Jonathan Hunt (New Zealand politician)

Summary

Jonathan Lucas Hunt ONZ PC (2 December 1938 – 8 March 2024) was a New Zealand politician and diplomat. He started a 38-year parliamentary career as the Baby of the House and retired as Father of the House. During that tenure, he was Speaker of the House of Representatives. Afterwards, he served as New Zealand's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2005 to March 2008. He was a member of the Order of New Zealand, New Zealand's highest civilian honour, and given the nickname "Minister for Wine and Cheese" for enjoying those items.[1]

Jonathan Hunt
Hunt in 2006
28th High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
In office
April 2005 – March 2008
Prime MinisterHelen Clark
Preceded byRussell Marshall
Succeeded byDerek Leask
26th Speaker of the House of Representatives
In office
20 December 1999 – 3 March 2005
Prime MinisterHelen Clark
Preceded byDoug Kidd
Succeeded byMargaret Wilson
16th Minister of Housing
In office
14 August 1989 – 2 November 1990
Prime MinisterGeoffrey Palmer
Mike Moore
Preceded byHelen Clark
Succeeded byJohn Luxton
27th Minister of Tourism
In office
10 January 1988 – 14 August 1989
Prime MinisterDavid Lange
Geoffrey Palmer
Preceded byHelen Clark
Succeeded byFran Wilde
3rd Leader of the House
In office
24 August 1987 – 2 November 1990
Prime MinisterDavid Lange
Geoffrey Palmer
Mike Moore
Preceded byGeoffrey Palmer
Succeeded byPaul East
50th Postmaster-General
In office
26 July 1984 – 24 August 1987
Prime MinisterDavid Lange
Preceded byRob Talbot
Succeeded byRichard Prebble
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for New Lynn
In office
26 November 1966 – 12 October 1996
Preceded byRex Mason
Succeeded byPhil Goff
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Labour party list
In office
12 October 1996 – 31 March 2005
Succeeded byLesley Soper[a]
Personal details
Born
Jonathan Lucas Hunt

(1938-12-02)2 December 1938
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Died8 March 2024(2024-03-08) (aged 85)
Political partyLabour
ProfessionHigh school teacher

Early life edit

Hunt was born in Lower Hutt, but grew up in Palmerston North. He had a twin brother, David, who died four days after they were born.[1] Hunt's father was a child welfare officer, reassigned to the Manawatu in 1942. Hunt was educated at Palmerston North Boys' High School and later Auckland Grammar School; later he enrolled at the University of Auckland, where he gained a BA (Hons) degree in history.[2]

In 1958, Hunt was elected editor of the Auckland University Students' Association's (AUSA) Craccum magazine for the 1959 year. While at University Hunt is also credited with founding the Princes Street Labour branch. He was a 'radio quiz kid' and in 1963 he toured South-East Asia with a Rotary group of Young New Zealanders.[3]

After graduating, Hunt became a History, English and Latin teacher from 1961 to 1966 at Kelston Boys High School in West Auckland where he also coached cricket.[1] He was then a university tutor. Hunt also had a long-standing relationship with the Department of Political Studies at the University, which for many years has collected and archived Hunt's personal and professional papers. Hunt lived in Karekare on Auckland's west coast and he was well known for his passionate interest in the sport of cricket.[4] He was the secretary of the Auckland Secondary Schools' Cricket Association.[3]

Member of Parliament edit

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
1966–1969 35th New Lynn Labour
1969–1972 36th New Lynn Labour
1972–1975 37th New Lynn Labour
1975–1978 38th New Lynn Labour
1978–1981 39th New Lynn Labour
1981–1984 40th New Lynn Labour
1984–1987 41st New Lynn Labour
1987–1990 42nd New Lynn Labour
1990–1993 43rd New Lynn Labour
1993–1996 44th New Lynn Labour
1996–1999 45th List 7 Labour
1999–2002 46th List 6 Labour
2002–2005 47th List 3 Labour

In 1966 at age 27, Hunt was offered to replace the retiring Rex Mason in Auckland's New Lynn electorate. This being a safe Labour electorate, Hunt was effectively given a seat in parliament, and he became the Baby of the House as the only MP still in their 20s.[b][1] Hunt was to later write a biography of Mason for the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography.[6][7] He remained MP for New Lynn until 1996, when he became a list MP after losing in Tamaki to National's Clem Simich.[8][9] Hunt was returned twice more as a list MP; losing Waitakere to National's Brian Neeson in the 1999 election[10][11] and as a list-only candidate in the 2002 election.[12]

In mid-January 1970, United States Vice President Spiro Agnew visited Wellington. Hunt along with several other Labour Members of Parliament including Bob Tizard, Arthur Faulkner and Martyn Finlay boycotted the state dinner to protest American policy in Vietnam. Other Labour MPs, including Opposition Leader Norman Kirk attended the function which dealt with the Nixon Doctrine.[13]

Hunt was appointed junior government whip upon Labour's victory in 1972 election.[14] He was later promoted further in 1974 by Prime Minister Bill Rowling to the position of Chairman of Committees.[15] As Chairman of Committees he had the responsibility of deputising for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the 67 year old Stan Whitehead. Whitehead was in ill-health and Hunt acted on his behalf more than he had expected to. When Whitehead suffered a heart attack in the last parliamentary session of 1975 Hunt was nearly drafted to replace him as Speaker, though Whitehead was to make a recovery.[4] Hunt was a contributor to major parliamentary reforms which saw Parliamentary Service and the Office of the Clerk of the New Zealand House of Representatives were separated.[16]

After the shock defeat of the Rowling government in the 1975 general election, Hunt was appointed to Rowling's shadow cabinet and designated as Shadow Minister of Health in 1976.[17] He left the shadow cabinet, at his own request, in 1979 with the intention of setting himself up to become Speaker of the House should Labour win the next election.[18] Labour did not win and in the next parliamentary term he was senior whip and Shadow Minister of Broadcasting.[19][20]

Cabinet Minister edit

During the Fourth Labour Government he served as Postmaster-General, Minister of Broadcasting, Minister of Tourism and Minister of Housing.[1] He had chaired the caucus committee on restructuring the broadcasting industry in 1973 which was uncompleted. On becoming Minister of Broadcasting in 1984, he said the idea would not be resurrected but reaffirmed his intention to fulfil Labour's manifesto to establish a Maori and Pacific Island radio station, ban commercials on the concert and national radio programmes and aiding the establishment of privately owned television stations.[4] Hunt worked on the Adult Adoption Information Act 1985, which enabled adults who were adopted as children to find out who their birth parents were as well as allowing birth mothers to learn about their adopted adult children.[6] In the Tourism portfolio he was deeply involved with restructuring New Zealand's wine industry, which laid the foundation for New Zealand's global reputation for good quality wine.[16] As Postmaster-General the New Zealand Post Office was heavily affected by the government's free-market reforms. The government closed 432 post offices with mass staff layoffs which caused community outrage. Hunt was loathe to implement such reforms, seeing them as a contradiction to Labour Party ideology. His reluctance to make such decisions meant that Stan Rodger, the Minister of State Services, ended up deciding on them.[21]

After the 1987 election, the cabinet was reshuffled in which he lost the broadcasting and Postmaster-General portfolios and instead designated Leader of the House. This left him without a department to administer which saw his salary reduced by $19,200 per annum, leading to opposition leader Jim Bolger to label Hunt's position as "sinecure", much to Hunt's displeasure. He eventually was given extra portfolios of tourism, housing and broadcasting during the course of the term.[22] During his second period as Broadcasting minister he followed through with his pledge in aiding the establishment of privately owned television stations. He approved the licence for TV3, New Zealand's first commercial television channel, to begin operations in November 1989.[23] He was responsible for the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1989 which established NZ On Air, an organisation responsible for funding support for local broadcasting and creative works.[16]

