New Zealand Liberal Party

The Liberal Government also established the basis of the later welfare state, with old age pensions, developed a system for settling industrial disputes, which was accepted by both employers and trade unions.

In 1893 it extended voting rights to women, making New Zealand the first country in the world to enact universal adult suffrage.

To deal with the issue of land distribution, they worked out innovative solutions to access, tenure, and a graduated tax on unimproved values.

In the countryside, the Liberals won support from those farmers who lacked the ability to compete with the large runholders, who monopolised most of the available land.

Both groups saw themselves as being mistreated and oppressed by what had been described as New Zealand's "early colonial gentry" – the well-educated and aristocratic land-owners and commercial magnates.

It was this group that most strongly opposed the Liberal Party, denouncing its policies as an attempt by the unsuccessful to rob the prosperous.

This was made possible by their unity – previously, reforms had stalled due to the need for long and complex negotiations to win support from individual MPs.

[15][16] Many of the Liberal Party's policies were described as "socialist" by both its opponents and sympathetic international observers such as André Siegfried and Albert Métin, but there is debate over whether this label is valid.

Many historians have claimed that the Liberal Party's policies were based more on pragmatism than on ideology, although politicians such as Ballance and Reeves definitely had theories behind their actions.

It is believed that Ballance wished Robert Stout, a colleague known for his liberal views, to succeed him, but in the end, the leadership passed to Richard Seddon.

Although Seddon went on to become New Zealand's longest serving Prime Minister, he was not as highly regarded by the Liberal Party as he was by the general public.

Ballance had been a strong supporter of the suffrage movement, having proclaimed his belief in the "absolute equality of the sexes", but Seddon was opposed.

William Pember Reeves, now the party's foremost theorist, promoted a number of other similar reforms including the world's first compulsory system of state arbitration.

These measures eventually formed the basis on which the Labour Party's Michael Joseph Savage built the modern NZ welfare state.

They believed a truly democratic society had to rest on the foundations of an independent land-owning class of small farmers, as opposed to large farms with hired help, or urban factories.

The government also purchased 1.3 million acres (5,300 km2) from large estate holders for subdivision and closer settlement by small farmers.

The Advances to Settlers Act of 1894 provided low-interest mortgages, while the Agriculture Department disseminated information on the best farming methods.

[33] In 1909, the conservative opposition (led by William Massey) established the Reform Party, a united organisation to challenge the Liberals.

In 1912, Sir Joseph Ward stepped down and was replaced by Thomas Mackenzie, who defeated George Laurenson by 22 votes to 9 (John A. Millar did not stand in this leadership ballot on 22 March).

[37][38][39] The Liberals adopted a number of new policies in an attempt to win back votes, including an increase in land tax (supported by the labour movement) and the introduction of proportional representation, with Grey Lynn MP George Fowlds' Proportional Representation And Effective Voting Bill 1911 (86–1).

Several leadership changes – back to Ward in mid-1912, to William MacDonald and then Thomas Wilford in 1920, and to George Forbes in 1925 – failed to revive the party's fortunes.

[42][43] Key: Liberal Conservatives Reform PM: Prime Minister LO: Leader of the Opposition †: Died in office