. Muldoon, who, only yesterday, reminded me 'Don't forget. In New Zealand, we are still a member of the same family. Closer Economic Relations , meeting in 1978 in Sydney. It was an open secret that the two men did not get along, and even hated each other – largely due to Muldoon's rudeness towards Fraser. Nuclear ships policy and the snap election of 1984 Ultimately, the end of Muldoon's government came following a late-night clash with National backbencher Marilyn Waring over highly contentious Opposition-sponsored nuclear-free New Zealand legislation, in which Waring told him she would cross the floor (giving the Opposition a victory). On 14 June 1984, a visibly drunk Muldoon called a snap election for 14 July that same year; historians noted the unfortunate coincidence with Bastille Day. A journalist commented that a one-month election campaign would not give Muldoon much time to which Muldoon replied, audibly slurring his words, "It doesn't give my opponents much time to run up to an election, does it?". Six days before the election, a televised leader's debate was held between Muldoon and David Lange where Muldoon, irritated by Lange's magnanimous closing words to him, sarcastically finished the debate by saying "I love you, Mr Lange". Muldoon was heavily defeated by Lange's resurgent Labour Party, which won 56 seats to National's 37 with massive vote splitting caused by the New Zealand Party in particular. Muldoon's drunkenness when announcing the election date led to it being humorously called the "schnapps election". Relationship with foreign leaders Muldoon had several close relationships with foreign leaders, such as British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, American President Ronald Reagan, Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser. These ranged from being positive to being stricken with deep animosity. Despite both being from conservative parties (the Liberal Party of Australia and the New Zealand National Party), the relationship Muldoon had with Malcolm Fraser was unusually poor; largely due to Muldoon, they never got along. This paralleled the mutual dislike previous left-leaning Prime Ministers Gough Whitlam (Australian Labor Party) and Norman Kirk (New Zealand Labour Party) had for each other. Whitlam and Kirk had both become prime minister in 1972 after a lengthy period of conservative rule, but their governments lasted just 3 years, between 1972 and 1975. Both Fraser and Muldoon became prime minister in 1975, returning right-wing governance to Australasia. With their ideological preferences notwithstanding, the two men did not like each other from very early on, and grew to loathe one another to an undiplomatic degree. This was likely entirely caused, and then exacerbated, by Muldoon's animosity toward Fraser. understood that giving him a hostile welcome would be a poor decision. Arguing that it would not look good and could likely provoke New Zealand, he agreed to move the meeting place to the back entrance. Doing so moved Fraser, other leaders and the media away from the original entrance, where that night, a bomb exploded in a bin that was being emptied, killing two rubbish collectors and a policeman. Malcolm Fraser and others theorised that the bomb was planted out the front to assassinate Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai (although this was never proven) and that if he had walked down to greet Desai as he exited his vehicle at the original entry point, the bomb would likely have been triggered, exploding and killing them both. He later told The Australian in 2009: "I really believe to this day that, in a weird way, Morarji Desai and I probably owe our lives to Robert Muldoon." After nine years, Muldoon's stewardship of the nation and its economy ceased. The newly elected neo-liberal and unexpectedly pro-free market Fourth Labour Government embarked on a series of fundamental free-market reforms known (after Labour's finance minister Roger Douglas) as Rogernomics, and which were then continued from 1990 to 1994 by the succeeding National government's policies known as (after National's finance minister Ruth Richardson) as Ruthanasia, which marked a fundamental break with the more interventionist policies of Muldoon's era. ==Later life==

