Not as good as Obama: New Zealand political speeches
Posted 22 January 2009 // Helen Rickerby
David Lange - surely not our only great orator?!
This week in the news, even down here at the bottom of the world, it’s all about the inauguration of US President Barack Obama, and exhaustive analyses of his inauguration speech.
Massey University lecturer in speech writing Dr Heather Kavan says it will go down in history as one of the greatest speeches of all time. She is less enthusiastic about New Zealand’s political speeches, saying we have not produced many memorable speeches or orators. I also note that no New Zealanders appear on the UK Telegraph’s ‘Top 25 political speeches of all time‘.
I think New Zealanders are generally on the back foot as speech makers. We have a tendency towards understatement, we don’t like to get too overexcited. Compare the low-key, almost sleepy tone of Michael Joseph Savage’s 1935 victory speech with Obama’s serious but rousing voice in his inauguration speech.
Heather Kavan does make one exception – former prime minister David Lange, who won an Oxford Union debate in 1985 when he argued that nuclear weapons are morally indefensible. You can listen to an extract of that speech on NZHistory.net.
But surely we can do better than just one adequate orator! Leave a comment to tell us about other great speeches or great orators New Zealand has produced. Save our national pride!
Well, DNZB says PM Peter Fraser was an “incisive and forceful orator with an instinctive combativeness, a ready wit, and a sarcastic turn of phrase”, while prohibition campaigner and politician Leonard Isitt “was regarded as perhaps the greatest orator in New Zealand” in his day. But then again, going on my scientific 1 minute search there are more politicans who are described as poor orators in the dictionary.
NZ’ers often see speeches as an embarrasing necessity to get out of the way. Short, funny, understated is okay. Especially short. Maybe we’re a country of quips rather than speeches.
Edmund Hillary, “We knocked the bastard off.”
Robert Muldoon: “New Zealanders who emigrate to Australia raise the IQ of both countries.”
On Jonah Lomu: “I’ve seen a lot people like him, but they weren’t playing on the wing.”
Colin Meads (1995)
Norman Kirk did pretty well on the hustings for a self-made man. And nineteenth century politicians were expected to be good speakers. Grey and FitzGerald were noted orators, and Seddon could work a crowd. Of course eloquence doesn’t necessarily equate with wisdom….
The marae is the best place to hear oratory in NZ and I suspect that could be true of political as other addresses, but it’s in the nature of the setting that most aren’t widely disseminated, political or not. Of Māori orators in Parliament over time, I think Apirana Ngata would rank highest; maybe someone else is aware of particular memorable speeches of his.
Politically, I thought that Nandor Tanczos farewell speech to parliament was a very good one. I think smashing his watch like that was a very power symbol within the house.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNrbLq-ZlUI
Like Malcolm says, Māori politicians coming from a background of oratory could be great speakers.
James Carroll was known as an orator, with a couple of examples here.
Apirana Ngata was well-known as an orator, though he is probably most well-known for his written whakataukī, E tipu e rea .
The annual Ngā manu kōrero competitions together with whaikōrero on the marae underline the continuing importance of oratory amongst Māori.
You have to compare apples with apples. A president is a head of state. A prime minister is not. In New Zealand governors and governors-general often gave the inspirational speeches on Anzac/Waitangi/Arbor and other days. Cobham and Bledisloe’s speeches were published in book form. See the Goverment House website http://www.gov-gen.govt.nz/ for a selection.
you can actually listen to all of lange’s oxford speech here.
http://publicaddress.net/default,gnza,7.sm
it is about 20min long from memory. having seen the tv coverage of it recently i do find this audio not quite as exciting though.
The early-20th-century labour leader Harry Holland, described as having a voice “like a silver bell”, was a renowned orator in his day, somehow managing to hold crowds of thousands spellbound in outdoor venues with no amplification. He was charged with sedition after one memorable speech at Wellington’s Basin Reserve during the 1913 strike. During the trial his speech from the dock was so eloquent that it was published under the title “Six Months for Sedition”.
That unabashed self-promotor, professional loudmouth and political irritant John A. Lee had his own take on this important question:
“There have been two great orators in New Zealand’s history. The other one was [1930s unemployed workers' leader] Jim Edwards.”