Eric Sidney Fostyn Holland (28 June 1921 – 1 July 1989) was a New Zealand politician who served as an elected member of the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
from 1967 to 1981 for the
National Party and as a Cabinet Minister in the second and third National governments.
Biography
Early life and career
Holland was born in 1921; he was the son of former prime minister and National Party leader Sir
Sidney Holland
Sir Sidney George Holland (18 October 1893 – 5 August 1961) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 25th prime minister of New Zealand from 13 December 1949 to 20 September 1957. He was instrumental in the creation and consolidation o ...
. He received his education at Elmwood School and
St. Andrew's College in
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
. Holland fought in WW2 in the Pacific and in Italy. He was president of the
Canterbury Savings Bank in 1965 and 1966, and president of the Associated Trustee Savings Banks of New Zealand in 1966 and 1967.
In 1944, Holland married Janet Mary Wills, the daughter of Wilfrid John Wills. They had one son and two daughters, and divorced in 1970. In 1972, he married Nancy Mary Nilner.
Political career
Holland was involved in the National Party and became chairman of the Fendalton Electorate Committee and deputy-chairman National's Canterbury-Westland division.
The death of
Harry Lake
Harry Robson Lake (29 September 1911 – 21 February 1967) was a New Zealand politician who served as Minister of Finance for six years in the second National government in the 1960s. He died of a heart attack when only 55 years old.
Biograph ...
in early 1967 caused the
15 April 1967 by-election in the
Fendalton
Fendalton is a suburb of Christchurch, in the South Island of New Zealand.
History
Fendalton was originally known as Fendall Town, named after the original settler of the land, Walpole Chesshyre Fendall (1830–1913). Fendall emigrated from Y ...
electorate. Holland entered contention and won the National Party nomination. He defeated
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
's
Bruce Barclay in the election. The polling night results in the Fendalton by-election showed a 67-vote majority to Barclay, however after special votes were counted National did manage to hold the seat by just 286 votes, a swing of over 5% to Labour. This was a surprise result in a safe National seat. The Fendalton electorate was abolished in , and Holland won election in the
Riccarton Riccarton may refer to:
New Zealand
* Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch
** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it
** The location of Riccarton Race Course
* a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago
Scotlan ...
electorate. He represented this electorate for three parliamentary terms until 1978, when Riccarton was in turn abolished. In the , he returned to the reinstated Fendalton constituency for the 1978–1981 period, following which he retired.
At the end of the
Second National Government Prime Minister
Jack Marshall
Sir John Ross Marshall New Zealand Army Orders 1952/405 (5 March 1912 – 30 August 1988) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. He entered Parliament in 1946 and was first promoted to Cabinet in 1951. After spending twelve years ...
appointed Holland as
Minister of Housing from 9 February to 8 December 1972 when the government was defeated. During National's unsuccessful election campaign Labour's housing policy of enabling home loans through the
State Advances Corporation for people carrying out renovations on state houses to bring them up to standards received an unusually large amount of interest. Two days later it prompted Holland to announce the government would introduce an identical policy to Labour's.
After National's defeat Marshall retained him in the same portfolio as Shadow Minister of Housing from 1973 to 1974. When
Robert Muldoon
Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party.
Serving as a corporal and sergeant in th ...
replaced Marshall as party leader he instead designated Shadow Minister of Energy and Electricity from 1974 to 1975.
During the
Third National Government under Muldoon, Holland was appointed
Minister of Energy Resources,
Minister of Electricity, and
Minister of Mines (all 12 December 1975 – 8 March 1977), and then once again as Minister of Housing (8 March 1977 – 13 December 1978). His portfolio shift back to Housing was precipitated by him suffering a stroke.
Later life and death
Holland died on 1 July 1989.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Eric
1921 births
1989 deaths
New Zealand National Party MPs
Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
Ministers of Housing (New Zealand)
People from Christchurch
New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
20th-century New Zealand politicians
Children of prime ministers of New Zealand
New Zealand military personnel of World War II