HAWKE’S BAY SEAT

Grey River Argus, 20 May 1938, Page 7

HAWKE’S BAY SEAT

MR CULLEN’S CANDIDATURE. HASTINGS, May 18. Mr E. L. Cullen’s nomination as Labour Party candidate for the Hawke’s Bay electorate has been endorsed by the National Executive of the New Zealand Labour Party (Vt Ellington). Mr Cullen, who is the present member for the electorate, has lived in the district ail his life. He was born in Havelock North and was educated at the Nuhaka Native School and Napier Boys High School. One of the youngest men in New Zealand to enlist in the Great War, he saw active service in France and Egypt when still in his ’teens. He gained a decoration for bravery in the field. On returning to the Dominion he took up farming in the Wairoa district and subsequently was elected a director of the Wairoa Co-operative Dairy Company. This was the starting point of Mr Cullen's public career. He became one of the directors of the Wairoa Herd Testing Association, an office which he still retains. In addition he has for many years been associated with the activities of the A. and P. Association, particularly in connection with the Wairoa and the Nuhaka Branches. Mr Cullen entered Parliament after defeating Mr H. M. Campbell at the ,1935 elections, securing a majority of over 1,000 votes. During his term in Parliament, Mr Cullen has co-operated with the Prime Minuister (the Rt Hon. M. J. Savage) in administering native affairs. Making an extensive study of Maori life, Mr Cullen has made various visits to different tribes in New Zealand in connection with the Government's native policy.

Mr Cullen took an active part in assisting fruitgrowers who suffered in the frost disaster last year. Mr Cullen is a strong advocate for the establishment of the proposed sugar-beet and flax industries in Hawke's Bay, for which negotiations are now under way.