John Finlay Luxton (14 August 1923 – 29 August 2005) was a dairy farmer and New Zealand

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Biography

Luxton was born in 1923 in

Waitoa Waitoa is a settlement in the Matamata-Piako District of New Zealand. State Highway 26 runs through the town, and connects to Te Aroha 10 km to the north-east. A Fonterra dairy factory is a prominent blue building in the middle of the town. T ...

, between

Morrinsville Morrinsville is a provincial town in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island, with an estimated population of as of The town is located at the northern base of the Pakaroa Range, and on the south-western fringe of the Hauraki Plains. ...

and

Te Aroha Te Aroha ( mi, Te Aroha-a-uta) is a rural town in the Waikato region of New Zealand with a population of 3,906 people in the 2013 census, an increase of 138 people since 2006. It is northeast of Hamilton and south of Thames. It sits at the f ...

. He attended the local primary school, followed by Hamilton Technical College. After leaving school, he was a

dairy farmer Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history that ...

in Waitoa. He became prominent in the

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

branch of

Federated Farmers Federated Farmers of New Zealand is a lobby and advocacy group for all farmers: arable including fruit and vegetables, dairy and meat and their often remote communities. It has a network of 24 regional organisations and six industry groups. Fed ...

, serving as dominion councillor before his election to Parliament. He continued a family involvement with the

Tatua Dairy Company The Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company Ltd, trading as Tatua, is an independent co-operative dairy company in the Matamata-Piako District of the Waikato Region, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located in the rural locality of Tatuan ...

as a director for several years. He entered Parliament in as the National Party member for and then, after boundary changes for the ,

Matamata Matamata () is a town in Waikato, New Zealand. It is located near the base of the Kaimai Ranges, and is a thriving farming area known for Thoroughbred horse breeding and training pursuits. It is part of the Matamata-Piako District, which takes ...

. He represented the predominantly rural electorate for 21 years to 1987. He was elected Chairman of Committees in 1976, a position he held until National's defeat in 1984. He was particularly interested in Pacific Island affairs, and in 1976 led a Government-sponsored tour of eight Pacific nations to investigate local industries, with a view to increasing New Zealand involvement there. On his retirement from politics in 1987, his son

John Luxton Murray John Finlay Luxton (14 September 1946 – 16 November 2021) was a New Zealand National Party politician, serving as a Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2002. From 2008 to 2015, he was the Chairman of DairyNZ, the organisation that repre ...

succeeded him in the Matamata (later ) electorate, from 1987 to 1999. After politics, Luxton took an active part in his family's horticulture block in

Katikati Katikati is a town in New Zealand (North Island) located on the Uretara Stream near a tidal inlet towards the northern end of Tauranga Harbour, 28 kilometres south of Waihi and 40 kilometres northwest of Tauranga. State Highway 2 passes through ...

. In the 1987 Queen's Birthday Honours, Luxton 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. He died in 2005, aged 82, in

, and was survived by his wife, Margaret, and their four children.

Notes

References

* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Luxton, Jack 1923 births 2005 deaths Companions of the Queen's Service Order New Zealand farmers New Zealand National Party MPs New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives 20th-century New Zealand politicians