6. Breakup

The Lange-Douglas relationship frays further as the prime minister unilaterally pulls the pin on a flat tax package signed off by cabinet. A furious Douglas flies back from Europe, but the split only deepens, as Lange declares it’s time for radical reforms to pause and calls for a “cup of tea” and the two Beehive offices go to war, with Douglas loyalists putting the blame on Lange’s lover, Margaret Pope. Something has to give, and soon it does. New and exclusive interviews with Roger Douglas, Stephen Mills, Richard Prebble, Geoffrey Palmer, Hekia Parata, Gary McCormick and Margaret Wilson. Click here for full details of archive material used in this series Juggernaut was made with the support of NZ On Air.

Om Podcasten

Forty years ago a brandy-soaked snap election set in motion a seismic chain of events in New Zealand politics. Across a series of extraordinary scenes, Aotearoa lurches from crisis to crisis, with strongman prime minister Rob Muldoon replaced by a Labour Party led by the charismatic David Lange and a finance minister, Roger Douglas, determined to shift the country from the developed world’s most regulated economy to the most embracing of the free market.  An economic revolution comes alongside a battle with the US over nukes on the global stage, a terrorist attack in Auckland harbour, and sweeping social and cultural shifts. The reverberations are still being felt today – for many, the impacts remain raw.  In a new six-part series, Toby Manhire interviews more than 20 people at the heart of those changes, dives deep into the archives, and presents compelling audio of David Lange that has never been heard publicly, to tell the story of an incredible, whiplash chapter in New Zealand history. Juggernaut was made with the support of NZ On Air.