Minister of Finance[edit]
When Douglas was fired by Prime Minister Lange, Caygill was appointed
Minister of Finance in his place. After Lange himself had resigned, Caygill retained his position under both
Geoffrey Palmer and
Mike Moore, Lange's short-lived successors as Prime Minister.
In his last budget as Minister of Finance before retiring,
Caygill lifted the quarantining of rental losses on investment property, allowing an investor to offset losses on their investment property against their other taxable income.
In 1991, a year after the Labour Party had lost office, Caygill was replaced as finance spokesperson by
Michael Cullen, who was more moderate in his economic policies. Caygill continued to hold a senior position in the Labour Party, however, and when
Helen Clark became leader in 1993, Caygill replaced her as deputy leader. At the
1996 elections, Caygill retired from
Parliament. He was replaced as deputy leader by
Michael Cullen.
Life after politics[edit]
After leaving politics, Caygill returned to his original occupation, law. For some time, he was a partner at
Buddle Findlay, a prominent law firm. He also worked for a number of government bodies, and was chair of the
Accident Compensation Corporation. He chaired a ministerial inquiry into the
New Zealand electricity market in 2000, and was appointed chairman of the
Electricity Commission in 2007. He is a board member of the
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. He is the chair of the Education New Zealand Trust.
[4]
In 2010, Caygill was appointed by the National Government as one of the commissioners at Environment Canterbury. He holds the role of deputy chair.
[4] Caygill was appointed, in December 2010, as the Chair of the 2011 NZ ETS Review Panel.
[4]