Muldoon was deposed as National leader shortly after the election by his deputy, Jim McLay. After being defeated in the ballot Muldoon was asked whether he was going to be a thorn in McLay's side, to which he replied "More like a little prick." He refused McLay's offer of a front bench post, instead opting to return to the backbench for the first time in over two decades. However, he continued to openly agitate against McLay, refusing to withdraw into an "elder statesman" role as McLay wanted. The relationship between the two bottomed out when Muldoon criticised the entire party leadership, forcing McLay to demote him to the lowest rank in the National caucus. Muldoon continued to undermine McLay until 1986, when McLay was ousted in turn by his own deputy (and Muldoon's preferred candidate), Jim Bolger, who had served as Minister of Labour for the latter half of Muldoon's term as prime minister. Bolger returned Muldoon to the front bench as spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, pitting him directly against Prime Minister David Lange. Muldoon remained as the MP for Tamaki until shortly before his death. He lived through the Fourth Labour Government's neo-liberal reforms, known as "Rogernomics", and to his dismay – to see his own man, Bolger, take up the same baton after winning the landslide election of 1990 in the form of "Ruthanasia", named after Finance Minister Ruth Richardson. Muldoon was a staunch critic of Richardson's and the Bolger government's policies. Although he remained iconic to particular segments of society, particularly the elderly, Muldoon faded quickly as a force on the political scene. His biographer, Barry Gustafson, who described himself as not a Muldoon supporter, wrote that he still served as an active MP for his Tamaki electorate, dealing immediately with matters from all walks of life. He continued to write in international economic journals, arguing that the unemployment that had arisen as a result of the free market reforms was worse than the gains that were made, a view that came to be popular by the time of the Fifth Labour Government in 1999. Financial troubles, media career, and split from National After his tenure as prime minister, the Muldoons were heavily in debt. Muldoon was furious with New Zealand Party founder Bob Jones for splitting the vote in 1984; Muldoon labelled Jones a spoiler and took him to court. A series of court battles with the millionaire, in which each sued the other for defamation, had left Muldoon with considerable legal fees to pay. As a result of his financial desperation, he capitalised on his abrasive persona by having a short stage career, appearing in a New Zealand production of The Rocky Horror Show. Held at Auckland's His Majesty's Theatre (demolished soon after the production ended), Muldoon played off his novelty and starred as the narrator, starring alongside a young Russell Crowe, then going by the stage name of "Russ Le Roq". He also had minor television appearances on commercials for Panasonic (when it changed its brand name in New Zealand from "National") and in the television series Terry and the Gunrunners (as Arnos Grove) and in The Friday Frights (as the vampiric host 'Count Robula'); he also hosted a talkback radio show entitled Lilies and Other Things, referencing his favourite flower on Radio Pacific. In his later years Muldoon's health declined as he suffered from a number of ailments, and became increasingly opposed to his successor, Jim Bolger. Alienated from National and disenchanted with government's new neoliberal economic policies (dubbed "Ruthanasia" after Minister of Finance Ruth Richardson), Muldoon announced his resignation to the party caucus on 10 November 1991. in a plot that faces Auckland CBD. His wife, Dame Thea Muldoon, died on 24 February 2015, at the age of 87. == Honours ==

On 18 March 1981, Muldoon was bestowed with the mātai, or Samoan chiefly title, of Leasapai. He is the first New Zealand Prime Minister to have been awarded this honour. Muldoon was appointed an Additional Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in the 1977 Queen's Silver Jubilee and Birthday Honours, and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1984 New Year Honours. He was only the second New Zealand prime minister (after Sir Keith Holyoake) to receive a knighthood while still in office; at the time he said, "If anyone thought it was a signal of an early retirement, it is not." ==Public image and legacy==

Muldoon was a polarising figure while in power, and remains one to this day. During his time in power he regularly eschewed formality, even punching political demonstrators. Praised for his populist appeal, he shaped his reputation as a rough, tough, and thoroughly cantankerous politician through his self-determination, even at the risk of his own political longevity. He became the first prime minister to use television as a medium to gain widespread support, and eagerly used it to attack and insult his opponents. and he refused to legalise male homosexual activity and abortion, both crimes at the time. However, after the New Zealand Truth attempted to out his youngest MP Marilyn Waring, the 26-year-old Baby of the House, Muldoon moved swiftly to minimise publicity and protect her. Muldoon famously declared upon becoming prime minister that he hoped to leave New Zealand "no worse off than I found it". Historians such as Gustafson and Brian Easton criticise Muldoon because, according to them, he pursued an ultimately unsustainable line of policy. Former Cabinet Minister Hugh Templeton argued Muldoon's lack of "strategic vision" denied New Zealand a careful, measured economic restructuring that paved the way for Rogernomics. Muldoon enjoyed engaging positively with criminal gangs such as Black Power, and made uncouth public statements that emphasised "blokeiness". Both his physical appearance (with his distinctive facial scar) and personal style led to the nicknames "Scarface" and "Piggy" – both of which he appropriated himself. Muldoon's shunning of intellectualism in favour of intimidating, raging against so-called "elites", and blatant, manipulative populism has led him to be called a forerunner to the likes of Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson and Silvio Berlusconi. In popular culture • Muldoon was frequently lampooned in the TVNZ-produced satire show McPhail & Gadsby during the 1980s. with many Canadian political cartoonists taking up on this error and referring to Mulroney as 'Muldoon'. • In 1995, actor Ian Mune played Sir Robert Muldoon in the made-for-television mini-series Fallout, depicting the end of the Muldoon National Government. • A corner on the Remutaka Hill Road section of State Highway 2 has been named after the former prime minister. Safety work carried out between 2009 and 2012, costing NZ$16.5 million, included realignment to ease the corner. • On 8 January 1977 when he was at Piha Beach for the re-opening of the Piha Surf Life Saving Club club-house after the Project 40 rebuild, he joined the Auckland Rescue Helicopter lifeguards jumping into the surf from the helicopter. He was lifted out of the water and transported back to the beach slung under the helicopter using the rescue strop connected into the cargo hook. • During Robert Muldoons term there were a few songs that charted that referenced him the first in 1975 was "The Ballad of Robbie Muldoon" by Gray Bartlett and Brendan Dugan which reach #4 on the NZ top 50. Another charting single was "Culture" by The Knobz in 1980 it peaked at #5. It was a protest song based on Robert's refusal to remove a 40% tax on locally recorded music. The subsequent year the tax was lifted. In 1981 the song by Blam Blam Blam called "No Depression in NZ" peaked at #11. The song was a jab at the Muldoon government as well as the springbok tour of the time. ==See also==