Biography: MacIntyre, Duncan

In this characteristic December 1970 press photo, Duncan MacIntyre accepts a ride from 17-year-old John Richardson of Papatoetoe. MacIntyre attended the ‘1970 Love Affair’ music festival, organised by the Stormtroopers gang at the Ngāti Ōtara Reserve, to meet and talk to young Māori as minister of Māori Affairs. When Richardson treated MacIntyre to a ‘hair raising’ turn around the reserve on his 650cc Matchless motorcycle, the band launched into the Steppenwolf song ‘Born to be wild’ from the 1969 motorcycle movie Easy Rider. MacIntyre’s presence at Māori gatherings, and willingness to throw himself into the middle of whatever was going on, helped to build his credibility with Māori communities.