Paddy Kearins

Patrick Kearins MBE (14 July 1894 - 7 September 1974)[1] was a Member of Parliament for Waimarino, in the North Island of New Zealand.

Paddy Kearins
MBE
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Waimarino
In office
27 November 1946 – 13 November 1954
Preceded byFrank Langstone
Succeeded byseat abolished
Personal details
Born(1894-07-14)14 July 1894
Died7 September 1974(1974-09-07) (aged 80)
Cambridge, New Zealand
Political partyLabour
SpouseKathleen Mary Levett
Children1

Biography

Early life and career

Kearins was born 14 July 1894 to Patrick Kearins. He became a farmer in Kopaki and in October 1923 he married Kathleen Mary Levett. In 1939 he was appointed a member of the Board of Governors of Massey Agricultural College.[2]

Member of Parliament
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1946–1949 28th Waimarino Labour
1949–1951 29th Waimarino Labour
1951–1954 30th Waimarino Labour

Kearins was the MP for Waimarino in the New Zealand House of Representatives for eight years from 1946 to 1954.[3] Warren Freer described Kearins as a "quiet and sincere" parliamentarian.[4]

In 1947 Kearins was one of three Labour MPs who supported Frank Langstone's contentious proposal that the government make the state-owned Bank of New Zealand the sole legal issuer of bank credit over loans and overdrafts in an attempt to secure state control over the means of exchange. The proposal was rejected as too radical however.[5]

In 1953 Kearins crossed the floor of parliament and voted with the National government to support the Licensing Amendment Bill (No. 2). This Bill proposed that the licensing of the King Country, part of Kearins' electorate, be subject to a referendum.[6][7]

Later in 1953, following an electoral redistribution, Kearins' electorate of Waimarino was abolished and a new electorate of Rotorua established in its place. Rotorua contained the northern part of his former electorate, including the towns of Taupō (which was previously located in Waimarino), Rotorua, and Tokoroa.[8] However, at the candidate selection for Rotorua, Ray Boord won the nomination and was subsequently elected,[9] and "Labour lost its only farming voice... sacrificed by the party machine".[10][11][12][13][14]

Later life and death

Kearins later served as Mayor of Taihape, first elected in 1956.[15] He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal in 1953, and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to local affairs, in the 1970 Queen's Birthday Honours.[3][16]

He died on 7 September 1974, aged 80. He was survived by his wife and daughter.[2]

Notes
  1. "Kearins, Patrick, 1894-1974". Alexander Turnbull Library. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  2. "Former MP Dies at Cambridge". The New Zealand Herald. 9 September 1974. p. 3.
  3. Wilson 1985, p. 209.
  4. Freer 2004, pp. 33.
  5. Verran, David (2004). "Bank Nationalisation and Conscription, 1944 -1949". Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  6. NZPD Vol. 301, pp. 2364–67
  7. Cottrell 1974, pp. 24, 30.
  8. McRobie 1989, pp. 94, 98.
  9. Wilson 1985, p. 184.
  10. Freer 2004, pp. 33, 58.
  11. Taylor 1970, p. 222.
  12. Logan 2008, p. 282.
  13. "RETIREMENT OF MR KEARINS". Press. 29 July 1954. p. 12. Retrieved 28 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
  14. "Party Influence Alleged In Candidate's Selection". The Evening Post. 2 October 1954.
  15. "Mayoral Polls". The Press. 19 November 1956. p. 13.
  16. "No. 45119". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 13 June 1970. p. 6407.

References
  • Cottrell, S. P. (1974). Parliament and Conscience: 1950–1972 (MA). Christchurch: University of Canterbury.
  • Freer, Warren (2004). A Lifetime in Politics: the Memoirs of Warren Freer. Wellington: Victoria University Press.
  • Logan, Mary (2008). Nordy, Arnold Nordmeyer: A Political Biography. Wellington: Steele Roberts.
  • McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
  • Taylor, B. S. (1970). The Expulsion of John A. Lee and its Effects on the Development of the NZ Labour Party (MA). Christchurch: University of Canterbury. OCLC 227226310.
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
  • Wilson, Ormond (1982). An Outsider Looks Back: Reflections on Experience. Wellington: Port Nicholson Press.


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