Robert Muldoon - Leader of The Opposition

Leader of The Opposition

Marshall fought the 1972 election on a slogan of "Man For Man, The Strongest Team" – an allusion to Marshall's own low-key style, particularly compared to his deputy. Muldoon commented on Labour's election promises with "They can’t promise anything because I’ve spent it all". The party lost control of the House, ending 12 years in power. In the aftermath, Marshall resigned, and Muldoon took over, becoming Leader of the Opposition on 4 July 1974. Many members of the party caucus regarded Marshall as not up to the task of taking on the formidable Labour Prime Minister, Norman Kirk.

Muldoon, on the other hand, relished the opportunity – but had it for only a short time, until Kirk's sudden death on 31 August 1974. In the 1975 election, Muldoon overwhelmed Kirk's more lacklustre successor, Bill Rowling, reversing the 32–55 Labour majority into a 55–32 National majority. His platform offered "New Zealand – The Way You Want It", promising a generous national superannuation scheme to replace Kirk and Rowling's employer-contribution superannuation scheme (which the famous "Dancing Cossack" television advertisement implied would turn New Zealand into a communist state), and undertaking to fix New Zealand's "shattered economy". Economics correspondent Brian Gaynor has claimed that Muldoon's policy of reversing Labour's saving-scheme lost New Zealand the chance of transforming the New Zealand economy.

Labour responded with a campaign called Citizens for Rowling, described by Muldoon as "not even a thinly disguised" attack on himself.