October 23, 2025 • 6 mins
Memories were shared of Jim Bolger as a devout Catholic, masterful farmer, family man and exceptional leader.
Colleagues and family shared remembrances of the former Prime Minister, as he was laid to rest in Kapiti today.
Former Prime Ministers, Governor-Generals, iwi leaders and the Māori Queen attended the funeral at Bolger's local parish.
Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper recapped all the tributes.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Barri Soper, Senior Political correspondence with that's hallo Barry, A
good afternoon. He yes, you've been turning into Jim Bolger's funeral.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Yes I have.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
I would have liked to have been there, but you know,
the chaos around the country at the moment. It was
interesting that initially it was going to be at the
Waiknai Catholic Church, which is the church that he's gone
to for a number of years, but they moved it
to part of Pahomu because in fact that's a bigger church.
So the church was full. It takes about five hundred
(00:26):
people and a couple hundred were outside. A lot of
people they were prevented from going because the Wellington Airport
was closed. So and much was made of him during
the eulogies about him leaving school in the fourth form
at fifteen, which was pretty extraordinary when you consider he
(00:47):
went and worked on the farm and became prime minister.
The Prime Minister Chris Luxeon, he led off the tributes
to Jim Bolger, saying what many have about his legacy,
and he was followed by the man who served as
his deputy, Don McKinnon. Here they are.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
He liked to talk. He liked to dram or two
and he was true to his values. But it's his
leadership as Prime Minister that created Jim's enduring political legacy.
Jim himself was a reformer and he said it was
his Irish heritage that helped him understand Maori grievance over
treaty breaches. It was groundbreaking work and it was not
always easy. Politics really is. First came the settlement with Tainui. Then,
(01:27):
in nineteen ninety six, an election year, with public pushback
against the treaty process, Nahoo Settlement pending with polling tight,
national began to waver, but Jim held firm. He knew
the settlements were the right thing to do and New
Zealand is a better place for it and for Jim's
moral certainty. And every government since has walked on the
(01:48):
footprints of Jim and Sir Doug Graham and the team
left behind.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Jim would love this turnout. My thanks to the bulge
of family, all of them, five rows of them. I
think to see them all here today, And thank you
Joan for inviting me to say a few words. It
was to be on behalf of caucus colleagues well over
(02:17):
the time, there were about one hundred caucus colleagues, so
I can guarantee you there are a hundred different views
of Jim Boulger. Luckily you'll get one view today. Others
will have no right of reply.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
And that's true. Domiquinhan was right, of course. The Caucus
in the end in nineteen ninety seven moved against Jim Boulger,
who was replaced, of course by Jenny Shipley, who became
the first female Prime minister in New Zealand. Joan Bulger
was in many ways at Jim's strength, and that was
a parent in the accolade paid to buy his daughter, Bernadette,
(02:58):
the fifth of his nine children.
Speaker 5 (03:00):
Came from a loving family, and he created a loving family.
It was his greatest achievement. Admittedly, I would say that
we've heard a lot about Dad's impressive in full life today.
It's humbling and we're so proud of him. But none
of it would have been possible without Mum. One day
last week, Mum had just got home after spending twelve
hours at the hospital with Dad. Her phone rang. It
(03:23):
was Dad asking if she wanted to go back in
because he missed her. It was a phenomenal partnership to
the very end.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Incredible, wasn't it. And you know Joan Bolgel's course on
the front row today and she would have been proud
of the way, I think, Well, the things that were
said about her husband.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
I would imagine. So listen at Parliament. How much of
a stuff up was this from Madama Davidson.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Well significant actually because it was a bill and if
you've got a bill that was coming up for a
second reading, if you've got a bill, you've got to
be there at the beginning when it's called. Well she wasn't,
She said, she missed it by twenty second. Well twenty seconds.
Well it may be the case, but you've got to
be there.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
That that's true because from the moment that it was called,
to one of the NAT MP's pointing out she wasn't there.
To the speaker then considering what to do about it,
way more than twenty seconds had leapsed.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
She says twenty second. But you know the point is
that if you've got a bill going through Parliament as
this one was, and it was the bill was about
repairs to equipment rights to repair the rights to repair equipment. Well,
it was supported by the Maldi party. It was supported
by the Labor Party and it was supported by New
(04:40):
Zealand First, so it had the numbers. Although it select committee,
they recommended that it go no further and the government's
got the majority it select committee. But if those votes
were held, as chances are, it could have got through.
She's lost it now, so all that work has gone down.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
The gurgle that was so embarrassing it was drawn from
the Biscuit Tin was it was a lot. Oh, how embarrassing, shame. Okay,
what's going on with the nudity speaking.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
About the Biscuit tin. Yeah, Well it was Laura mc McClure,
who's an act MP, and she is welcoming the draw
that would criminalize non consensual sexually explicit deep fakes from
and that came out of the Biscuit Tin so that
will now be read in Parliament. She says that she's
(05:29):
heard from many victims over the years and their lives
have been derailed by these deep fake Her images being
put out on the internet must be terrible. This was
Laura McClure talking in the house about it in parliament
last night.
Speaker 6 (05:46):
Parents, wake up, you guys need to get online yourselves
or check what your children are viewing online. You know,
there is a lot of advocacy groups out there doing
a lot of work. They're calling for regulation and there
may be a case for that, but parents need to
take some responsibility. It is not that hard to find
(06:06):
out what your kids are doing online. There are apps
available right now, free apps where you can monitor your
child's online activity because I can tell you right now
the things that they are seeing online are extremely damaging
and harmful.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Didn't know about those apps?
