The Average Man by Sir Robert Muldoon

April 5, 2017 FLAI40 Leave a comment

His name is Robert Muldoon. Born in September 1921, he was the Prime Minister of New Zealand during the years 1975 to 1984. I have a lot to thank him for just because of his export incentive scheme created by him when he was the Prime Minister and Finance Minister of the country.

You see, I was in Auckland in 1976 when I attended several job interviews and eventually accepted a job offer from Fletchers Construction as the Quantity Surveyor/Marketer in the newly established Overseas Division. Little did I know then that Fletchers, under Muldoon’s export incentive scheme, had applied for and had been approved to expand into Asia as the Government wanted to export NZ’s construction expertise to overseas countries.

Therefore, the entire overseas division, including my salaries and benefits, was funded by the NZ public as most of the expenditure of the division was reimbursed by the Government, as part of Muldoon’s ‘Think Big’ projects.

That was part of my personal history.

Now back to the main theme of this article - the Average Man.

Back in July 1976, the Christian Brothers School in Dunedin celebrated a hundred years of existence in New Zealand (1876 right through to 1976) and during that celebration, Prime Minister Sir Robert Muldoon (he was by then knighted) made the following speech worth quoting:

“The Average Man … …

“I am certain that the Christian Brothers’ schools in New Zealand have produced youths who have gone on to achieve distinctions in many walks of life, but let me interpose (here) a few words about the average man.

“He rises to no great heights, but he is the thread of which the fabric of society is woven.

“He acts manfully in whatever he is engaged in - in the workplace, in the office, in the school committee, in the trade union or in other organization.

“He is a good son and father, and, if the foundations of his life have been laid in one of your schools, he has no problems of conscience in rendering unto Ceasar the things that are Ceasar’s and unto God the things that are God’s.

“The average man is the private in the army, the naval rating, the aircraftman, and lest I forget, he votes governments in and out.

“He is the salt of the earth, and it is proper that, on an occasion such as this, we should, in thought, pay our tribute to the average man from your school who has lived - and died - by the motto always to act manfully.

“May the second 100 years of your schools and of the coming of the Christian Brothers to this country be as fruitful in the production of such average men, in all spheres, as it has been in the past.”

What a speech!

What a speech to remember Sir Robert Muldoon by!