Sir John Kennedy-Good (8 August 1915 – 11 July 2005) was a New Zealand politician. He was
mayor of Lower Hutt
The city of Lower Hutt, New Zealand, was first proclaimed a borough on 1 February 1891. Prior to this it had been part of Hutt County, initially as a Roads Board and from 1881 as a Town Board. Since 2019, the mayor has been Campbell Barry.
Li ...
from 1970 to 1986.
Biography
Early life and career
Kennedy-Good was born in 1915 in
Goulburn, New South Wales
Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent ...
, where his father was working as a stock and station agent. The family later moved to
Invercargill
Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...
, New Zealand, where they ran a butcher's shop. Kennedy-Good was educated at
Southland Boys' High School
Southland Boys' High School (SBHS) is an all-boys school in Invercargill, New Zealand, and has been the only one in the city since Marist Brothers was merged with St Catherines to form Verdon College in 1982.
History
SBHS was founded in 1881 and ...
and graduated from the
University of Otago
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, motto = la, Sapere aude
, mottoeng = Dare to be wise
, established = 1869; 152 years ago
, type = Public research collegiate u ...
with a Bachelor of Dental Surgery in 1940.
In 1940, he opened a dental practice in
Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area.
It is New Zealand's sixth most p ...
and married June Clement Mackay, with whom he would have seven children. He served as president of the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Dental Association in 1950 and chair of the Dental Health Council in 1952.
Political career
Kennedy-Good became involved in local politics through the issue of
fluoridation
Water fluoridation is the controlled adjustment of fluoride to a public water supply solely to reduce tooth decay. Fluoridated water contains fluoride at a level that is effective for preventing cavities; this can occur naturally or by adding ...
of Lower Hutt's water supply, which he supported. At the
1953 local-body elections he first stood for office for a seat on the
Lower Hutt City Council
The Hutt City Council is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the city of Lower Hutt. Lower Hutt is the country's List of cities in New Zealand#City councils, seventh largest city. The city bo ...
. Standing on the
Citizens' Association ticket, he was unsuccessful (as were all Citizens' candidates). He stood for the council again in
1962
Events January
* January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand.
* January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism.
* January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...
, as an independent, and was successful. Kennedy-Good was encouraged by centre-right voters to stand for mayor in
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...
, but he declined to challenge the Labour mayor
Percy Dowse
Percy Dowse (4 December 1898 – 9 December 1970) was a New Zealand politician. He was mayor of Lower Hutt from 1950 to 1970.
Biography Early life
He was born in Lancashire in 1898 and was educated at Wigan Technical College. His coal miner fat ...
, who he considered to be a good leader as well as a personal friend. He stood only for the council (now on the Citizens' ticket again) and was easily re-elected.
Kennedy-Good twice stood unsuccessfully as the
National Party candidate for the New Zealand parliament in the
Hutt electorate: in the
1966 general election against
Walter Nash
Sir Walter Nash (12 February 1882 – 4 June 1968) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 27th prime minister of New Zealand in the Second Labour Government from 1957 to 1960. He is noted for his long period of political service, havin ...
; and against
Trevor Young
Trevor James Young (28 August 1925 – 13 May 2012) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.
Biography Early life
Young was born in 1925 in Turua on the Hauraki Plains. The son of Leslie Robert Young, he grew up in Cambridge and Bl ...
in the following Nash's death.
Initially he also intended to stand in the
1969 general election, and cited this reason for not contesting the mayoralty at the 1968 local elections. Ultimately he did not stand at the 1969 general election. Kennedy-Good was also a member of the
Wellington Harbour Board
(Strong but true)
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. He was first elected in 1968 and served four terms until 1980 when he did not seek re-election.
Dowse died mid-term on 9 December 1970. Rather than hold a by-election the city council members decided to elect a councillor to finish the remainder of the term until the scheduled election 10 months later. The councillors elected Kennedy-Good as Dowse's successor. He resigned his National Party membership upon becoming mayor, believing the position should be non-partisan. The Citizens' Association, who had a majority on the council, surprisingly did not select Kennedy-Good for the
1971 election instead choosing the deputy mayor (and 1968 candidate) Dave Hadley instead. As a result Kennedy-Good formed his own "combined" electoral ticket, consisting of candidates who were previously Citizens' and Labour affiliated, with which to contest the election. In an evenly divided poll Kennedy-Good narrowly edged out former Labour councillor
John Seddon
John Seddon is a British occupational psychologist and author, specialising in change in the service industry. He is the managing director of Vanguard, a consultancy company he formed in 1985 and the inventor of ' The Vanguard Method'. Vangua ...
to win the election (Hadley came third). Re-elected again in 1974, there was major flooding in the Hutt Valley in December 1976. The council did not have the resources to fix the damages and had to ask the government for assistance. Prime Minister
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 ...
visited the flood affected areas, however antagonisms between Muldoon and some Labour Party councillors led to the funds being delayed. Once they came through the council was able to help the neighbourhoods affected. His majority fell at the
1977 election and Labour won a majority of seats after criticisms of the council's disaster response. In 1980 (having retired from the Harbour Board) he was elected to the new
Wellington Regional Council
Wellington Regional Council, branded as Greater Wellington Regional Council, is the regional council overseeing the Wellington Region of New Zealand's lower North Island. It is responsible for Public transport in the Wellington Region, public ...
. After two further terms he retired as mayor in 1986. The latter years of his mayoralty were dominated by the construction of
Queensgate Shopping Centre and one of his final acts as mayor was its official opening.
Later life and death
In retirement, Kennedy-Good lived at
Pauanui
The town of Pauanui (a Māori language name meaning "big pāua (abalone)") is on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the mouth of the Tairua River on its south bank, directly opposite the l ...
and later
Whangaparaoa
The Whangaparaoa Peninsula is a suburban area about 25 km north of Auckland, New Zealand. It had 30,672 residents in 2013, many of them in the eponymous town of Whangaparaoa on its southern side. It is part of the Hibiscus Coast. ...
.
He died in Auckland in 2005
and was buried at Christ Church Cemetery in
Taitā.
Honours and recognition
Kennedy-Good was appointed a
Companion of the Queen's Service Order
The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...
for public services in the
1977 Queen's Silver Jubilee and Birthday Honours, and a
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
, for service to local government and the community, in the
1983 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 1983 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...
.
The Kennedy-Good Bridge in Lower Hutt is named in his honour.
Notes
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy-Good, John
1915 births
2005 deaths
People from Goulburn
Australian emigrants to New Zealand
People educated at Southland Boys' High School
University of Otago alumni
20th-century dentists
New Zealand dentists
Hutt City Councillors
New Zealand National Party politicians
Unsuccessful candidates in the 1966 New Zealand general election
Wellington Harbour Board members
Mayors of Lower Hutt
Companions of the Queen's Service Order
Wellington regional councillors
New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire