Richard Walls | |
---|---|
52nd Mayor of Dunedin | |
In office 14 October 1989 – 14 October 1995 | |
Preceded by | Cliff Skeggs |
Succeeded by | Sukhi Turner |
Member of the
New Zealand Parliament for Dunedin North | |
In office 29 November 1975 – 25 November 1978 | |
Preceded by | Ethel McMillan |
Succeeded by | Stan Rodger |
Personal details | |
Born | Richard Francis Walls 9 October 1937 Dunedin, New Zealand |
Died | 30 October 2011 Dunedin, New Zealand | (aged 74)
Political party | National |
Spouse | June Walls |
Children | 3 |
Richard Francis Walls QSO JP (9 October 1937 – 30 October 2011) was a New Zealand politician and businessman.
Years | Term | Electorate | Party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1975–78 | 38th | Dunedin North | National |
Walls was a Member of Parliament for Dunedin North from 1975 to 1978. [1] A member of the National Party, he won the normally safe Labour seat as part of Robert Muldoon's landslide victory of 1975. He was the first National MP to represent a significant portion of Dunedin, a long-standing Labour stronghold, in 21 years. Walls was defeated after only one term by Labour's Stan Rodger; to date, he is the last National MP to represent Dunedin.
Following his defeat, Walls attempted to re-enter parliament by seeking the National nomination for the Auckland seat of East Coast Bays in a 1980 by-election. He made the initial five person shortlist, but after being hospitalised suddenly, he was too ill to travel to Auckland for the selection meeting. [2] [3]
Walls was first elected onto Dunedin City Council in 1980. [4] Prior to that he served on the St. Kilda Borough Council (1962–1965) and on the Otago Harbour Board (1965–1974; Chairman 1971–1973). He was Mayor of Dunedin for two terms from 1989 to 1995, when he was defeated by Sukhi Turner. [4] He was re-elected to the Dunedin City Council as a councillor in 1998. He remained a city councillor until 2010 and was chair of the Finance and Strategy Committee from 2007 to 2010. [5] [6] In the 2010 Dunedin local elections, he stood in the Central ward, but was unsuccessful. [7]
In 2010 Walls was chairman of Dunedin International Airport Limited; a fellow of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand (FInstD) and a fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management (FNZIM). He was a justice of the peace and was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services in the 1996 Queen's Birthday Honours. [5] [8]
He died suddenly in his Dunedin home on 30 October 2011 at the age of 74, and is survived by his wife June and three children. [9]