-Caveat Lector-

New WTO chief a committed left-winger with a way with words

AUCKLAND, July 20 (AFP) - Mike Moore, who will head the World Trade
Organisation (WTO) for the next three years, is a committed left-winger who
has worked at everything from builder's labourer to prime minister.
But the 50-year-old New Zealander also has an unfortunate way with words.

He admits that his seemingly endless flow of ideas -- known as "Moorespeak"
-- do not always come out the way he intends.

Moore was also an unlucky prime minister, serving for just 10 weeks before
his Labour Party suffered a crushing election defeat in October 1990. But he
has also been foreign minister and trade minister, energetically pushing a
free commerce agenda.

The new chief trade regulator, worked briefly as a "freezing worker" in a
meat-processing factory. He says in his autobiography that he left school at
15 and was also a social worker, builder's labourer and printer.

But since 1972, when he was the youngest ever MP, he has devoted himself to
Labour Party left-wing politics.

His appointment to the WTO will come as a relief to Labour chief Helen Clark
who staged a coup against Moore's leadership in 1993. At the time he called
her a "chardonnay socialist".

Even a struggle against cancer did little to blunt Moore's passion for
politics and he has continued to hover on the fringes of a leadership return.

Moore speaks from the heart. But his style is erratic, emotional and
frequently just illogical. After making a deal over taxes, Moore said he felt
like a Bosnian Muslim whose "village has been raided, my goat impregnated, my
farmhouse burned down".

He says he is motivated by injustice and a desire to make things fair.

"I get incoherent with anger sometimes and it shows, unfortunately, when I
see some of the things that happen in this country and happened in my
background which have not been fair."

Moore admits his passion and voracious appetite for new ideas can make him
appear muddled.

"At times it's fair comment. I'm not an academic in the sense of the
discipline of doing 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and I do forget that other people may not
have followed the same thought process to arrive at the same situation."

Moore has written eight books including his autobiography "Hard Labour",
which stressed his apparent childhood poverty, living underneath a shop in
Auckland where holes were drilled in the floor to let out floodwater from a
nearby river.

He often fudges the fact, however, that he went to one of the country's best
high schools, Dilworth. He became involved in the Labour Party while still a
teenager.

He first entered parliament in 1972 in a Labour landslide, but said losing
his seat three years later was a major blow in his life. In 1978, in a
different seat, he returned to parliament and has never left.

When David Lange became prime minister Moore became overseas trade minister.
He has always been a strong campaigner for free trade and in his post
constantly tramped the world stage touting his ideas -- and New Zealand jobs.

Lange stepped down in 1988 and Geoffrey Palmer became an immensely unpopular
prime minister. Ten weeks out from an inevitable election defeat Palmer
stepped down and Moore led the party into a wipe-out. When it became clear
Moore could not deliver a victory in 1993, Clark took over the leadership.

Moore is married to a radio show host, Yvonne. The couple have no children.



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