[1] He stressed the need for regional economic development, and affirmed New Zealand's solidarity with Australia in adopting an independent and mutually beneficial foreign policy.

[3] He promoted racial equality at home and abroad; his government prevented the South African rugby team from touring New Zealand during 1973.

However, his government has been criticised for the launching of the Dawn Raids, the aggressive crackdown on alleged overstayers that near-exclusively targeted Pasifika New Zealanders.

[8] In private, he suffered from effects of obesity and work exhaustion; his health rapidly deteriorated in the winter of 1974, and he died suddenly on 31 August that year.

His death shocked the nation and led to an outpouring of grief; he is the most recent New Zealand prime minister to die in office.

Owing to his energy, charisma and powerful oratory, as well as his untimely death, Kirk remains one of the most popular New Zealand prime ministers.

Born in Waimate, a town in South Canterbury, New Zealand, Norman Kirk came from a poor background, and his household could not afford things such as daily newspapers or a radio.

[9] His father, also named Norman Kirk, was a carpenter, while his mother Vera Janet (née Jury) had migrated from the Wairarapa.

It was also claimed that Kirk had Māori relatives, which is true at least through his great-niece Jo Luxton, the current Member of the House of Representatives for Rangitata.

[12][13] While Kirk never denied being Māori, a study of his genealogy found no evidence he was Kāi Tahu and he never publicly identified himself as such.. His parents were staunch Salvationists, who worshipped at the Christchurch City Corps.

[9] After leaving school, Kirk worked in a number of jobs, initially as an assistant roof-painter and later as a stationary engine driver, operating boilers in various factories.

Kirk bought a 1,261 m2 (13,570 sq ft) section at 12 Carew Street for just NZ£40 (compared to today's land valuation of NZ$126,000).

[18] Owing to a shortage of funds and building materials following World War II, Kirk built the house himself entirely, right down to the casting of the bricks.

In 1953, Kirk led Labour to a surprising victory in elections for Kaiapoi's local council, and he became the youngest mayor in the country at age 30.

He then turned his attention to winning nomination in the seat of Lyttelton, which Labour surprisingly lost to the National Party in a previous election.

[15] Throughout his political career, Kirk promoted the welfare state, supporting government spending for housing, health, employment, and education.

As leader Kirk assembled a more formal shadow cabinet system amongst the Labour caucus than had been seen in the past wishing to boost the profile of his senior MPs.

[24] Using the slogan "Make things happen",[25] Kirk led Labour into the 1969 general election — the party did not win a majority, but it did increase both its share of the vote and number of seats to 44.2% and 39.

In particular, the Kirk government had a far more active foreign policy than its predecessor, taking great trouble to expand New Zealand's links with Asia and Africa.

[32] Two subjects in particular caused comment; one: Kirk's strong protest against French nuclear-weapons testing in the Pacific Ocean which led to his government, along with Australia, taking France to the International Court of Justice in 1972 and him sending two New Zealand navy frigates, HMNZS Canterbury and Otago, into the test zone area at Mururoa Atoll in a symbolic act of protest in 1973.

[36] Christchurch hosted the 1974 Commonwealth Games which had a colourful opening ceremony, seen by many commentators as a festival celebrating New Zealand's new sense of self-confidence and optimism.

[37] The government began the Ohu scheme of communal work groupings in rural areas, allowing committed people (particularly Māori) to return to the land for their livelihood.

Kirk ignored advice from several doctors and from Bob Tizard and Warren Freer to "take care of himself" and to reduce his heavy consumption of Coca-Cola and alcohol (beer, plus later whisky or gin), saying he would have a "short but happy life".

Doctors and colleagues were urging him to take time off; on 15 August he decided to stay off work for two days, and continued to have problems on his return.

[44] On 26 August 1974, Social Credit leader Bruce Beetham advised Kirk to take a couple of months off to recover,[45] and the Prime Minister decided to have six weeks of complete rest.

He had been checked over by many doctors, and an examination by Professor Tom O'Donnell on 27 August confirmed that Kirk had an enlarged heart, gravely weakened by embolisms, which was not pumping regularly enough to get sufficient oxygen into his bloodstream.

[52] The New Zealand pop band Ebony wrote the song "Big Norm", featuring tongue-in-cheek lyrics praising Kirk.