Mike Moore helped change the face of NZ sport

News of Mike Moore's death is a reminder of the role he played in the sporting society we enjoy in New Zealand now.

Whatever else he may have done in his political career, there is no doubting the stamp he made on sport and recreation as we know it.

For years before the 1984 Labour Government came to power, sport had been struggling for official recognition, and help, from governments in general.

Norman Kirk's 1972-75 Labour Government had brought in a scheme for Recreation and Sport, geared just as much towards non-sporting activities as those of a sporting nature but it was really only recognition of programmes and schemes to get people exercising.

But as New Zealanders began to broaden their sporting capabilities and to take part in more regular overseas competition the pressure went on for some form of government recognition and assistance.

When Moore vigorously sought the job of Minister of Sport and Recreation in 1984, he soon put in place the Sport on the Move study, chaired by Sir Ron Scott, and which eventually transformed the involvement of government in Sport.

No surprises that Scott and his team suggested dramatic overhaul of the sports system in New Zealand. The Hillary Commission was established, still attempting to achieve a balance between sport and recreation, but definitely improving the life of sports people in general and helping them with funding in their endeavours.

Once the system became a little more self-sustaining with the advent of Lotto as a fund-raiser for sport and the arts, New Zealand was a significant step forward in pulling back their ability to compete with other countries. It didn't hurt that Labour's move was on the back of the highly-successful 1984 Olympic Games which put sports like canoeing and yachting, make that wind-surfing, more in the mainstream than they had been previously.

Out of those beginnings arose the even more influential structure of Sport New Zealand and High Performance Sport New Zealand which would only ever have been a dream under the pre-1984 system.

Much of the sporting environment in New Zealand nowadays is a direct result of the first steps put in place by Mike Moore and he deserves to be acknowledged by sports people across the board for those initiatives. It is all too easy for politicians to glad hand their way into sport to push their own cause.

But Moore saw a desperate need and did something about it.

It is more than likely that a generation having grown up with all the modern benefits laid on have no comprehension of just how different things might have been without the boldness of Moore's approach. 

They have possibly never heard of Mike Moore but they, and those in the future, should be ever thankful for his contribution. He was a facilitator. He was hardly a sportsman, possibly not even a sports fan, but he understood the need and he did something about it.