Francis Duncan O'Flynn (24 October 1918 – 17 October 2003) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

Biography

O'Flynn was born in Runanga in 1918. He was the son of

Francis Edward O'Flynn Francis Edward O’Flynn (24 July 1872 – 18 June 1942) was a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council from 22 September 1937 to 18 June 1942, when he died aged 69. He was appointed by the Labour Government. He was born in Greymouth, and w ...

and Margaret Helen Valentine Duncan. He received his education at

Christchurch Normal School Cranmer Court, the former Christchurch Normal School, was one of the most significant heritage buildings in Christchurch, New Zealand. Its demolition, due to some damage in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, was controversial. History The Canter ...

and

Christchurch Boys' High School , motto_translation = I Seek Higher Things , type = State school, Day and Boarding school , gender = Boys , song = The School We Magnify , colours = Blue and Black , established = , address = 71 Straven Ro ...

. He received his BA in 1940, and joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1942. He married Sylvia Elizabeth Hefford in 1942 and they had four children. He obtained his LLB in 1947 and LLM in 1948. At the 1947,

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

and

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...

local-body elections he was stood unsuccessfully for the

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...

on the Labour Party ticket. He served as a law clerk at O'Regan and Arndt in Wellington until 1954. He was a barrister and solicitor until 1968, when he was named

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

(QC). He represented the victims of the ''Wahine'' ferry disaster in 1968. Also in 1968 he was elected a member of the Otaki Borough Council. In 1971 he stood unsuccessfully for the

Wellington Hospital Board Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. O'Flynn represented Brian Brooks in the 1972, where Brooks successfully sued prime minister Robert Muldoon for defamation for remarks Muldoon made on a 1972 television programme. O'Flynn's cross-examination of Muldoon generated a lot of interest, and was described in his Law Society obituary as a highlight of his career.

Political career

He represented the seat of

Kapiti Kapiti or Kāpiti may refer to: *Kapiti Island, an island a short distance off the New Zealand coast north of Wellington *Kapiti Coast District, the local government district which includes much of the Kapiti Coast *Kapiti Coast Airport, an airport ...

from 1972 to 1975, when he was defeated. Soon after losing his seat he went to Nelson to seek the Labour candidacy for the seat in a 1976 by-election, but was unsuccessful. O'Flynn's attempt was not helped by an effort to seek candidates with links to Nelson as there were fears in the area that MPs who had lost their seats in 1975 would become "

parachute candidate A parachute candidate, or carpetbagger in the United States, is a pejorative term for an election candidate who does not live in, and has little connection to, the area they are running to represent. The allegation is thus that the candidate is b ...

s". He was the only defeated candidate to try for the nomination. Following his attempt in Nelson, O'Flynn seriously considered standing for

Mayor of Wellington The Mayor of Wellington is the head of the municipal government of the City of Wellington. The mayor presides over the Wellington City Council. The mayor is directly elected using the Single Transferable Vote method of proportional representat ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

, but he withdrew in favour of Sir

Frank Kitts Sir Francis Joseph Kitts (1 May 1912 – 16 March 1979) was a New Zealand politician. He was the longest-serving mayor of Wellington, holding the post from 1956 to 1974. He was the Labour Member of Parliament for between and 1960. Early lif ...

. At the same election he stood for the

and was elected. Between 1980 and 1981 he was leader of the Labour caucus on the council. He was re-elected in 1980 but unexpectedly lost his seat on the council in 1983. His defeat was in the wake of him hinting that he would rethink his position on the council should he become a cabinet minister after being promoted earlier in 1983. Following the controversial de-selection of

Gerald O'Brien John Gerald O’Brien (2 December 1924 – 13 December 2017), known as Gerald O'Brien, was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. Early life O'Brien was born in Wellington on 2 December 1924, the son of John Thomas O'Brien, and was ed ...

