Monday, March 28, 2011

'Peter Fraser at War’ by Gerald Hensley

Ministry of Culture & Heriatge Public Talk 
Time: Wednesday 6th April at 12.15 – 1.15pm

Place: Te Wharenui meeting room, ground floor, Radio New Zealand House, 155 The Terrace, Wellington

This talk outlines how Peter Fraser handled the greatest crisis New Zealand has ever faced and, in doing so, became New Zealand’s greatest Prime Minister. Despite an autocratic nature and an indifference to administrative skills, he managed the home front and early military disasters with notable calm and won the respect of both Churchill and Roosevelt for his ability to work with our wartime allies. Through the day-to-day emergencies he never lost sight of the ultimate aim of the war and made a notable contribution to the post-war world and the establishment of the United Nations.

Gerald Hensley trained as an historian before he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He served there for 20 years and was then appointed Permanent Head of the Prime Minister’s Department. In that role he worked for Sir Robert Muldoon and David Lange before becoming Coordinator for Domestic and External Security and later Secretary of Defence.
He is author of ‘Beyond the Battlefield – New Zealand and its Allies 1939-45’.

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