David Barnes (1894–9 June 1970) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

Biography

Early life and career

Barnes was born and educated in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

before migrating to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1908 with his parents. After arriving her became a farmer in the North Canterbury area until 1914 when he signed up for the

Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment The Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment was a mounted infantry regiment from New Zealand, raised for service during the First World War. It was assigned to the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, and formed part of the New Zealand Expeditionar ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After being wounded at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

he returned to New Zealand where he became the first returned serviceman to join the pilot school at Sockburn by the Canterbury Aviation Company before returning to England to completed his pilot training. Subsequently, he served with English coastal defence forces until the end of the war. He returned to New Zealand to resume farming in North Canterbury, and later at Fairlie.

Member of Parliament

In Fairlie he started a branch of the Labour Party. He was also a founding member and president of the Fairlie Crown Tenant's Association branch. He represented the electorate from to 1938, when he was defeated by National candidate

David Campbell Kidd David Campbell Kidd (29 September 1889 – 23 September 1954) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. Early life Kidd was born in 1889 in Shag Point, Otago and received his education at Albany Street Public School in Dunedin. Toge ...

. While in parliament he was a member of a parliamentary committee tasked with drafting the government's

social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

policies which later became the

Social Security Act 1938 The Social Security Act 1938 is a New Zealand Act of Parliament concerning unemployment insurance which established New Zealand as a welfare state. This act is important in the history of social welfare, as it established the first ever social sec ...

. In Barnes contested the seat unsuccessfully.

Later life and death

After exiting parliament he was a member of the Rehabilitation Board and was then a Director of the State Advances Corporation from 1939 to 1954. He later commanded the Home Guard in the Timaru district. In 1940 he joined the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...

(RNZAF) in 1940, Mr Barnes was made

Adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

of the Rongatai Training School. He later toured the country as a member of the RNZAF recruiting committee. Mr Barnes retired to Christchurch after World War II. He was the Labour Party's candidate for the Christchurch Mayoralty in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

. He finished second in a three-way contest to the sitting mayor

Ernest Andrews Sir Ernest Herbert Andrews (25 June 1873 – 9 November 1961) was a New Zealand teacher, printer and cricketer and local-body politician. He was on the Christchurch City Council from 1919 and Mayor of Christchurch from 1941 until his retirement ...

. Barnes died on 9 June 1970, aged 76. He was survived by his wife and daughter.

Notes

References

* * 1894 births 1970 deaths New Zealand Labour Party MPs Unsuccessful candidates in the 1938 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1943 New Zealand general election New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives {{NZLabour-politician-stub