Rex Austin
MBE
Austin in 1950
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Awarua
In office
1975–1987
Preceded byAubrey Begg
Succeeded byJeff Grant
Personal details
Born
William Rex Austin

(1931-05-23)23 May 1931
Riverton, New Zealand
Died23 June 2022(2022-06-23) (aged 91)
Invercargill, New Zealand
Political partyNational
Spouse
Miriam Helen Brumpton
​
​
(m. 1958; died 2007)​
RelationsButler Te Koeti (great-uncle)
Children4
Alma materLincoln College

William Rex Austin MBE (23 May 1931 – 23 June 2022) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party.

Biography

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1975–1978 38th Awarua National
1978–1981 39th Awarua National
1981–1984 40th Awarua National
1984–1987 41st Awarua National

Austin was born in Riverton, Southland, in 1931.[1] Of Māori descent, he affiliated to Ngāi Tahu, Waitaha and Kāti Māmoe.[2] He received his education at Southland Technical College and Lincoln College;[3] at the latter institution, he obtained a diploma in agriculture.[4] In 1958, he married Miriam Helen Brumpton, with whom he had four sons.[1]

Austin farmed at Colac Bay in Southland and lived in Riverton. From 1971, he was a member of the Southland Hospital Board.[1]

In the 1975 election he was elected to Parliament as the National Party MP for Awarua, which he represented until 1987.[5]

Austin and Ben Couch were the second and third Māori (after Sir James Carroll) to win a general electorate, as opposed to one of the Māori electorates.

Austin died in Invercargill on 23 June 2022, at the age of 91.[6]

Honours

In 1977, Austin was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal, and in 1990 the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.[7] In the 1994 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the community.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Traue, James Edward, ed. (1978). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1978 (11th ed.). Wellington: Reed Publishing. p. 47.
  2. ^ "Obituaries – William Rex Austin MBE". Hansard. New Zealand Parliament. 28 June 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  3. ^ Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years: A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. p. 298. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
  4. ^ "Rex Austin". Lincoln University. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  5. ^ Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. p. 181. OCLC 154283103.
  6. ^ "W. Rex Austin". The Southland Times. 27 June 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  7. ^ Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. p. 52. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
  8. ^ "No. 53528". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 31 December 1993. p. 34.
New Zealand Parliament Preceded byAubrey Begg Member of Parliament for Awarua 1975–1987 Succeeded byJeff Grant


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