Aussie Malcolm

Rail

As Associate to Colin McLachlan, Malcolm's focus was on New Zealand Railways. He managed the transition from government department to corporation, upgraded Wellington's commuter services with Hungarian built Ganz-Marvag electric units, electrified commuter services to Paraparaumu and commenced electrification of the main trunk line.^[5][6]

Immigration

Malcolm became involved with immigration as Parliamentary Under Secretary to Jim Bolger in 1977 and continued, as Minister, until 1984.^[7] Malcolm made use of his ministerial discretion to stop dawn raid deportations when children or other exceptional circumstances were involved. The Prime Minister Robert Muldoon publicly disagreed with Malcolm's decision to end legal action against Pacific visa overstayers and Malcolm twice attempted to resign, which Muldoon did not accept. Malcolm's attempts to resign caused Muldoon to publicly u-turn on the issue.^[8]

His response to the Vietnamese refugee crisis was the foundation for New Zealand refugee policies that persist to the present. Seven hundred refugees were taken in from Vietnam, then known as Indochina, by New Zealand.^[9] For both approaches, he received criticism from the political right. Later, by issuing visas to the 1981 Springboks, he received criticism from the political left.^[10] Malcolm was highly interventionist, making individual case decisions and instituting policies some regarded as "quirky" at the time, such as permitting restaurants to employ ethnic chefs, Chinese market gardeners to employ family members to replace their own children who were moving into the professions, the entry of skilled musicians and artists, and the first "entrepreneur" policy.^[11] After widespread review and submissions his new Immigration Bill was to undertake its second reading the night Muldoon announced the snap election in 1984.^{[citation needed]} His legislation re-emerged later as the Labour-sponsored Immigration Act of 1987.^[12]

Tobacco

As the Minister of Health during the 1981–84 National government, Malcolm features in a 1985 tobacco industry document, a report written by a Tobacco Institute of America official who had visited New Zealand. The official was accompanied by Donald Hoel, a lawyer in the US law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon, who worked for the tobacco industry. He negotiated a voluntary agreement restricting tobacco advertising while minister and that the agreement remain in place while a petition of 4,270 signatures calling for the abolition of cigarette advertising was being considered by Parliament.^[13]

The document described a February 1985 lunch meeting attended by Michael Thompson of the Tobacco Institute of New Zealand, people from the tobacco company Rothmans and the local British American Tobacco branch.^{[14][full citation needed]}