NEW PARLIAMENT

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 2, 28 September 1943, Page 6

NEW PARLIAMENT

Brief Biographical Notes Brief biographical notes ou members of the new House of Representatives, additional to those published yesterday are as follows: —

Mr R. M. Macfarlane (Labour), was elected for Christchurch South in when he defeated Mr. M. E. Lyons. He had previously contested Christchurch v ort h in 1935 and 1938 as a Labour candidate. He is a former mayor of Christchurch, and has held a number of local bony otfiC Captain T. L. Macdonald, who has been returned unopposed for Mataurn, was born in Invercargill. He was educated at the South School and Southland Bovs’ High 'School, and. went to sea as -assistant purser on Union Steam Ship Company ships. He went overseas in ■the last war with the Auckland- Mounted ■Rifles. On his return, he took wplarming on a property near Tapanui. . He recently returned from service in the ■Middle East, having been invalided h °Mr' Jack Omoana (Ormond), Labour, who has beaten the veteran National member, Sir Apirana Ngata, m the Eastern Maori electorate, is a prominent ■Hawke’s Bay sheepfarmers. He was educated at Wairoa and Christs College, Christchurch. lie is a returned man of the last war and well known m the tootball and athletic world. Mr. W. J. Polson has been National M.P. for Stratford since 1928. For many years he was a journalist in Wellington and Christchurch before he weut farming at Manurewa and Fordell. He was Dominion president for some years of the Farmers’ Union, of which he is a life member. He is a director of several companies and was a member of the Royal Commission in 1926 on Rural Credits.

Mr. C. R. Petrie, who has regained Otahuhu for Labour, was first elected to Parliament for the old Hauraki seat in 1935, choosing Otahuhu in the redistribution for the 1938 elections. He was born in Glasgow in 1882, and came to isew Zealand in 1911. In 1920 he was appointed manager of a large Auckland firm, and three'years later opened on ms own account in Otahuhu. He has served on the Otahuhu Borough Council, and Ims held positions on many other public and semi-public bodies. . , Mr. Ben Roberts, who lias retained IVairarapa for Labour, was first ejected to the seat in 1935, with a majority of 33 votes. He was born m London <>o ■years ago and began work on. a dairy farm at the age of 13. At the age. of 27 he came to New-Zealand. He has been prominently associated with the Labour Party for more than 2o years. He is one of the leaders of the co-oper-ative movement in the Dominion. Mr. A. S. Richards bag been Labour -M.P. for Roskill since 1931. He was born in Reading (England) in 1817 and arrived in New Zealand in 1894. He worked for some years on sheep and cattle stations in Poverty was in business in Gisborne in 190 u. He- went to Auckland in 1922, unsuccessfully contesting the Hamilton seat in 1922, Marsden in 1925 and Roskill in 1928. Mr. J. A; Roy, National, who-retains the Clutha seat, was elected in 1935. He was born at Wairuna in 1595. During the Great War, he served in France, with the Rifle Brigade, as an intelligence officer, and won the Military Cross, with bar. After the war, he was farming fos a few years in South Canterbury. He then returned to the Wairuna district, where he has been fanning ever since. Mr. Haaini Tokouru Ratana, Labour, who has been re-elected for Western Maori, which he has represented since 1935, is a sou of the founder of the Ratana Movement. Pie served with tlie Pioneer Battalion for nearly four years in the last war. Tiff 1934 he was engaged in dairy farming at Wangaehu. He is 49 years old. Bombardier G. F. Sim, National, who has gained Rotorua from Mr. A. F. Monfur, Labour, is a returned soldier of the present war, and lias been a patient in the Rotorua Convalesces L Hospital with serious wounds, having been a member of a tank crew which received a directhit by an enemy shell in November, 1941. He is 32, and was educated at Pukekohe High School and King’s College, Auckland. Mr. W. A. Sheaf, who has retained for National the Patea seat from which Mr. H. G. Dickie retired at the conclusion of tlie last Parliament, has had a brilliant scholastic career. - He was educated at tlie Pihaina School, the Hawera District High School, and Victoria University College, from which he graduated B.A. in 1910 and LL.B. in 1913. He has been prominently associated with the ■Workers’ National Association. He has had considerable farming experience. Tn 1931 he contested New Plymouth as official Labour candidate and _ stood as a Radical Independent in 1935. The Hon. C. F. Skinner, Labour. Motueka, was iborn in 1900 and educated in Auckland. After working for some time as a carpenter, lie took up farming on his own account. At one time he was engaged on tlie Waituki hydro-electric scheme. Tic served in the present war. gaining the Military Cross and attaining the rank of major. He recently returned from the Middle East on his appointment as Minister of Rehabilitatibn. Mr. F. W. Schramm, who retains Auckland East for Labour, has been in Parliament since 1931. A barrister’ and solicitor by profession, he is chairman of the Statutes Revision. Committee of the Bouse, and also one of the Public Petitions committees. He has taken a prominent part in the Labour movement in Auckland for many years. Born iu Hokitika, he was educated there and at Canterbury College. . . The Hon. R. Semple. Minister, of. Works, who has retained Wellington East for Labour, was born in Sofala, New South Wales, and worked for 26 years on the Australian goldfields before, coming to New Zealand in 1908 to assist iu tlie formation of a Federation of, Miners, which was afterward absorbed into the Federation of Labour. He first entered Parliament for Wellington South, but lost the seat in the J 919 general election. Re-entering tlie House when he won Wellington East in 1928 he has represented tlie constituency ever since. Ho was chiefly responsible for the I'ig Public

