Former finance minister Sir Bill Birch dies

Former finance minister Bill Birch has died.

Sir William Birch was 92.

He served 27 years in Parliament. Noted for his grasp of detail and capacity for hard work, he held 15 portfolios in his 12 years in government.

Nicknamed the 'Minister for Everything', Birch's portfolios included Finance, Energy, Labour, and Regional Development.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Birch was a "giant" of the National Party, who "delivered more for our country than he would ever take credit for'.

National MP Andrew Bayly was a friend of Birch's and said he had died on Friday morning in a "family environment".

"Bill's been ill for some time, and unfortunately today he passed on," he told RNZ. "As a friend and mentor to me obviously I'm deeply sad about Bill's passing but it's been wonderful knowing him and learning something from someone who had a lot to offer New Zealand, it's just been a pleasure.

"Everyone remembers the public side of Sir William, or Bill as we all knew him, 27 years in Parliament and I think 17 ministerial positions but prior to going into Parliament he was also in the local burrough council - he was there for nine years and deputy mayor for six of those years - so effectively he did public service for 36 years.

"I knew him as a man as well, he was a great friend of mine and very much concerned about people. And even when I last saw him he was surrounded by grandchildren, he was very much thinking about them, talking about what their lives were about."

He said that was what made Birch so successful as a politician.

"He was very much engaged with people, very caring and kind. And what more can you have in a politician."

Birch would be remembered for reforming the economy in difficult economic times.

"Not always popular but it kind of rejigged, reset the economy back in the 80s and 90s and provided a platform for the economy at that stage ... I think that will be his legacy, the lasting reforms that he did."

He said the family had been receiving best wishes from people and would be making funeral arrangements in due course, but right now just wanted "some quiet time to reflect and celebrate amongst themselves the life of an outstanding New Zealander".

National Party 'titan'

In a statement, National's Party president Sylvia Wood said she acknowledged Sir William's death with "immense sadness".

"Despite three decades of public service, Sir Bill was characteristically modest about his own achievements and reluctant to acknowledge the role he had played in leaving New Zealand better off than when he found it.

"As one biographer observed, he would often spend considerable time talking about the people he had worked alongside until Lady Rosa Birch would quietly remind him, 'Bill was there too, you know'."

She said Sir Bill was a "titan" of the National Party and was "extremely grateful for his commitment to our cause".

"Our thoughts are with his children and the wider family, to whom we offer deepest condolences."

Former prime minister Jenny Shipley says she will remember Bill Birch as someone who was committed to New Zealand.

Shipley, who was the prime minister between 1997 and 1999, said that the country had "lost a giant in New Zealand politics".

She told RNZ that Birch was an extraordinary politician, who was dedicated to good-quality policy, a masterful manager of people, and would not tolerate bad behaviour.

She added that he was always supportive of herself and Bolger as prime minister.

"I very much recall how he was dedicated to supporting Jim Bolger - a close friend and very much a willing partner with Jim - but when I took over, to his great credit, he came and said to me, you know, 'I serve New Zealand, Jenny, and if you have a place for me and there's work you want me to do, I'm here.'

"I can tell you that from day one, it was New Zealand he was committed to working for.

"Every day he was in politics, he was working for New Zealanders."

Shipley said there was many a backbencher that heard the tongue lashing of Birch when they deserved it.

"It was never done unkindly," she added.

He was very loyal to the National Party, Shipley said.

"If you went to Bill's electorate, you would find some of the largest crowds, because he knew what he stood for.

"The people who supported him knew the values that they wished to stand for."

Shipley said his electorate was one of the largest, most loyally supported in New Zealand.

"He, amongst the caucus, set one of the best standards, which I deeply respected as a young member, and I'm pleased to say I sought to replicate it as a member of Parliament," she said.

"I learned a lot from him. I deeply respected him."

Shipley said that modern politicians could learn a lot from Birch.

Career in politics

Born in Hastings in 1934 and educated at Hamilton Technical College, he qualified as a surveyor in 1957. Usually known as Bill, he had his own practice in Pukekohe and served his political apprenticeship in local government. He had twice been Pukekohe's deputy mayor when he retained Franklin for the National Party candidate in the 1972 election that delivered a landslide victory to Labour.

He made an immediate impact in Parliament, despite being a notoriously dull speaker, as a man who was an excellent organiser and administrator. He became a party Whip in 1974, and senior Whip in 1975. By 1978 he was a minister, holding the Energy and National Development portfolios. He was at the centre of the Muldoon government's Think Big policies of state-led industrialisation and energy self-sufficiency, sometimes against Treasury advice.

After National went into Opposition in 1984, Birch was third-ranked and a close adviser to all three party leaders, Sir Robert Muldoon, Jim McLay and Jim Bolger.

When National was returned to government in 1990, Birch presided over the introduction of contentious ahd bitterly opposed legislation such as the Employment Contracts Act and amendments to the accident compensation scheme.

In 1993, he took over Finance from the ousted Ruth Richardson, as well as the Health portfolio, scrapping unpopular proposals for hospital bed charges. When Jenny Shipley seized leadership of the National Party from Jim Bolger in late 1997, it appeared Bill Birch was on the way out but the new prime minister decided she needed him to calm the markets and keep Treasurer Winston Peters in line. The next year he regained full control of Finance when Shipley sacked Winston Peters.

He had announced he would quit Parliament at the 1999 election and kept to his word. He was knighted that year.

Sir William Birch could claim to be the great survivor of New Zealand politics of the late 20th Century. Despite being identified with some of his party's biggest failures in the 1980s, he was still there even as his party's leaders fell.