During the divisions of the Fourth Labour Government's second term, Hunt generally supported Prime Minister David Lange over the finance minister Roger Douglas.[24] Hunt was famed for his kindness and willingness to accommodate conflicting points of view. He was described by Douglas ally Richard Prebble as the "20 stone straw in the wind" in reference to both his weight and agreeableness.[21] In 1989, Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer nominated Hunt a member of the Privy Council in recognition of his long service to Parliament.[25]

Upon the retirement of Sir Robert Muldoon, Hunt was the longest-serving member of Parliament between 1991 and 2005, earning him the unofficial title of 'Father of the House'. He assumed the title of 'father' to the delight of colleagues given his status as a lifelong bachelor.[26]

In opposition again from 1990, Hunt was senior opposition whip, Shadow Leader of the House and Shadow Minister of Housing under leader Mike Moore.[27] Hunt supported Helen Clark in her successful leadership bid against Moore, after which he remained senior whip and Shadow Leader of the House.[28]

Speaker of the House of Representatives edit

Hunt was elected Speaker unopposed when the fifth Labour government came to power in 1999.[29] Hunt had previously served as Chairman of Committees from 1974 to 1975 which had since been rebranded as the Deputy-Speaker. Hunt became the eighth Chairman of Committees to later serve as Speaker. He retained his position following the election in 2002 serving in total as Speaker for six years from 1999–2005.[1] Clark believed Hunt as a good speaker who had an impeccable knowledge of standing orders and parliamentary procedures. He also had good strong working relationship with the Clerk of the House, David McGee, and together ran a "pretty tight ship."[16]

High Commissioner to the United Kingdom edit

In December 2004, it was announced that he would retire from politics and replace Russell Marshall as New Zealand High Commissioner in London, a move that had long been anticipated. He was replaced as Speaker by Margaret Wilson on 3 March 2005 and left Parliament on 30 March, the day that he gave his valedictory in parliament.[5] In his valedictory speech he thanked many people and stated that he thought that his success in this Parliament was fighting for and finally getting the Adult Adoption Information Act passed in 1985.

As a list MP, his vacant parliamentary seat was filled by the next available candidate on the Labour Party list, Lesley Soper.[30]

Some controversy arose in mid-2005, when not long after he arrived in London, Hunt was told publicly by the New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark that he could not apply for the U.K. pension as it was not appropriate given his position of New Zealand High Commissioner and the fact that he was already collecting a New Zealand parliamentary pension.[31]

On 21 November 2007, the New Zealand Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, announced that the next High Commissioner to London would be Derek Leask from March 2008.[32]

Personal life edit

 
Hunt (right) and Australian cricket captain Allan Border in 1986.

Hunt never married or had any children. In a 2005 interview he stated not doing so was his biggest regret, thinking that splitting his life between Auckland and Wellington would be an unfair burden to be foisted upon family members.[21] Hunt was the patron of the University of Auckland Debating Society.[33] He was a lifelong enthusiast of the sport of cricket and was an administrator of the sport for many years.[3] He was a fan of classical music.[16]

Hunt died on 8 March 2024, at the age of 85.[16][34]

Honours edit

In 1977, Hunt was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal and in 1990, the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.[35] In the 2005 New Year Honours, Hunt was appointed a Member of the Order of New Zealand.[36]

Documentary edit

Hunt was also the subject of a documentary, Father of the House, directed by Simon Burgin and Xavier Forde, which was filmed in Wellington in 2005.[37]

