A mood of protest sweeps New Zealand in 1991, sometimes spilling over into violence, as the reform machine powers on. Benefits are slashed, the Employment Contracts Act fundamentally reshapes the labour market, the health system is restructured, and Jim Bolger U-turns on a “no ifs, no buts, no maybes” promise around superannuation. Here Ruth Richardson tells the story of the Mother of All Budgets – what she was hoping to achieve, and how it got that indelible name. 

In a whirlwind first year of government, Richardson takes some drastic steps. And National’s challenges come not just from outside, but from within – Muldoon continues to lurk the halls, and there’s a charismatic, increasingly popular young MP making trouble, too: Winston Peters. 

Includes new and exclusive interviews with Jim Bolger, Ruth Richardson, Jenny Shipley, Susan St John, Helen Clark, Bill Birch, Rob Eaddy, Michael Laws and more. 

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Juggernaut 2 was made with the support of NZ On Air.

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After the breakneck reforms of the 80s, Jim Bolger’s promise of a calmer, more inclusive New Zealand hits the spot. Emerging from the shadow of Muldoon and shaking off the nuclear baggage, Bolger leads the National Party to a landslide victory under the “decent society” banner. But even before the celebrations are done, the hangover hits: the state-owned BNZ is on the brink, and the government books are in a parlous state. Ruth Richardson wastes no time as finance minister in making the most of crisis mode, and within weeks is driving through some of the most dramatic social, economic and labour reforms New Zealand has ever seen. 

Picking up where the award-winning first season of Juggernaut left off, this first episode includes new and exclusive interviews with Jim Bolger, Ruth Richardson, Jenny Shipley, Don McKinnon, Bill Birch, Michael Wall, Rob Eaddy, Michael Laws and more. 

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Juggernaut 2 was made with the support of NZ On Air.

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The award-winning podcast returns to tell the story of a Juggernaut reborn for the 90s in National blue.

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Ross Vintiner was right by David Lange's side in opposition and in government as his head of press. If you enjoyed the Juggernaut series on the fourth Labour government, you'll enjoy his insights into the singular figure of Lange and the whirl of the ninth floor across those wild years.

Juggernaut was made with the support of NZ On Air.

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The Lange-Douglas relationship frays further as the prime minister unilaterally pulls the pin on a flat tax package signed off by cabinet. A furious Douglas flies back from Europe, but the split only deepens, as Lange declares it’s time for radical reforms to pause and calls for a “cup of tea” and the two Beehive offices go to war, with Douglas loyalists putting the blame on Lange’s lover, Margaret Pope. Something has to give, and soon it does.

New and exclusive interviews with Roger Douglas, Stephen Mills, Richard Prebble, Geoffrey Palmer, Hekia Parata, Gary McCormick and Margaret Wilson.

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Juggernaut was made with the support of NZ On Air.

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At the urging of the gay community, Fran Wilde takes the homosexual law reform bill to parliament in 1985. The campaign encounters fierce resistance from MPs on both the National and Labour sides of the house. Is it fair for Labour today to claim it as a party triumph? At the same time, strides are being taken in introducing the Treaty of Waitangi into political and legal structures, as part of a blizzard of reforms. In one crucial example, change will come after David Lange misreads his notes.

New and exclusive interviews with Fran Wilde, Bill Logan, Hekia Parata, Roger Douglas, Richard Prebble and Margaret Wilson.

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Juggernaut was made with the support of NZ On Air.

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Roger Douglas’s radical overhaul of the NZ economy kicks through the gears. A new investor class gets high on champagne and shares. What could go wrong? A bonfire of subsidies leaves farmers on their knees. Corporatisation sends thousands of state workers to the dole queue. Labour is returned to power in 1987 despite a campaign with starkly contrasting messages. For Lange, victory is bittersweet. When the global crash smashes New Zealand, Douglas seizes the opportunity to go harder, and go faster.

New and exclusive interviews with Richard Prebble, Rudi Robinson-Cole, Kevin Geddes, Kim Workman, Bob Harvey, Geoffrey Palmer, Richard Prebble and Margaret Wilson.

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Juggernaut was made with the support of NZ On Air.

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In a tense and divided cold war world, David Lange emerges as an anti-nuclear champion, despite being out of contact, deep in the Pacific when the crisis strikes. The Americans are furious: didn’t the NZ PM pledge to smooth the waters in Labour to allow a US ship visit? They become even angrier when he takes the stage at the Oxford Union, to global acclaim. When an act of state terrorism sees a Greenpeace ship sunk and a photographer killed in Auckland harbour, the public mood on nukes only solidifies.

New and exclusive interviews with Geoffrey Palmer, former US assistant secretary of state Richard Armitage, Fran Wilde, Richard Prebble and Margaret Wilson.

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Juggernaut was made with the support of NZ On Air.

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Victory for Lange in 1984 comes with a cluster of crises – economic and constitutional. In a pair of spellbinding TV interviews, the bellicose outgoing PM Rob Muldoon refuses to devalue and Lange responds, enraged. The deputy PM, Jim McLay, summons senior ministers, who plot a high-wire response. Out of the maelstrom, Roger Douglas launches a revolution, to transform New Zealand’s creaking economy from the developed world’s most regulated to its most market embracing.

Including new and exclusive interviews with Jim McLay, Richard Harman, Roger Douglas, Richard Prebble, Stephen Mills, Hekia Parata and Margaret Wilson.

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Juggernaut was made with the support of NZ On Air.

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Fuelled by brandy and fury, Sir Rob Muldoon calls a snap election, sparking a 1984 campaign of contrasts – the menacing, protectionist National PM against the fresh, upbeat Labour leader, David Lange. The pretext for the election is the decision by Marilyn Waring, a young, gay MP, to back an anti-nuclear bill and quit the National caucus, prompting an earful from Muldoon. Lange, meanwhile, is joined at the hip by a hungry would-be finance minister, Roger Douglas. They are about to confront a profound crisis, and launch a revolution.

Includes previously unheard interviews with David Lange from the 84 campaign trail, and new and exclusive interviews with Marilyn Waring, Roger Douglas, Geoffrey Palmer, Richard Prebble, Peter Harris, Margaret Wilson, Bob Harvey and Gary McCormick.

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Juggernaut was made with the support of NZ On Air.

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