NZ WI: Labour Wins 1954 Election

The 1954 New Zealand election is not very well known or an important turning point. However, I found it was closer than I thought, with the governing National Party having won the popular vote by just 0.2%. If all seats that National got a majority of 720 or less in Labour under Walter Nash would be the government with 41 seats to 39 for National. How would a Second Labour Government three years early do? Presumably there would be no Black Budget as I'm pretty sure the balance and payments crisis that led to it had not started yet. How would the 1950s be altered? How would this alter New Zealand politics? What would be the effects? What if?
 
The 1954 New Zealand election is not very well known or an important turning point. However, I found it was closer than I thought, with the governing National Party having won the popular vote by just 0.2%. If all seats that National got a majority of 720 or less in Labour under Walter Nash would be the government with 41 seats to 39 for National. How would a Second Labour Government three years early do? Presumably there would be no Black Budget as I'm pretty sure the balance and payments crisis that led to it had not started yet. How would the 1950s be altered? How would this alter New Zealand politics? What would be the effects? What if?
Even with Nash in charge it's likely that there would still be budgetary issues due to the draw down from WW2.
However without Holland it's possible PAYE would never have been implemented.
Holland also created the Tourist Hotel Corporation so maybe NZ would be more focused on the primary industries although it's seems unlikely that NZ doesn't become a tourism destination.

I would say ultimately New Zealand looks very much the same as it does today with the possible exception of us having to deal with yearly income tax instead of PAYE.
 
Top