Alan Gibbs - Political Activism

Political Activism

Having been a member of the New Left Club at Canterbury University, Gibbs had converted to strongly-held free-market views by the late 1970s. He became a strong supporter of Roger Douglas, the Minister of Finance in the reforming Fourth Labour Government, 1984-90. Gibbs was appointed chairman of the NZ Forestry Corporation, which in 1987 corporatized the old New Zealand Forest Service. The loss making department was restructured and transformed into a profitable State Owned Enterprise. He was also appointed chairman of the Hospital and Related Services Taskforce, with a brief to recommend reforms for the underperforming public hospital service. Their suggestions, which focused on introducing an internal market into the system were not taken up by the Labour government but were partially implemented by the next National Government. Gibbs also founded the Centre for Independent Studies in New Zealand and was an active member of the New Zealand Business Roundtable. He is a member of the Mont Pelerin Society, founded by the Austrian economist, Friedrich Hayek. Gibbs was active in the establishment of ACT New Zealand, a libertarian political party that was formed in 1994. ACT won seven seats in the parliament after the first election under proportional representation, in 1996 and has continued to be represented in Parliament since.