Michael Joseph Savage

Politician

• Born: March 23, 1872
• Birthplace: Tatong, Victoria, Australia
• Died: March 27, 1940
• Place of death: Wellington, New Zealand

Also known as: Michael Savage; Mick Savage; Mickey Savage

Significance: Michael Joseph Savage was New Zealand’s first Labour prime minister, serving from 1935 to 1940. His government passed the Social Security Act, which laid the foundation for the country’s social welfare system.

Background

Michael Joseph Savage was born on March 23, 1872 in Tatong, a small farming town in northeastern Victoria, Australia. He was the youngest of eight children of first-generation Australians Johanna Savage and Richard Savage; his father worked as a farmer. Savage’s mother died in 1878 and his older sister Rose raised him from then on. After she and his older brother Joseph died in 1891, Savage added the name Joseph to his own.

Savage attended the Rothesay State School from 1879 to 1884. He then worked at a local wine and spirits shop and took night classes at Benalla College (later North-Eastern College). Active in numerous civic activities, he served as the treasurer of a local hospital’s fundraising committee and the secretary of the Benalla Fire Brigade.

In 1893, Victoria’s largest commercial bank collapsed, causing a nationwide depression. Savage lost his retail job and moved to the Riverina district of New South Wales, where he worked for seven years as a laborer and ditch digger. In 1900, he returned to Victoria and worked in the gold mines near Rutherglen. Starting as a miner, he later became an engine driver and foundation manager. During this time, Savage became interested in politics and labor unionism. He joined the General Labourers’ Union, co-organized a cooperative store and bakery, and became secretary of the North Prentice Political Labour Council. He became familiar with and embraced many of the socialist theories of American writer Edward Bellamy and American economist Henry George.

Savage entered state politics in 1907 when the Political Labour Council chose him as its candidate for the electorate of Wangaratta and Rutherglen, but he withdrew when the council was unable to fund his campaign fees and costs. That same year, the gold mine closed and the Political Labour Council split into two groups. Savage decided to emigrate to New Zealand, where two close friends and members of the Political Labour Council had moved.

Political Career

Savage arrived in Wellington, New Zealand in October 1907. He cut flax for six months and then moved to Auckland, where he worked in a brewery and read socialist literature. As he had done in Australia, he was active in unions and politics. He joined the Auckland Branch of the New Zealand Socialist Party and became its secretary in 1908. He briefly served as the president of the Auckland Trades and Labour Council (1910–11), but quit to join the newly formed New Zealand Federation of Labour, a socialist trade organization. He immersed himself in its educational and outreach activities and served as the chairman of its Auckland branch from 1911 to 1912.

In 1911, Savage made his first bid for federal office when he ran as the Socialist Party candidate for the parliamentary seat of Auckland Central, but failed to secure it. He remained active in labor and political activities, including a 1912 miners’ strike, the 1913 Unity Party Congress, and the 1913 dockworkers strike. In 1914, he made a second unsuccessful bid for the Auckland Central seat. Concerned about social inequality, Savage became known as an advocate for social equality. During World War I (1914-1918), he opposed conscription and called for the equal distribution of wealth, such as through a free health care system and increased pensions. He joined the newly founded Labour Party in 1916, becoming its national vice president two years later and its national secretary in 1919.

Savage was elected to the House of Representatives as the member for Auckland West in 1919. He quickly gained recognition for his leadership and finance abilities and was elected Labour’s deputy leader in 1922. Three of his bills later became the model for the Family Allowances Act of 1926. In 1933, at the height of the Great Depression, Savage was elected Labour’s parliamentary leader. An outspoken proponent of a more humane approach in government, he advocated for free health care and increased pensions for elderly and disabled individuals.

After Labour’s landslide victories in the 1935 election, Savage became prime minister on December 6, 1935. His government, which was the country’s first Labour administration, emphasized educational and social security reforms. In 1938, it introduced the Social Security Bill, which provided for universal free health care, a pension at age sixty, a universal superannuation payment at age sixty-five, and maternity benefits. Savage actively campaigned for the bill, describing its objectives in humanitarian terms and as “applied Christianity.” The bill became the driving issue of the 1938 election, which Labour overwhelmingly won. The Social Security Act was passed in September 1938, becoming the world’s first act to provide cash benefits to its entire population through a universal income tax.

Diagnosed with colon cancer, Savage had delayed surgery in order to promote the Social Security Bill and campaign for the 1938 election. His health worsened rapidly and he began ceding duties to other Labour leaders, though he did support mobilization for World War II in 1939. On March 27, 1940, Savage died at his home in Wellington and was succeeded as prime minister by Peter Fraser.

Impact

Known as the father of New Zealand's welfare state, Savage holds icon status in New Zealand. Widely considered the country’s most popular and effective prime minister, he was named New Zealander of the Year three times and New Zealander of the Century in 1999. He remains so beloved that many New Zealanders keep photographs of him in their homes or offices.

In honor of Savage, in 1942 the Labour Party erected the Savage Memorial, a mausoleum and a large obelisk, at Auckland’s Bastion Point. It is surrounded by the Joseph Savage Memorial Park, funded by the New Zealand government.

Personal Life

After arriving in Auckland in 1908, Savage boarded with Alf and Elizabeth French in Auckland. He lived with them and in Wellington for the remainder of his life.

Bibliography

Gustafson, Barry. “Savage, Michael Joseph.” Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, 1998. Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4s9/savage-michael-joseph. Accessed 31 Mar. 2020.

“Michael Joseph Savage.” New Zealand History, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 8 Nov. 2017, nzhistory.govt.nz/people/michael-joseph-savage-biography. Accessed 31 Mar. 2020

“Michael Joseph Savage Ahead of His Time.” Waikato Times, 9 Dec. 2016, www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/waikato-times/20161209/281814283491900. Accessed 31 Mar. 2020.

“The Rise of a Young Michael Savage.” Waikato Times, 18 Nov. 2016, www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/waikato-times/20161118/281719794170475. Accessed 31 Mar. 2020.

“Savage Memorial.” New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 25 Feb. 2020, mch.govt.nz/nz-identity-heritage/national-monuments-war-graves/savage-memorial. Accessed 31 Mar. 2020.