Gordon Coates

Politician

• Born: February 3, 1878
• Birthplace: Pahi, New Zealand
• Died: May 27, 1943
• Place of death: Wellington, New Zealand

Also known as: Joseph Gordon Coates

Significance: Gordon Coates was the prime minister of New Zealand from 1925 to 1928. He also served in several other administrations, including as the minister for finance in the George Forbes coalition government and as the minister for armed forces and war coordination in Peter Fraser’s administration.

Background

Gordon Coates was born to Edward and Eleanor (Aickin) Coates on February 3, 1878, in Pahi, New Zealand, a remote town near Matakohe, Northland. The eldest of seven children, Coates grew up in Hukatere, a rural area in Northland’s Kaipara district, where he learned to ride horses, boat, and hunt at a young age. His father was a tenant farmer, justice of the peace, and president of the North Kaipara Agriculture Association. His mother was also active in their community, and being highly educated, encouraged learning. Coates was tutored by governesses at home and attended Matakohe School.

In 1899, Coates’s father gained freehold title to the land he had been farming but was often unable to work due to mental illness. Coates, then in his early twenties, ran the family farm with his brother Rodney and took over the farm upon their father’s death six years later. While in his twenties, Coates became involved in farmers organizations. He joined the Otamatea Mounted Rifle Volunteers in 1900 and commanded the Eleventh Mounted Rifles’ B squadron from 1911 to 1912 before becoming a reserve officer. In 1905, he was elected to the Otamatea County Council. He was the council’s chairman from 1913 to 1916.

Political Career

Coates was a popular leader in Kaipara and was persuaded to run for the district’s seat in Parliament in the December 1911 general election. He ran as an independent who supported Liberal prime minister Joseph Ward. Coates won the seat on December 14 and held it for the rest of his life. By 1912, he had grown disenchanted with the Liberals and favored the Reform Party. He ran for reelection as the Reform candidate in 1914 and remained a member of the party for the rest of his life.

Coates worked well with members of different parties but did not otherwise distinguish himself during his early years in Parliament. After World War I began in 1914, he enlisted in the military and served as an officer at the front lines in Belgium, France, and Germany, fighting alongside other soldiers of the British Empire against Germany. Wounded in the 1916 Battle of the Somme, he recuperated and came home a war hero in mid-1919.

In September 1919, Prime Minister William Massey appointed Coates the minister of justice, postmaster general, and minister of telegraphs in his new Reform administration. After Coates was reelected to Parliament in December 1919, Massey added the public works portfolio, later followed by the Māori affairs portfolio in 1921 and the railway portfolio in 1923. During his work with the Māori affairs portfolio, Coates' knowledge of the Māori language proved an asset. Coates’s achievements included revamping railroad construction to focus on three main trunk lines rather than multiple branch lines, developing New Zealand’s hydroelectricity program, constructing hydroelectricity stations, and promoting passage of the Main Highways Act 1922, which created highway districts and a funding structure. He settled several Māori lake and land claims and in 1924 established the Arawa Trust Board to administer claim settlement payments.

The Reform Party won the majority of seats in 1925 and, following the death of Massey on May 10, the party elected Coates as prime minister on May 30. He held on to the public works, Māori affairs, and railway portfolios. In 1926, he created the Sim Commission to investigate land confiscations and address Māori grievances. Public opinion soon turned against Coates as economic problems plagued the country and he failed to reverse dropping agricultural prices. Private businesses disapproved of his plans to reform public transportation services and town planning. In 1926, he introduced a family allowance for families with three or more children, which was condemned by conservative and commercial factions. The Reform Party was voted out of office on November 14, 1928, and following a vote of no confidence, Coates resigned on December 10, 1928, and became leader of the Opposition.

As leader of the Opposition, Coates reorganized the Reform Party. In September 1931, he formed a coalition government with George Forbes, of the recently formed United Party. That same month, Forbes appointed Coates the minister of public works and minister of transport. He named Coates the minister for finance in January 1933.

Coates made several notable achievements as minister for finance. In 1933, as New Zealanders suffered the impact of the Great Depression, he introduced two successful bills. The Small Farms (Relief of Unemployment) Bill provided financial support to unemployed workers. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bill established a partly state-owned bank to control credit and monetary policy. That same year, he boosted farmers’ export revenues by devaluing the New Zealand pound. In 1935, he implemented multiple reforms to provide financial support and security to farmers. Examples include the creation of the Mortgage Corporation of New Zealand, which provided low-interest refinancing loans to farmers, and the Rural Mortgagors Final Adjustment Amendment Act 1935.

After Forbes’s coalition government lost the 1935 election to the Labour Party and was voted out, Coates resumed his partnership with his brother Rodney in a cattle-breeding company, G. & R. Coates. When World War II started in September 1939, he offered his assistance to government ministers. He rejoined the government during Peter Fraser’s administration and served as the minister for armed forces and war coordination from 1940 until his collapse in Parliament and sudden death in May 1943.

Impact

Coates helped bridge the transition from the Liberal governments that had dominated New Zealand between 1890 and 1911 to Reform and United governments that advocated for the public good and championed the needs of individuals over commercial interests. He is especially remembered for working to promote rural interests. In 1950, friends and supporters of Coates constructed the Coates Memorial Church in Matakohe, to honor him.

Personal Life

Coates and Marjorie Grace (Coles) Coates married in 1914. They had five daughters. Coates also had a son and daughter from another relationship prior to his marriage.

Bibliography

Bassett, Michael. “Coates, Joseph Gordon.” Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, 1996. Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3c24/coates-joseph-gordon Accessed 29 Apr. 2020.

Bassett, Michael. Coates of Kaipara. Auckland UP, 1995.

McLean, Gavin. “Gordon Coates.” New Zealand History, nzhistory.govt.nz/people/gordon-coates. Accessed 29 Apr. 2020.

Norton, Hannah. “Exhibition Honours Heroic Northlander.” The Northern Advocate, 18 Oct. 2014, www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c‗id=1503450&objectid=11344314. Accessed 29 Apr. 2020.

Wilson, Helen. “Chapter 14—Gordon Coates.” My First Eighty Years, Paul’s Book Arcade, 1950, pp. 219–24. New Zealand Electronic Text Collection—Te Pūhikotuhi o Aotearoa, nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WilEigh-t1-body-d14.html#name-207969-mention. Accessed 29 Apr. 2020.