Robert Muldoon; Headed New Zealand
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Former Prime Minister Robert D. Muldoon, the onetime leader of New Zealand’s conservative National Party, died today at the age of 70.
His wife, Thea, said Muldoon had been admitted to a Wellington hospital Tuesday and died in his sleep this morning. She did not reveal a cause of death.
“That is the end of an era,” Prime Minister Jim Bolger said. “He’ll be remembered as a very strong, very vigorous politician.”
Muldoon, who was prime minister from 1975 to 1984, dominated the New Zealand political scene for a long period, Bolger said.
He succeeded Labor Prime Minister Wallace Rowling but was defeated nine years later by Laborite David Lange in elections highlighted by New Zealand’s determination to ban nuclear-armed ships from its ports.
The economy also was at issue. During Muldoon’s tenure the New Zealand dollar had lost more than half its value and banks were pressuring the stubborn leader to devalue the nation’s currency.
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