, O'Flynn was selected as his replacement in the Island Bay electorate. O'Brien ran as an independent candidate and drew away many former Labour voters causing O'Flynn to come close to losing one of Labour's safest seats. He was elected narrowly by 650 votes and represented Island Bay from 1978 to 1987, when he retired due to ill health. Soon after returning to Parliament he was appointed as Shadow Minister of Health by leader Bill Rowling. He was later shifted from Health to be Shadow Minister of Justice in 1981. O'Flynn was a backer of

David Lange David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. Lange was born and brought up in Otahuhu, the son of a medical doctor. He became ...

for leader and was rewarded by being promoted to the front bench and given the role of Shadow Attorney-General. Following Labour's victory at the O'Flynn was naturally expected to in both political and legal circles to become

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, but Lange had been persuaded by his deputy

Geoffrey Palmer Geoffrey Palmer may refer to: Politicians * Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 1st Baronet (1598–1670), English lawyer and politician *Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 3rd Baronet (1655–1732), English politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicestershire *Geoffrey Pa ...

(who had been O'Flynn's legal clerk decades earlier) to appoint him to the role instead. During the

Fourth Labour Government 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 o ...

he was a cabinet minister and served as

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

from 1984 to 1987. He was also Minister of State, Minister in charge of War Pensions, Minister in charge of Rehabilitation, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Associate Minister of Overseas Trade and Marketing. As Minister of Defence he famously said that ''"he would defend New Zealand by blowing up bridges and tunnels."'' He was instrumental in developing Labour's nuclear-free policies, which despite resulting in the breakdown of

ANZUS The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS or ANZUS Treaty) is a 1951 non-binding collective security agreement between Australia and New Zealand and, separately, Australia and the United States, to co-operate on militar ...

, O'Flynn described as "by far the brightest thing

he Government He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

had done." He had a meeting in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

in 1985 with United States Secretary of State George Shultz, where Shultz lambasted New Zealand's stance but O'Flynn defended their position resulting in deadlock. O'Flynn disliked the Defence portfolio and felt the officials at the Ministry of Defence took him for granted on many issues. On three occasions (July, August and December 1985) he threatened to resign as minister after Lange failed to back him during a disagreement with officials regarding the posting of a Defence official overseas at great cost to the taxpayer. O'Flynn thought that it was a waste of public money and that the official was little more than 'a big, dull fat Poo-Bah'. His bench mate

Michael Bassett Michael Edward Rainton Bassett (born 28 August 1938) is a former Labour Party member of the New Zealand House of Representatives and cabinet minister in the reformist fourth Labour government. He is also a noted New Zealand historian, and ha ...

felt that O'Flynn's dislike of the defence portfolio was more an expression of his disappointment that Lange had broken his promise of giving him the position of Attorney-General. O'Flynn and Lange became increasingly estranged and their communications were reduced to being conducted through Bassett as an intermediary. Not long after deciding to retire, he suffered a stroke (which he later recovered from) and was unable to deliver his valedictory speech in Parliament. It was read instead by

Mike Moore Michael Moore is an American filmmaker and author. Michael Moore may also refer to: Academia * Michael G. Moore (fl. 1970s–2020s), professor of education * Michael S. Moore (academic) (fl. 1960s–2020s), American law professor * Michael Moore ...

on his behalf.

Life after politics

He was appointed to the Privy Council in 1987; however, that same ill-health prevented him from travelling to England to be sworn into the Council by Queen Elizabeth II. He suffered a stroke in that year which led to a permanent disability, he then retired to

Raumati Beach Raumati Beach is a beach community on the Kapiti Coast of New Zealand's North Island; located 60km north-west of Wellington, and about 10 km north of Raumati South. It is immediately to the south-west of the larger town of Paraparaumu. The Ma ...

. O'Flynn died on 17 October 2003 in

Paraparaumu Paraparaumu () is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the Kapiti Coast, north of the nation's capital city, Wellington. Like other towns in the area, it has a partner settlement at the coast called Paraparaumu Bea ...

, a week shy of his 85th birthday. He was survived by his wife, Sylvia and his four children. He was buried at

Karori Cemetery Karori Cemetery is New Zealand's second largest cemetery, located in the Wellington suburb of Karori. History Karori Cemetery opened in 1891 to address overcrowding at Bolton Street Cemetery. In 1909, it received New Zealand's first crema ...

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oflynn, Frank 1918 births 2003 deaths Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand New Zealand defence ministers New Zealand Labour Party MPs 20th-century New Zealand lawyers New Zealand King's Counsel Unsuccessful candidates in the 1975 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Wellington City Councillors New Zealand MPs for Wellington electorates New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates People from Greymouth People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School Victoria University of Wellington alumni New Zealand military personnel of World War II New Zealand members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Burials at Karori Cemetery