{"id":15355,"date":"2025-10-16T06:36:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T17:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=15355"},"modified":"2025-10-16T06:36:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T17:36:19","slug":"former-prime-minister-jim-bolger-dies-aged-90","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=15355","title":{"rendered":"Former Prime Minister Jim Bolger dies aged 90"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jim Bolger, New Zealand’s prime minister for much of the 1990s, has died aged 90.<\/p>\n

In a statement, his family said Bolger died peacefully on Wednesday surrounded by his nine children, 18 grandchildren and wife Joan.<\/p>\n

It said over the period of his illness, Bolger and his family had greatly appreciated the support and companionship of so many friends near and far.<\/p>\n

Joan and family have thanked the renal team and staff at Wellington Regional Hospital and Wellington Free Ambulance for their care over recent months.<\/p>\n

His family said Jim was much loved and would be deeply missed.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister\u00a0Christopher Luxon said<\/a>\u00a0Bolger was a towering figure in New Zealand’s political life – a leader of conviction, a reformer of consequence, and a servant of the people whose legacy has shaped the nation in profound and lasting ways.<\/p>\n

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, Bolger’s coalition partner in New Zealand’s first MMP government, said the former prime minister was a man of his word, and after leaving poltics continued to advance New Zealand’s interests on the international stage.<\/p>\n

Early life<\/h3>\n

Born to Irish immigrants in the Taranaki town of \u014cpunake in 1935, Bolger told RNZ’s\u00a0Sunday Morning\u00a0<\/i>earlier this year<\/a>\u00a0that his Irish ancestry helped him to understand and engage with M\u0101ori.<\/p>\n

“I sort of instinctively knew what it was like to be treated as second-class citizens, and M\u0101ori were treated as second-class citizens. And some people still want to do that,” he told the programme in June – the day after a birthday celebration that included his nine children and 18 grandchildren.<\/p>\n

Bolger was convinced of the benefits of cultural diversity, held strong views against racism and was in favour of redress for Maori. He negotiated the 2008 settlement of the Atihau-Whanganui Incorporation, which gained it $23.5 million in compensation from the government.<\/p>\n

After his education at \u014cpunake High School was finished, 15-year-old James Brendan Bolger went farming, first in Taranaki and then at Te Kuiti. He married Joan Riddell in 1963.<\/p>\n

\"Jim<\/p>\n

Jim Bolger at an OECD meeting in Paris in 1982\u00a0<\/span>Photo:\u00a0Supplied<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

He entered politics via Federated Farmers – he had been vice-president of its Waikato branch – and won the new King Country seat for National in 1972. He built his majority over the years from the initial 1200 to more than 10,000 and held the seat for 25 years.<\/p>\n

Bolger showed himself to be a quick learner and an effective debater in the House and following the 1978 election, he became a minister in the Muldoon government.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n