“He devoted his life to free the world from unhappiness, tyranny and oppression,” reads Harry Holland’s memorial in Wellington. Militant unionist, socialist agitator, writer and organiser, Holland was a firebrand leader of workers — in Australia, where he was jailed for sedition during the Broken Hill miners’ strike of 1909 — in Aotearoa NZ, from his arrival during the 1912 Waihi Strike, to his death at the tangi of the Maori King in 1933. Elected an MP in 1918 and NZ Labour Party leader from 1919 to 1933, Holland was the “compassionate champion of the common people.” He campaigned against military conscription and war, forged a political alliance with Maori, supported strikes by indentured labourers in Fiji, defended the Samoan Mau movement against the NZ colonial administration, and condemned the mass layoffs and wage-cutting during the Great Depression.