Muldoon, Sir Robert David

Muldoon, Sir Robert David, 1921–92, New Zealand political leader, prime minister (1975–84). Originally a public accountant, he entered parliament in 1960 as a member of the conservative National party and served (1967–72) as finance minister. He was briefly (1972) deputy prime minister and from 1974 to 1975 was leader of the opposition. Muldoon led his party to victory in the 1975 elections and served in the dual positions of prime minister and finance minister. He attempted to spur economic growth through tax cuts, subsidies to industry, and other basically conservative measures, but growth proved slow and inflation and unemployment marked the years of his tenure. In the 1984 elections the National party lost to Labour, led by leader David Lange. Muldoon was knighted in 1984 and resigned from parliament in 1991.