Coates Joseph Gordon Matatoke Northland Nz 1914 1927

edmondsallan - Hello - At first Gordon Coates was not a major political figure in Wellington. He spoke seldom, concentrating on issues of interest to the 'roadless north' or to the mill workers and gum-diggers prominent in his electorate. He seemed to possess no natural gifts as an orator. He fraternised with younger MPs of all parties, such as Paddy Webb, T. E. Y. Seddon and, after 1914, William Downie Stewart, and was one of the least partisan members at a time of intense political partisanship. He played tennis and, whenever possible, rode horses.

Coates had learned English patriotism on his father's knee. On the outbreak of war in August 1914 he became quickly involved in recruiting campaigns; he enlisted, and was keen to go to the front with his brother William, but Massey, whose majority was virtually non-existent after the election of 1914, would not release him. In November 1916 Coates was eventually able to leave for France with the infantry's 19th Reinforcements to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. In March 1917 he was posted as second in command of the 15th (North Auckland) Company of the 1st Battalion of the Auckland Infantry Regiment. Love of empire and the adventurous spirit instilled by his upbringing drew him to the front.

The glamour of war had long since worn off by the time Coates got to Ypres (Ieper), but he proved to be an efficient, highly respected soldier. On 31 July 1917 he won a Military Cross at La Basseville. Transferred to the Somme and promoted to company commander of the 3rd (Auckland) Company of the 1st Battalion, Coates won a bar to his MC at Mailly-Maillet on 26 March 1918.

He injured his leg that day, and for several months was out of action and able to visit his Hereford relatives. Promoted to major, Coates was involved in the push north into Germany late in 1918. He did not sail for home until March 1919, arriving in Auckland on the Remuera on 5 May. The Kaipara electorate treated him as a returning hero. After Ward collapsed the wartime National government in August 1919 Massey decided to give his tired ministry a touch of glamour. On 2 September Coates accepted the positions of minister of justice, postmaster general, and minister of telegraphs. At 41 he was a junior minister, a full decade younger than anyone else in the government.

After being re-elected handsomely in December 1919 Coates was made minister of public works in March 1920; in June 1923 he became minister of railways as well. The economic boom at the end of the war greatly inflated public expectations. By the end of 1920 these were collapsing fast as export prices dropped. The challenge for Coates was to produce results at a time when money was in short supply. This he did by diverting money from a myriad of branch railway lines, concentrating instead on completing the three main trunk lines: the Midland, East Coast and North Auckland lines. People accustomed to railways being built for political reasons were disconcerted, but his businesslike decision-making won praise for Coates. He also centralised hydroelectricity construction and pushed ahead with several projects on the Waikato and Waitaki rivers. He then turned his attention to roading. There were nearly 30,000 cars in New Zealand by the end of the war and financing the construction and maintenance of roads, especially main highways, was a vexed question. The Main Highways Act 1922 established 18 highway districts, which designated main highways and shared their costs with central funds generated from a tax on tyres, on motor vehicle registration and, eventually, on fuel.

Coates was regarded as an active, hard-working minister. He quickly understood arguments and got on well with officials. With a cigarette constantly in hand he would drop by, sometimes unexpectedly, at construction sites and share a drink with the men. He developed the reputation of being a minister who was fair, but brooked no nonsense. This distinction was enhanced by the tough line he adopted during the short-lived rail strike in April 1924.

From March 1921 until December 1928 Coates was native minister. He spoke some Maori and understood a great deal more, and was sensitive to land grievances. He counted Apirana Ngata a close friend and between them they drew Te Puea Herangi of Waikato into support for a commission to investigate the confiscation of Maori land after the wars of the 1860s. In 1926 a Maori Arts and Crafts Act was passed to enhance knowledge of Maori arts and crafts and to protect Maori antiquities.

Meanwhile Coates's growing family was residing in a ministerial house at 123a Tinakori Road in Wellington. His two eldest daughters, Sheila and Barbara, and ultimately the three others, Patricia, Irirangi and Josephine, attended Samuel Marsden Collegiate School. They always holidayed in the north at a bach Coates had bought at Baylys Beach west of Dargaville. Coates would surf-cast and swim vigorously, and enjoyed cooking toheroa and bacon. Rodney was now managing the farm at Hukatere, and they had acquired between them another smaller, heavily mortgaged block at Ruawai for fattening stock.

By 1925 Coates had been singled out by his colleagues as the natural successor to the ailing Massey, who died on 10 May. He won a ballot in the Reform caucus over William Nosworthy, and on 30 May 1925 succeeded the stop-gap Sir Francis Bell as prime minister. The 47-year-old Coates was associated with no distinct philosophy or faction. He had no love for party politics or political theories, endured 'the cumbersome machinery of Parliament' simply because it must be endured, and cared only for practical achievements.

Coates in 1925 was a 'tall, lithe man, erect and soldierly in figure, a stranger to fatigue,' with 'clear eyes, a tanned face, and a kindly mouth'. His genial progressivism made him one of the most popular MPs, and the press liked his breezy informality. John A. Lee labelled him the 'jazz Premier'. A political advertising agent, A. E. Davy, was able to turn these characteristics into election-winning hype that carried Coates to a great victory on 4 November 1925. It was the only substantial win ever enjoyed by the Reform Party. The Coates family moved into the old prime ministerial house at 260 Tinakori

Coates was unable to live up to the high expectations of the 1925 election campaign. He performed creditably in London at the Imperial Conference in 1926, but domestically he lacked basic political skills. Indeed, there was a sentimental streak that caused him to retain Massey's lacklustre cabinet. However, deteriorating economic conditions lay behind many of the problems that beset his ministry. The British economy was depressed and the prices for New Zealand's farm produce ebbed steadily in 1926. In an effort to stabilise farmers' incomes, the New Zealand Dairy-produce Control Board embarked on an abortive scheme to fix the price of butter on the British market. The government was forced to persuade the board, in March 1927, to desist, and the high hopes of farmers had to be deferred until the British market improved. Coates got the blame. An early effort to license urban public transport to stop costly duplication of services irked private enterprise, as did Coates's Town-planning Bill of 1926. The introduction of family allowances for families with three or more children in 1926 was the product of his progressive approach to welfare, but it further alienated his government from Reform's conservative, urban, commercial constituency.
Certainly was a big thinker in every way . Till we meet again - Regards - edmondsallan