Works programme put through .by the Government before the war. Mr. A. S. ■ Sutherland, National, who retains Hauraki, was born in Otago and educated in Southland. In his ’teens he served in the South African War, and on his return took up fanning in Southland. He moved to the Waikato in 1913, and opened up unimproved land at Te Akatea. He lias been a member of many local bodies in the Waikato and Auckland districts. He is well-known as a judge of light horses and hunters and lias judged at many shows in the Auckland province. Mr. IV. Sullivan, National, who has retained the Bay of Plenty seat., was born in Taranaki, and after leaving school went farming for a time before establishing a building, contracting and timber business in Whakatane in 1913. He has been a member of tlie Whakatane Harbour Board, of which he was for three years chairman, and was mayor of Whakatane for a long period. The Hon. D. G. Sullivan. Minister ot ■Supply, who has been re-elected Labour member for Avon, entered Parliament in 1919, and lias been a mem,iter ever since. He was born in Sydeuham, Christchurch, in 1882. and. beginning work as a french -polisher, worked his way from place to place on visits to Australia aud Britain. He has had experience as a journalist. He has for many years beeu linked with the Labour movement, and has a record of long service on the Christchurch City Council. The new member for Bay of islands, Mr. S. IV. Smith, National, is chairman of the Buy of Islands Dairy Company, and a member of the executive of the Northland Dairy Association as well as of the Bay of Islands County Council and the Bay of Islands Hospital Board. Born in Ashburton in 1893, _ he enlisted for the Great War in 1915, being invalided home iu December, 1918. He was in business for a time, but lias been farming at Pakaraka since 1930.

Mr. James Thorn, Labour.,who has retained Thames, is an ex-president of the Labour Party. Born in Christehurch, ne was educated at the Boys’ High School and entered the Addington workshops, there becoming identified with the trade union movement. , . , The Hon. E. Tirikatene, member ot the Executive Council representing the Native race, who has retained the Southern Maori seat for Labour, is 48 years of age and was born at Kaiapoi. lie was educated at the Tuahiwi Native School and the Kaiapoi District High School. He, is a registered minister and tin executive elder and koala of the Ratana Movement. He is holder of a marine engineer’s certificate and conducted a ferry service between Port Levy and Lyttelton from 1921 to 1926. A veteran of the 1914-18 war, he was a member of the military party which attended the Coronation of the present King and Queen. Mr. T. Clifton Webb. Independent, who has won tlie late Mr. Coates’s seat, Kaipara, comes from a family of Northern Wairoa pioneers. He was educated at Auckland Grammar School and qualified for law in 1910, entering practice in Dargaville iu 1913. He moved his practice to Auckland 16 years ago. He has been prominent in Rugby circles both as a player, administrator and referee. He has served on the Dargaville Borough Council, and was also a member of the Kaipnra Chamber of Commerce. The Hon. P. C. Webb, Minister of Mines, who lias retained Buller for Labour, has represented Buller since 1933, when he was elected to fill the vacancy caused- through the death of Mr. 11. E. Holland. He had previously sat for the old electorate of Grey, fol 1 which he was first elected al a by-election in 1913, holding it til] 1918. He was associated witli the Minister of Works, Mr. .Semple, iu tunnelling projects from 1-921. to 1924.