1984 New Zealand constitutional crisis participant Robert Muldoon
Currency crisis
At the time, New Zealand was led by Prime Minister Sir Robert Muldoon and his National Party government. Media speculation followed a leak that a potential incoming Labour government would be likely to significantly devalue the dollar upon election. The Reserve Bank advised Muldoon, who was also the Minister of Finance, that the dollar should be devalued. Muldoon ignored the advice, believing it would hurt poorer New Zealanders in the medium term. In June 1984, as a result of dissension within his own parliamentary caucus, Muldoon announced a snap election to be held in July. This caused an immediate run on the dollar, as currency speculators believed a Labour win would mean devaluation. Despite a deepening foreign exchange crisis, Muldoon continued to refuse to devalue, forcing the Reserve Bank to take some extraordinary steps, such as closing the Forex markets for a short period of time to slow down devaluation.
On 14 July, Muldoon and National lost the general election, and the Fourth Labour government led by David Lange was set to be sworn in on 26 July.