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Tomorrow Comes the Song: a Life of Peter Fraser
570 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2001
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April 10, 2025
This is a very important book that does a good job of getting at one of the topics I'm most interested in, understanding how the New Zealand state and economy that lasted until 1984 came to be. We also get to explore the life and career of "New Zealand Greatest Prime Minister".
The author, Michael Bassett impresses upon you that researching Fraser's early life is a challenging task. He notes that tracing Fraser's early childhood in Scotland was difficult, as contemporary records are quite thin, requiring a lot of speculation based on circumstances and extrapolating from these to interpret Fraser's later statements. Given the circumstances, I think the author does a good job here bringing together the scant material and allowing you to get a feel for Fraser's perspective as he arrived in New Zealand in 1910. Though it is worth noting that in general Fraser did not leave many notes for biographers to pour over.
We then cover Fraser's trials and tribulations in the early Labour movement, his arrest for criticism of conscription and his early alliance building period that culminated in the Labour party gaining eight seats and 25% of the vote in 1919. A big part of this was Fraser's work in his constituency of Wellington Central during the 1918-19 flu epidemic. But the 20's marked the beginning of the long struggle, where Labour struggled to make significant headway. Bassett implies that there was a mixture of factors, including Gordon Coates' popularity, the Labour Party's confusing and potentially alienating land policy as well as Harry Holland's shortcomings as leader of the Party.
After Coates' downfall, the Great Depression and Holland's death, which was followed by the jettisoning of land reform policy, Labour was in a position to challenge the Coates and Forbes Coalition government and rise to power in 1935. Fraser took on many posts and was a high performing member of cabinet serving as Minister for: External Affairs, Education, Marine, Health and the Island Territories. One theme of the book that emerges is that Labour was ill-served by a lack of competent Ministers throughout its time in Government, owing to some combination of an initial lack of experience and a failure to promote high performers with many poor performers continuing on far too long. Though this doesn't strike me as a problem that was unique to Labour at the time.
Fraser was involved in the 1938 Social Security Act through his role as Minister of Health, engaging in ongoing negotiations with the local branch of the British Medical Association. Paying for the health provisions was contentious, introducing another theme around the tension between the "credit men" (who advocated nationalizing the Bank of New Zealand and printing the money they [needed] from the Reserve Bank) and those who wanted to finance the state through taxation, believing that the credit approach would lead to inflation. Around this time, spending rose which threatened a balance of payments crisis. But the book explores this less, with the focus more on Fraser's gradual takeover of Prime Ministerial duties as Savage's health declines.
Fraser became Prime Minister shortly after World War II started. I, like many, came to this book thinking about the contradiction between Fraser's past as an anti-war activist during WW1 and his role leading the country into World War II. But this book clarified it for me, Fraser opposed WW I because of its unclear war aims, its nature as a war of imperial ambitions, the lack of measures taken by the state to curb price gouging, and the overall feeling that New Zealand troops were taken for granted and placed under the command of British Generals who had little care for their welfare and were not accountable to the New Zealand government. Fraser took steps to address all of these concerns regarding WWII: first, Nazi Germany was a reactionary right-wing state, which was a clearer ideological opponent for Fraser; second, he would consistently push Britain for clear war aims. To deal with price gouging and inflation, the Government introduced new measures that allowed it to very broadly seize property where it suspected gouging, and it carefully controlled inflation through measures pertaining to price stability and holding back excess profits that farmers earned to avoid driving up domestic inflation. Finally, Fraser secured Freyberg to look after the New Zealand Division in Europe, with clear expectations that he would report to the New Zealand government. When these measures are taken into account, Fraser's perspective becomes clearer. He was also more broadly tolerant of pacifists and anti-war activists than in WWI, though he drew the line when they attempted to dissuade troops on parade.
Most of the later half of the book focuses on Fraser's role in foreign affairs: travelling to meet other Allies, setting up the UN, with Nash continuing to run things back home. Fraser had a great talent for diplomacy, which was less appreciated at home. I get the feeling that Fraser was frustrated by the gap between the expectations of New Zealand citizens and the greater suffering in the wider world, particularly in Britain, leading him to continue various forms of controls in order to help Britain in the post-war years. It's possible this also reflects a broader theme that Bassett includes in his books regarding the state in New Zealand creating an unproductive and inefficient economy.
This is a great book and key reading for anyone who wants to understand one of the architects of the New Zealand State that existed from roughly 1938 to 1984. It explores the decisions he made, why he made them, and the experiences that shaped policies we continue to live with to this day. After finishing this book, the case becomes quite clear that Fraser is New Zealand's best Prime Minister.
