Arthur Faulkner

The Honourable Arthur Faulkner
24th President of the Labour Party
In office 1976–1978
Leader	Bill Rowling
Preceded by	Charles Bennett
Succeeded by	Jim Anderton
25th Minister of Defence
In office 8 December 1972 – 10 September 1974
Prime Minister	Norman Kirk
Preceded by	Allan McCready
Succeeded by	William Fraser
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Roskill
In office 1957 – 1981
Preceded by	John Rae
Succeeded by	Phil Goff
Personal details
Born	20 November 1921[1] Grey Lynn, Auckland, New Zealand
Died	15 May 1985 (aged 63)
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	May Cox (married 1945)

Arthur James Faulkner (20 November 1921 – 15 May 1985) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

Member of Parliament

Parliament of New Zealand
Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1957–1960	32nd	Roskill		Labour
1960–1963	33rd	Roskill		Labour
1963–1966	34th	Roskill		Labour
1966–1969	35th	Roskill		Labour
1969–1972	36th	Roskill		Labour
1972–1975	37th	Roskill		Labour
1975–1978	38th	Roskill		Labour
1978–1981	39th	Roskill		Labour

He stood unsuccessfully for the Franklin electorate in 1951 and the North Shore electorate in 1954.^[2]

He then stood for and won the Roskill electorate in 1957, and held the seat to 1981, when he retired.

He was a Cabinet Minister, and was Minister of Defence from 1972 to 1974 in the Third Labour Government. He stood for deputy to Bill Rowling in 1974. He was popular in caucus, but both Ron Barclay and Warren Freer saw him as indecisive and not leadership material. As Barclay learned that Faulkner could win on the first ballot, he got Freer to stand for deputy to split the vote, and Bob Tizard won on the fourth ballot.^[3]

He was President of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1978.

Personal life

He married May Cox in 1945, and they had 2 sons and 3 daughters.

References

1. Europa Publications Limited (1980). Who's Who, International. Europa Publications Limited. ISBN 9780905118482. Retrieved 2014-12-13.
2. Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946-1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
3. Freer, Warren W (2004). A Lifetime in Politics: the memoirs of Warren Freer. Wellington: Victoria University Press. pp. 197–199. ISBN 0-86473-478-6.

• Petersen, G. C. (ed.) (1961), Who's Who in New Zealand (7th ed.), Wellington, [N.Z.]: A.H. & A.W. Reed
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.