Fighter for free trade will be sorely missed

February 3, 2020

Many farmers will remember Mike Moore as a man who rolled up his sleeves to fight for global trade liberalisation and making things better for New Zealanders in general.

“He was brimming with talent and positivity and wasn’t afraid to stick his neck out,” Federated Farmers President Katie Milne said.  “Who can forget his tireless efforts to promote the lamb burger?  He took quite a bit of stick for that but was ahead of his time in terms of creating markets for our products.”

For his roles with the World Trade Organisation and as our ambassador to the United States he was away from the home shores he loved, but he continued to strive for the interests of Kiwis.

“I was luckily enough to be seated next to him at a function years ago.  He had an incredible grasp of trade and its complexities around positioning free trade.  He gave me many great insights; it was a privilege to have someone of his calibre willing to invest in me more than my fair share of his time that night,” Katie said.

“He left a strong impression and brought home to me how important it is to be apolitical on those issues that are crucial for the wider good of New Zealand, and actually also for the Pacific and developing nations.”

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