The author, Michael Bassett impresses upon you that researching Fraser's early life is a challenging task. He notes that tracing Fraser's early childhood in Scotland was difficult, as contemporary records are quite thin, requiring a lot of speculation based on circumstances and extrapolating from these to interpret Fraser's later statements. Given the circumstances, I think the author does a good job here bringing together the scant material and allowing you to get a feel for Fraser's perspective as he arrived in New Zealand in 1910. Though it is worth noting that in general Fraser did not leave many notes for biographers to pour over.
We then cover Fraser's trials and tribulations in the early Labour movement, his arrest for criticism of conscription and his early alliance building period that culminated in the Labour party gaining eight seats and 25% of the vote in 1919. A big part of this was Fraser's work in his constituency of Wellington Central during the 1918-19 flu epidemic. But the 20's marked the beginning of the long struggle, where Labour struggled to make significant headway. Bassett implies that there was a mixture of factors, including Gordon Coates' popularity, the Labour Party's confusing and potentially alienating land policy as well as Harry Holland's shortcomings as leader of the Party.
After Coates' downfall, the Great Depression and Holland's death, which was followed by the jettisoning of land reform policy, Labour was in a position to challenge the Coates and Forbes Coalition government and rise to power in 1935. Fraser took on many posts and was a high performing member of cabinet serving as Minister for: External Affairs, Education, Marine, Health and the Island Territories. One theme of the book that emerges is that Labour was ill-served by a lack of competent Ministers throughout its time in Government, owing to some combination of an initial lack of experience and a failure to promote high performers with many poor performers continuing on far too long. Though this doesn't strike me as a problem that was unique to Labour at the time.
Fraser was involved in the 1938 Social Security Act through his role as Minister of Health, engaging in ongoing negotiations with the local branch of the British Medical Association. Paying for the health provisions was contentious, introducing another theme around the tension between the "credit men" (who advocated nationalizing the Bank of New Zealand and printing the money they [needed] from the Reserve Bank) and those who wanted to finance the state through taxation, believing that the credit approach would lead to inflation. Around this time, spending rose which threatened a balance of payments crisis. But the book explores this less, with the focus more on Fraser's gradual takeover of Prime Ministerial duties as Savage's health declines.
Fraser became Prime Minister shortly after World War II started. I, like many, came to this book thinking about the contradiction between Fraser's past as an anti-war activist during WW1 and his role leading the country into World War II. But this book clarified it for me, Fraser opposed WW I because of its unclear war aims, its nature as a war of imperial ambitions, the lack of measures taken by the state to curb price gouging, and the overall feeling that New Zealand troops were taken for granted and placed under the command of British Generals who had little care for their welfare and were not accountable to the New Zealand government. Fraser took steps to address all of these concerns regarding WWII: first, Nazi Germany was a reactionary right-wing state, which was a clearer ideological opponent for Fraser; second, he would consistently push Britain for clear war aims. To deal with price gouging and inflation, the Government introduced new measures that allowed it to very broadly seize property where it suspected gouging, and it carefully controlled inflation through measures pertaining to price stability and holding back excess profits that farmers earned to avoid driving up domestic inflation. Finally, Fraser secured Freyberg to look after the New Zealand Division in Europe, with clear expectations that he would report to the New Zealand government. When these measures are taken into account, Fraser's perspective becomes clearer. He was also more broadly tolerant of pacifists and anti-war activists than in WWI, though he drew the line when they attempted to dissuade troops on parade.
Most of the later half of the book focuses on Fraser's role in foreign affairs: travelling to meet other Allies, setting up the UN, with Nash continuing to run things back home. Fraser had a great talent for diplomacy, which was less appreciated at home. I get the feeling that Fraser was frustrated by the gap between the expectations of New Zealand citizens and the greater suffering in the wider world, particularly in Britain, leading him to continue various forms of controls in order to help Britain in the post-war years. It's possible this also reflects a broader theme that Bassett includes in his books regarding the state in New Zealand creating an unproductive and inefficient economy.
This is a great book and key reading for anyone who wants to understand one of the architects of the New Zealand State that existed from roughly 1938 to 1984. It explores the decisions he made, why he made them, and the experiences that shaped policies we continue to live with to this day. After finishing this book, the case becomes quite clear that Fraser is New Zealand's best Prime Minister.
December 23, 2013
Very comprehensive biography of Fraser
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews