The Guardian 26 January, 2005
Obituary: Bill Andersen
It is with sadness that we report the death of Bill Andersen, General Secretary of the Socialist Party of Aotearoa on Wednesday January 19 at the age of 80. We have known Bill for many years as a staunch, dedicated and principled leader of the Party.
He was a "man of the people" always working, without hesitation, in and for their interests. He always kept very close to the working people and was able to easily mix with the working people and was one of them.
Bill was a dedicated Marxist and worked to apply Marxism to the reality of Aotearoa and to the world around us. In this he came forward with creative ideas and conclusions which were always of interest and added to our understanding of the issues which we all face in common.
Bill was always an internationalist and was dedicated to the task of building the unity of the international communist and workers' movements. In particular he maintained strong and active relations with the working class movement of Australia where he was well-known and very widely respected.
His main area of work was in the trade union movement and was, for many years, the leader of the Drivers' Union. He worked to build the unity of progressive unions. With the amalgamation of different sections, Comrade Andersen became President of the National Distribution Union (NDU). The fact that Bill was re-elected many times to leadership of the NDU indicates the confidence of union members in his leadership.
Bill played a leading part in the 151-day waterfront strike of 1951 and condemned the anti-trade union legislation of that time which was used to break of strike of New Zealand's waterfront workers.
Comrade Bill Andersen was also strongly committed to help win the rights of the Indigenous Maori people of Aotearoa.
The Guardian extends its sincerest sympathy to Bill's family, to all his comrades and many friends and supporters around the world.
Vale Bill Andersen!