The United Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 1928 to 1931, defeating the long-lived Reform Government. The United Party had been formed in 1927 from the remnants of the Liberal Party under Sir Joseph Ward, who had made a political comeback. But Ward was in poor health and was eventually succeeded by George Coates. The new cabinet was notable for its inexperience, with four ministers not having sat in the House of Representatives previously ^[1]

Contents 1 Significant policies 1.1 Economic 1.2 Welfare 1.3 Education 2 Formation 3 Defeat 4 Electoral results 5 Prime Ministers 6 Cabinet Ministers 7 Footnotes 8 References 9 See also

[edit] Significant policies

[edit] Economic

During the election campaign, Ward startled both his supporters and his audience by promising to borrow £70 million in a year to revive the economy; while this is believed to have been a mistake caused by Ward's failing eyesight, or was intended to be £70 million over eight to ten years, borrowed at £6 to £8 million per year (possibly a sympathetic amendment by the newspaper) ^[2], it was popular with the electorate. Labour lost two urban seats: Auckland East (John A. Lee and Grey Lynn (Fred Bartram), and many town workers and unionists must have heard "the musical chink of the seventy million". ... More by accident than design United seems to have manage to recreate to some extent the old Liberal combination of urban worker and rural support. In the circumstances it was epheremal. ^[3]

[edit] Welfare

[edit] Education

[edit] Formation

[edit] Defeat

[edit] Electoral results

Election	Parliament	Seats	Total votes	Percentage	Gain (loss)	Seats won	Change	Majority
1928	23rd	80
1931	24th	80	396,004	55.4%		51	-3	11

[edit] Prime Ministers

The government was led by Sir Joseph Ward from 1928 to 1930, and then George Forbes from 1930 to 1931. Wilson gives the dates of office-holding as 10 December 1928 to 28 May 1930 for the Ward Ministry, and 28 May 1930 to 22 September 1931 for the Forbes Ministry.

[edit] Cabinet Ministers

Ministry	Minister	Term(s)
Attorney-General	Thomas Sidey	1928 - 1931
Minister of Defence	Thomas Mason Wilford	1928 - 1929
	John Cobbe	1929 - 1931
Minister of Education	Harry Atmore	1928 - 1931
Minister of Finance	Joseph Ward	1928 - 1930
	George Forbes	1930 - 1931
Minister of Foreign Affairs	Joseph Ward	1928 - 1930
	George Forbes	1930 - 1931
Minister of Health	Arthur Stallworthy	1928 - 1931
Minister of Justice	Thomas Mason Wilford	1928 - 1929
	Thomas Sidey	1929 - 1930
	John Cobbe	1930 -1931
Minister of Māori Affairs	Apirana Ngata	1928 - 1931
Minister of Railways	William Taverner	1928 - 1930
	Bill Veitch	1930 -1931

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ Undiplomatic Dialogue: Letters between Carl Berendsen and Alister McIntosh 1943-52 edited by Ian McGibbon page 219 note 2 (1993, Auckland University Press) ISBN 1 86940 095 X
2. ^ Brown, Bruce The Rise of New Zealand Labour (1962, Price Milburn, Wellington) page 100-101
3. ^ ibid, page 103

[edit] References

• Wilson J. O. New Zealand Parliamentary Record 1840-1984 (1985, Government Printer, Wellington)
• Chapman R. M. The Political Scene 1919-1931 (1969, New Zealand History Topic Book by Heinemann)

[edit] See also

• Governments of New Zealand
• New Zealand Liberal Party
• Reform Party of New Zealand

v • d • e Governments of New Zealand   First Liberal · Reform · United · Liberal-Reform government · First Labour · First National · Second Labour · Second National · Third Labour · Third National · Fourth Labour · Fourth National · Fifth Labour · Fifth National