Arthur Faulkner

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

Early life and career
Faulkner was born in the Auckland suburb of Devonport in 1921. He was educated at Otahuhu District High School and after finishing his education he found employment as a sales clerk. At the age of 15 he joined the Labour Party and worked as a party organiser and later a branch secretary.

At the outbreak of World War II Faulkner joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force and became a fighter pilot. He saw action in both Europe and North Africa flying a Supermarine Spitfire.

Member of Parliament
Faulkner stood unsuccessfully for the Franklin electorate in and the North Shore electorate in.

He then stood for and won the Roskill electorate in, and held the seat to 1981, when he retired. Faulkner was a backbencher during the government of Walter Nash before spending 12 years in opposition. During this period he spoke frequently on defence matters in the house and it was no surprise when Labour leader Norman Kirk designated Faulkner as Labour's defence spokesman in 1965. He was particularly critical of New Zealand's involvement in the Vietnam War. Earlier that year he stood unsuccessfully for the position of Kirk's deputy. He was beaten by the incumbent Hugh Watt by 24 votes to 8 with Norman Douglas receiving 2 votes.

When United States Vice President Spiro Agnew visited Wellington in mid-January 1970, Faulkner along with several other Labour Members of Parliament including Bob Tizard, Jonathan Hunt, and Martyn Finlay boycotted the state dinner to protest American policy in Vietnam. However, other Labour MPs including Opposition Leader Norman Kirk attended the function which dealt with the Nixon Doctrine.

Cabinet minister
He was a Cabinet Minister, and was appointed by Kirk as Minister of Defence from 1972 to 1974 in the Third Labour Government. He was also briefly Minister of Works from August to September 1974. Faulkner strongly opposed New Zealand having sporting contact with South Africa during the Apartheid period and argued that the proposed 1973 Springbok tour should be cancelled. He told cabinet that he would resign rather than instruct troops to combat protesting civilians and that in any case the military was not trained to assist police in preserving civil order. The tour eventually did not go ahead.

He stood a second time for deputy to Bill Rowling in 1974 following the death of Kirk. He was popular in caucus, but both chief whip Ron Barclay and senior minister 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. In a surprise move, Rowling decided to remove Faulkner as Defence minister and instead appointed him as Minister of Labour instead. One of his strengths was his abilities as a conciliator, a talent which served him well in the Labour portfolio, deemed to be the most demanding job in the Third Labour Government. Rowling also appointed him Minister of State Services.

Party president
Following the defeat of the government, he was elected President of the Labour Party in May 1976. As President he devoted his energies to rebuilding the party organisation. He was President of the party for three years until he stepped down and was succeeded by Jim Anderton, who had been defeated by Faulkner at the 1978 conference 693 votes to 422 for the presidency.

Faulkner came under increasing pressure to retire, primarily due to his age. He reluctantly decided not to stand again ahead of the election. There was much speculation that Anderton would attempt to take his place in Roskill, but after a hostile reaction to the notion in caucus Anderton decided not to seek the Roskill nomination. He was eventually replaced by Phil Goff. Faulkner's final act in Parliament was to move the Gleneagles Agreement Bill which appropriately reflected his career long opposition to Apartheid.

Later life and death
In October 1984 he was appointed as a member of the board of Air New Zealand by the Fourth Labour Government.

Faulkner died on 15 May 1985 at his home in Auckland, aged 63. He was survived by his wife and five children.

Personal life
He married May (Peg) Cox in 1945, and they had 2 sons and 3 daughters. Peg died in 2019.