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Oh, Barry, come on, everybody knows about the good or
Laura calling out parents who are being sloppy here. Thank you,
very appreciate it, very so for seeing your political correspondence.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
For more from Heather Duplessy, Allen Drive, listen live to
news talks that'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
Barri Soper, Senior Political correspondence with that's hallo Barry, A
good afternoon. He yes, you've been turning into Jim Bolger's funeral.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Yes I have.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
I would have liked to have been there, but you know,
the chaos around the country at the moment. It was
interesting that initially it was going to be at the
Waiknai Catholic Church, which is the church that he's gone
to for a number of years, but they moved it
to part of Pahomu because in fact that's a bigger church.
So the church was full. It takes about five hundred
(00:26):
people and a couple hundred were outside. A lot of
people they were prevented from going because the Wellington Airport
was closed. So and much was made of him during
the eulogies about him leaving school in the fourth form
at fifteen, which was pretty extraordinary when you consider he
(00:47):
went and worked on the farm and became prime minister.
The Prime Minister Chris Luxeon, he led off the tributes
to Jim Bolger, saying what many have about his legacy,
and he was followed by the man who served as
his deputy, Don McKinnon. Here they are.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
He liked to talk. He liked to dram or two
and he was true to his values. But it's his
leadership as Prime Minister that created Jim's enduring political legacy.
Jim himself was a reformer and he said it was
his Irish heritage that helped him understand Maori grievance over
treaty breaches. It was groundbreaking work and it was not
always easy. Politics really is. First came the settlement with Tainui. Then,
(01:27):
in nineteen ninety six, an election year, with public pushback
against the treaty process, Nahoo Settlement pending with polling tight,
national began to waver, but Jim held firm. He knew
the settlements were the right thing to do and New
Zealand is a better place for it and for Jim's
moral certainty. And every government since has walked on the
(01:48):
footprints of Jim and Sir Doug Graham and the team
left behind.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Jim would love this turnout. My thanks to the bulge
of family, all of them, five rows of them. I
think to see them all here today, And thank you
Joan for inviting me to say a few words. It
was to be on behalf of caucus colleagues well over
(02:17):
the time, there were about one hundred caucus colleagues, so
I can guarantee you there are a hundred different views
of Jim Boulger. Luckily you'll get one view today. Others
will have no right of reply.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
And that's true. Domiquinhan was right, of course. The Caucus
in the end in nineteen ninety seven moved against Jim Boulger,
who was replaced, of course by Jenny Shipley, who became
the first female Prime minister in New Zealand. Joan Bulger
was in many ways at Jim's strength, and that was
a parent in the accolade paid to buy his daughter, Bernadette,
(02:58):
the fifth of his nine children.
Speaker 5 (03:00):
Came from a loving family, and he created a loving family.
It was his greatest achievement. Admittedly, I would say that
we've heard a lot about Dad's impressive in full life today.
It's humbling and we're so proud of him. But none
of it would have been possible without Mum. One day
last week, Mum had just got home after spending twelve
hours at the hospital with Dad. Her phone rang. It
(03:23):
was Dad asking if she wanted to go back in
because he missed her. It was a phenomenal partnership to
the very end.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Incredible, wasn't it. And you know Joan Bolgel's course on
the front row today and she would have been proud
of the way, I think, Well, the things that were
said about her husband.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
I would imagine. So listen at Parliament. How much of
a stuff up was this from Madama Davidson.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Well significant actually because it was a bill and if
you've got a bill that was coming up for a
second reading, if you've got a bill, you've got to
be there at the beginning when it's called. Well she wasn't,
She said, she missed it by twenty second. Well twenty seconds.
Well it may be the case, but you've got to
be there.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
That that's true because from the moment that it was called,
to one of the NAT MP's pointing out she wasn't there.
To the speaker then considering what to do about it,
way more than twenty seconds had leapsed.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
She says twenty second. But you know the point is
that if you've got a bill going through Parliament as
this one was, and it was the bill was about
repairs to equipment rights to repair the rights to repair equipment. Well,
it was supported by the Maldi party. It was supported
by the Labor Party and it was supported by New
(04:40):
Zealand First, so it had the numbers. Although it select committee,
they recommended that it go no further and the government's
got the majority it select committee. But if those votes
were held, as chances are, it could have got through.
She's lost it now, so all that work has gone down.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
The gurgle that was so embarrassing it was drawn from
the Biscuit Tin was it was a lot. Oh, how embarrassing, shame. Okay,
what's going on with the nudity speaking.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
About the Biscuit tin. Yeah, Well it was Laura mc McClure,
who's an act MP, and she is welcoming the draw
that would criminalize non consensual sexually explicit deep fakes from
and that came out of the Biscuit Tin so that
will now be read in Parliament. She says that she's
(05:29):
heard from many victims over the years and their lives
have been derailed by these deep fake Her images being
put out on the internet must be terrible. This was
Laura McClure talking in the house about it in parliament
last night.
Speaker 6 (05:46):
Parents, wake up, you guys need to get online yourselves
or check what your children are viewing online. You know,
there is a lot of advocacy groups out there doing
a lot of work. They're calling for regulation and there
may be a case for that, but parents need to
take some responsibility. It is not that hard to find
(06:06):
out what your kids are doing online. There are apps
available right now, free apps where you can monitor your
child's online activity because I can tell you right now
the things that they are seeing online are extremely damaging
and harmful.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Didn't know about those apps?
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Oh, Barry, come on, everybody knows about the good or
Laura calling out parents who are being sloppy here. Thank you,
very appreciate it, very so for seeing your political correspondence.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
For more from Heather Duplessy, Allen Drive, listen live to
news talks that'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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