Joseph Gilbert "Bill" Dillon (16 April 1933 – 17 April 1994) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party in the

Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand The Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand governed New Zealand from 26 July 1984 to 2 November 1990. It was the first Labour government to win a second consecutive term since the First Labour Government of 1935 to 1949. The policy agenda of ...

Biography

Early life and career

Dillon studied at Auckland University College and graduated

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the China, People's Republic ...

in 1957. Dillon then entered the legal profession and joined the Hamilton legal firm of McCaw, Smith and Arcus in 1961, becoming a partner in 1963. He was also a member of the Territorial Force where he held the rank of Flying Officer.

Political career

Prior to entering Parliament Dillon was a member of the Auckland Harbour Board from 1971 to 1986 and was deputy-chairman from 1980 to 1981. He was also a member of the Hamilton Civic Trust and Hamilton District Law Society Council. He represented the Hamilton East electorate in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

from

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, when he was defeated by

Tony Steel Anthony Gordon Steel (31 July 1941 – 4 May 2018) was a New Zealand rugby union player, politician and educator. Early years He was born in Greymouth, and played rugby first for his school, Christchurch Boys' High School, and then for Canter ...

, and the Labour Party was defeated overall by the National Party. While in Parliament Dillon was the Chair of the Justice and Law Reform committees. He was also a member of the Electoral, Foreign Affairs and State Owned Enterprises committees.

Later life and death

After losing his seat Dillon accepted an appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court in

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

. Dillon died aged 61 in Hamilton on 17 April 1994 following a short illness.

Notes

References

* * * 1933 births 1994 deaths New Zealand Labour Party MPs Unsuccessful candidates in the 1990 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates University of Auckland alumni 20th-century New Zealand judges New Zealand judges on the courts of Samoa Auckland Harbour Board members {{NZLabour-politician-stub