Frank Lewis Rogers (27 December 1933 – 25 April 1980) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

Biography

Early life and career

Rogers was born in

Onehunga Onehunga is a suburb of Auckland in New Zealand and the location of the Port of Onehunga, the city's small port on the Manukau Harbour. It is south of the city centre, close to the volcanic cone of Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill. Onehunga is a ...

on 27 December 1933. He was raised in St Joseph's Orphanage in

Takapuna Takapuna is a suburb located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is situated at the beginning of a south-east-facing peninsula forming the northern side of the Waitematā Harbour. While very small in terms of population, it ...

. He lied about his age to leave school early and gained employment as an apprentice carpenter. He earned a small wage which went almost entirely on rent, not even leaving enough for tram tickets to and from work. In 1965 he set up his own construction firm which employed 60 people at its peak, but the firm closed in 1979 after construction demand fell following the 1973–75 recession. He became an executive member of the Master Builders Association. Rogers was an active sports enthusiast. He played third-grade rugby and played representative rugby league for Richmond. He also enjoyed running, tramping, deerstalking and skydiving. He was also the President of the Auckland

Lions Club The International Association of Lions Clubs, more commonly known as Lions Clubs International, is an international non-political service organization established originally in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois, by Melvin Jones. It is now headquartere ...

and President of the Auckland Caledonian Dancing Society.

Political career

Rogers joined the Labour Party in 1953 and held a number of executive positions in the party. He was vice-president of the Onehunga Central branch. In the 1974 local-body elections he stood as a Labour candidate for the Auckland Regional Authority in the Onehunga ward, but was unsuccessful. A year later he won nomination for the safe Labour seat of

following the retirement of former Deputy Prime Minister

Hugh Watt Hugh Watt (19 March 1912 – 4 February 1980) was a New Zealand politician who was a Labour member of Parliament and the acting prime minister of New Zealand between 31 August and 6 September 1974, following the death of Prime Minister Norm ...

who had been appointed New Zealand's

High Commissioner to the United Kingdom The following is the list of ambassadors and high commissioners to the United Kingdom, or more formally, to the Court of St James's. High commissioners represent member states of the Commonwealth of Nations and ambassadors represent other sta ...

. He won selection over 26 other aspirants including better known candidates such as Malcolm Douglas, Jack Elder and

Barry Gustafson Barry Selwyn Gustafson (born 1938) is a New Zealand political scientist and historian, and a leading political biographer. He served for nearly four decades as professor of political studies at the University of Auckland, and as Acting Directo ...

. He served as the Member of Parliament for Onehunga from until 1980. In January 1976 he was appointed by Rowling as Shadow Minister of Statistics. In 1977 he was instead designated as Shadow Postmaster-General. Rogers had a low-key approach to politics and did not make much of an impression in Parliament. Accordingly, ahead of the there were several challengers amongst the local party for the Labour nomination in Onehunga (including his predecessor Hugh Watt). Rogers, who was supported by the party leadership, won reselection and was re-elected in 1978. Fellow Labour MP

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 ...

described Rogers as a "lacklustre" MP who was a staunch supporter of then leader Bill Rowling.

Death

Rogers died on 25 April 1980 in Whangarei hospital several days after having a stroke after stopping to help two people who survived a car crash in Northland. He was survived by his wife, son and daughter. Following his death Fred Gerbic was elected to replace him in the ensuing by-election.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Frank Lewis 1933 births 1980 deaths New Zealand builders New Zealand Labour Party MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates 20th-century New Zealand politicians