Rodney Hide

Rodney Hide (born 16 December 1956) is a New Zealand politician, leader of ACT New Zealand, and board member of the Institute of Liberal Values.

An ACT list MP since it first entered Parliament in 1996 Hide won the ACT leadership in a closely contested primary after the retirement of Richard Prebble in 2004.

Hide is known for his strong views, his media profile, and his confrontational style. Some commentators dubbed him the "leader of the opposition" when he was still a backbencher. He is often described by his supporters as one of the most effective opposition MPs, and is praised for his motivation and commitment. Critics, however, accuse him of putting style before substance, and of being arrogant and excessively ambitious.

Contents

1 Early life 2 Entry to parliament 3 Leadership 4 External links

Early life

Hide was born in northern Canterbury. His family was not particularly well-off, with his father working as a truck driver. Hide gained a degree in zoology and botany from the University of Canterbury. After completing his degree, Hide travelled overseas, eventually finding himself in Scotland. He worked for some time on oil rigs in the North Sea. Hide slowly returned to New Zealand by way of Romania, Egypt, India, Bangladesh, and Malaysia. In Malaysia, he met up with Jiuan Jiuan, who had been his flatmate in Christchurch - the two married in 1983. On returning to New Zealand, Hide returned to university, gaining a degree in resource management from Lincoln College, Canterbury. He then took up a teaching position, first in resource management and later in economics. He gained an economics degree from Montana State University during a one-year sabbatical.

In 1993, Hide was offered a job as an economist by Alan Gibbs, an Auckland businessman. He accepted. He also began working at a radio station owned by Gibbs, working alongside libertarian commentator Lindsay Perigo. Later, Hide also met Roger Douglas, a former Minister of Finance whose radical economic reforms had made a considerable impression on Hide.

When Douglas established the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers (which later formed the ACT New Zealand party), Hide was closely involved as its first chairman and president.

Entry to parliament

Hide was placed in seventh place on the ACT party list for the 1996 elections. ACT received enough votes for Hide to enter Parliament, making him one of the party's "founding" MPs. He has gradually risen through the party's ranks, and was ranked in second place in the 2002 elections.

In his maiden speech, Hide made a specific attack on "perks" enjoyed by MPs, and this "perk-busting" has been a characteristic of his political career ever since. Hide has developed a substantial reputation for finding and exposing "scandals", whether they relate to MPs' perks or to other governmental matters. Hide's critics often claim that his "scandals" are based in sensationalism and exaggeration, and that their only purpose is to gain media attention, but his supporters believe that Hide's constant scrutiny "keeps the government honest" and ensures that taxpayers' money is not wasted.

Perhaps surprisingly, one of Hide's more prominent critics has been Roger Douglas himself. Douglas has often voiced criticism of "stunts" which detract from ACT's core economic message, and appears to dislike Hide's focus on other matters. At a party conference, Douglas condemned MPs "who run any fickle line capable of grabbing short-term votes and attention", a comment believed to have been directed at Hide or his supporters. Hide acknowledges the criticism, but defends himself on the grounds that a focus on pure economic theory will not attract interest: "the problem is that the so-called stunts are particularly well-reported and my work explaining free market ideas disappears without trace."

Leadership

It had been widely known for some time that Hide saw himself as a potential leader of the ACT party, and he was not been reluctant to say so. Critics, both inside and outside the party, resented this open ambition, with many believing that it undermined the party as a whole. At several points, rumours circulated that Hide was planning to challenge party leader Richard Prebble for his position, although a challenge never eventuated. When Prebble eventually announced his retirement his critics claimed that secret campaigning by Hide was responsible. However, Prebble himself has denied this and it appears more likely that Prebble stood down for personal reasons as he publicly claimed.

When Prebble's retirement was announced, Hide quickly indicated that he would seek the leadership. Prebble, however, appeared unenthusiastic about the prospect of Hide succeeding him, and in a speech praising each of the new leadership contenders, pointedly dwelled on the others. The succession method chosen by Prebble was also seen as unfavourable to Hide - rather than a simple caucus vote, which is what would have been used in a conventional leadership challenge, there was a four-way election by all ACT party members (although the election was only "indicative"). The party organisation, in which Roger Douglas has considerable influence, is often considered to dislike Hide.

Hide campaigned against Stephen Franks, Ken Shirley, and Muriel Newman for the ACT party leadership. In the race, he claimed that his high public profile and his image of strength would be crucial to ACT's political survival. Stephen Franks was seen as the primary "anti-Hide" candidate, and had the backing of Roger Douglas and other economic purists. In the end, however, Hide prevailed, and was announced as leader on June 13 2004.

External links

• Personal website (http://rodneyhide.com/)
• Rodney's weblog (http://rodneyhide.com/Diary)
• ACT New Zealand (http://act.org.nz/)
• Institute of Liberal Values (http://www.liberalvalues.org.nz/)