LIEUTENANT A. G. HULTQUIST

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23478, 5 November 1941, Page 8

LIEUTENANT A. G. HULTQUIST

Death From Sickness While on Leave MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR BAY OF PLENTY (P.A.) WELLINGTON. November 4. The death of Lieutenant Axel Gordon Hultquist, Labour member of Parliament lor Bay of Plenty,, after a severe attack of influenza while on leave in the Middle East, was announced today by the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser).

"I desire, on behalf of the Government and members of Parliament, to express deep regret at the untimely death of our colleague,” said Mr Fraser. "He was only 37 years of age. He took part in the hard campaigns in which the New Zealand Division distinguished itself against overwhelming German odds in Greece and Crete, adding lustre to the world-war fame of the Anzacs.”

Lieutenant Hultquist was born in Bunbury, Western Australia, in 1904, and was a son of Major J. H. Hultquist, of the Salvation Army. He was

married in 1927 to a daughter of Mr W. Lewis, of Christchurch. Lieutenant Hultquist was educated at the Hamilton High School, and the Seddon Memorial Technical College, Auckland. He played hockey and Rugby at secondary schools, served in the cadets and territorials at Hamilton, Auckland, and Christchurch, and was a good marksman. At the age of 17 he joined the Labour Party, and was associated with branches in Christchurch and in Auckland, being three years president of the Grey Lynn branch, and for four years was an executive member of the Auckland Labour Representation Committee. He contested seats for the Auckland City Council in 1931 and 1933, and the Mount Albert Borough Council in the same year. He served three years on the Newton School Committee, and was a member of the Advisory Board of the Seddon Technical College for two years, and secretary of the Auckland Citizens’ Committee of Unemployment in 1935. He was awarded the Athenaeum Medal for oratory in 1933. Lieutenant Hultquist worked hard to promote social and industrial progress. He entered the House of Representatives at the General Election in 1935, and had no difficulty in retaining the seat three years later. ' The electorate appreciated his untiring services for the people, and if the war had not come with all its disruptions it appeared certain that a seat in Parliament was his for. a very long time. He was acquainted with practically every person in the large electorate, and his correspondence was possibly a record for a private member of Parliament.- Lieutenant Hultquist was an eager and energetic soldier. He enlisted at Whakatane, where he resided, and was attested for service on October 30, 1939. He entered camp on December 8 the same year, joining a signalling unit. He was an electrical engineer by trade. With characteristic keenness, he sat for and obtained his commission as a second lieutenant. He acquired the full rank of lieutenant on active service. He left New Zealand last year. "And now that he has gone from our midst,” said Mr Fraser, “we can only pay tribute to his war service, as we render praise and gratitude to so many of his comrades who have, given their lives overseas for their country and the cause of freedom. Our sympathy goes from our hearts to Mrs Hultquist, and their only daughter, Mavis Ellen, aged 13, and to his parents, who live in Auckland.”