Notes edit

  1. ^ Normally, list MPs do not have individual predecessors or successors, but Hunt resigned during a sitting parliament and therefore was succeeded by Soper.
  2. ^ Brian MacDonell, born 1935, was the next-youngest MP at the time.[5]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f "More than just wine and cheese". Stuff.co.nz. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  2. ^ Hill, Alan (12 November 1969). "Labour Seems Entrenched in the West". The New Zealand Herald. p. 16.
  3. ^ a b c "Labour Party Candidate for New Lynn". The Evening Post. 9 May 1966. p. 11.
  4. ^ a b c "Roles Please Mr Hunt". The New Zealand Herald. 27 July 1984. p. 16.
  5. ^ a b "Hunt, Jonathan". New Zealand Parliament. 30 March 2005. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Former Labour Party MP Jonathan Hunt dies aged 85". Radio New Zealand. 8 March 2024. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  7. ^ Hunt, Jonathan. "Mason, Henry Greathead Rex". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  8. ^ "Part III – Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Tamaki 47" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Waitakare 56". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  12. ^ "Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  13. ^ Rabel, Roberto (2005). New Zealand and the Vietnam War: Politics and Diplomacy. Auckland: Auckland University Press. pp. 299–300. ISBN 1-86940-340-1.
  14. ^ Wilson 1985, pp. 279–80.
  15. ^ Wilson 1985, pp. 251–252.
  16. ^ a b c d e f "Former Labour Party MP Jonathan Hunt remembered as a great NZ parliamentarian". Radio New Zealand. 9 March 2024. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  17. ^ "Surprises Among Party Spokesmen". The New Zealand Herald. 30 January 1976. p. 10.
  18. ^ "Heads of Labour Posts Named". The New Zealand Herald. 15 December 1979. p. 12.
  19. ^ "How They Line-up". The New Zealand Herald. 20 February 1982. p. 3.
  20. ^ "Labour leader allocates responsibilities". The Press. 17 March 1983. p. 3.
  21. ^ a b c Harman, Richard (11 March 2024). "The Great Parliamentarian Who Was Not So Good at Politics". Politik. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  22. ^ Bassett 2008, p. 284.
  23. ^ Malthus, Nigel (30 March 1989). "New television channel on air in November". The Press. p. 3.
  24. ^ Bassett 2008, pp. 462.
  25. ^ Bassett 2008, p. 516.
  26. ^ Bassett 2008, pp. 541.
  27. ^ "All Labour's 29 MPs get areas of responsibility". Otago Daily Times. 28 November 1990. p. 4.
  28. ^ "The Labour Shadow Cabinet". The Dominion. 14 December 1993. p. 2.
  29. ^ "Retired MP wont sit on the bench". Western Leader. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  30. ^ "New list MP for Labour Party" (Press release). Electoral Commission. 4 April 2005. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  31. ^ "Hunt not allowed British pension". Television New Zealand. 3 May 2005. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  32. ^ New Zealand High Commission web site
  33. ^ "UoA Debating Society". Debating.co.nz. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  34. ^ "The Right Honourable Jonathan Lucas Hunt". The New Zealand Herald. 13 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  35. ^ Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. p. 194. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
  36. ^ "New Year honours list 2005". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2004. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  37. ^ "FATHER OF THE HOUSE". Ngā Taonga. Retrieved 8 March 2024.

Works cited edit

  • Bassett, Michael (2008). Working with David: Inside the Lange Cabinet. Auckland, NZ: Hodder Moa. ISBN 978-1-86971-094-1.
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington, NZ: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

External links edit

  •   Media related to Jonathan Hunt at Wikimedia Commons
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Member of Parliament for New Lynn
1966–1996
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Chairman of Committees of the House of Representatives
1974–1975
Succeeded by
Preceded by Postmaster-General
1984–1987
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Broadcasting
1984–1987

1988–1990
Preceded by Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the House
1987–1990
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Tourism
1988–1989
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Housing
1989–1990
Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Leader of the House
1990–1999
Succeeded by
Preceded by Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives
1999–2005
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Senior Whip of the Labour Party
1980–1984

1990–1996
Succeeded by
Preceded by Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
2005–2008
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Father of the House
1991–2005
Succeeded by