NZ History - Julius Vogel

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NZ History - Julius Vogel...






Juius Vogel:

Premier: 8 Apr 1873–6 Jul 1875; 15 Feb–1 Sept 1876

Age on becoming premier: 38

Electorate: Auckland City East

Although he spent just 18 years here, journalist, businessman and politician Julius (Sir Julius from 1874) Vogel dominated our politics. The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography describes our first Jewish premier as ‘vastly ambitious’ and ‘clever, impulsive, generous, strong-willed to the point of being domineering.’ Contemporaries might have been less polite.

A lifelong gambler and speculator, Vogel followed the gold rushes, learning journalism in Victoria in the 1850s. In 1861 he fetched up in Dunedin, where he edited our first daily, the Otago Daily Times. Print, politics and profits were his watchwords.

In Otago, Vogel entered politics. Dunedin knew him as a staunch provincialist, but he switched horses while colonial treasurer for most of the 1869-76 period, appalled by the cost of the New Zealand Wars and the lack of a master plan for developing the colony.

Vogel’s great plan was to borrow heavily to build infrastructure (railways, ports and telegraphs) and to lure migrants. It was controversial, and ended in a recession, but the money and migrants stimulated the economy and created a viable consumer market for producers. Historians still talk about the ‘Vogel era’.

The rapid and cheap acquisition of Maori land was a key part of this policy, and dramatically speeded up the Crown purchase of land. Vogel and his supporters were certain that Maori and settlers would reconcile when the former, and their land, became fully integrated in the European economy.

Vogel, whose love of society, food and wine ruined his health, served as agent-general in London from 1876 to 1880 when he had to resign for spending too much time on his private interests. There was always a whiff of scandal about him, not always attributable to anti-Semitic slurs.

Vogel returned to New Zealand in 1884 and was the heavyweight – literally and metaphorically – in the two Stout-Vogel ministries.

Vogel returned to England in 1888. There he wrote the novel Anno Domini 2000: or Woman’s Destiny, in which women dominated government and poverty had vanished. It enjoyed a brief revival around the turn of the 21st century when women held the positions of sovereign, governor-general, prime minister and leader of the opposition.

Written by Gavin McLean

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Biography of Julius Vogel:
www.nzhistory.net.nz/people/julius-vogel

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Dunedin mayoralty a two horse race...

Image via Wikipedia  2010 Dunedin Mayoralty a two horse  race ...


Dunedin city councillor Dave Cull appears to be leading a two-horse race with Mayor Peter Chin in the battle for the city's top job.



An Otago Daily Times poll of voters who had made a decision shows Cr Cull ahead on 45.9%, Mr Chin second on 37.4%, and Lee Vandervis third on 11%.



None of the other four candidates had made it over 4%, although there were still plenty of undecided voters, at 38%, two weeks before the end of the polling period.



In the raw data, the 274 respondents who said they were undecided outstripped votes for any candidate.



The poll of 721 people was undertaken by ODT staff over a four-day period this week.



University of Otago political studies department lecturers Dr Chris Rudd and Associate Prof Janine Hayward studied the figures, and said this year's election was clearly a "quite different" race from 2007, when Mr Chin led in a similar poll with 72% of the vote.



The closeness of Cr Cull and Mr Chin's polling should encourage people to return their voting papers, she said.



It should also bring the single transferable voting (STV) system into play, with voters' second preferences likely to make a difference.



Only 10.9% of voting papers had been returned last night, and the key message to voters yet to do so was "you can have an influence", Prof Hayward said.



That Cr Cull and Mr Chin were well ahead should not put off people who supported other candidates as their first preference, as their second preferences would help decide who would become mayor.



"They should stick to their guns about who their first preferences are, as long as they rank more than one preference."



One aspect of the Otago Daily Times poll was that 721 people said they would vote, while about 150 said they would not.



That meant around 80% were stating they would vote, when the actual percentage at the last election was only 47.4%.



Cr Cull said while he did not know how the election was panning out, he had been getting "some very positive feedback".



"It's a very positive start," he said, though he noted there was plenty of time to go before the end of the election.



"I'm very pleased with that news," he said, referring to the poll.



Mr Chin said it was still early in the election, and he had no major campaigning planned.



"I'll just keep on doing what I'm doing."



Mr Vandervis said mid-election surveys were illegal in some countries, as they "potentially give the media opportunities of skewing voting behaviour".



He said the ODT poll showed a "quite different result to our own surveying, as it did in the last election, when the ODT mayoral survey put me nowhere, with the also-rans, when I actually achieved a clear second place with 33% of Mayor Chin's vote".



He said his information showed a "significant swing to Vandervis", especially in the past week.



"The only survey that counts is the final vote, which I believe will show a much closer race."



david.loughrey@odt.co.nz