Murray Robert Smith (6 June 1941 – 27 September 2009) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

Biography

Smith was born in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

in 1941. He became a civil servant and later a member of the Whangarei Adult Education Committee. He joined the Labour Party and was secretary of both the Marsden and

Labour Representation Committees. He unsuccessfully contested Piako in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

finishing third and Marsden in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

finishing second. He was elected for the Whangarei electorate with the swing to Labour in the 1972 general election but was defeated in the next election in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. In early 1977 he contemplated standing as a candidate for the Labour Party nomination in the Mangere by-election, however he ultimately decided to withdraw from the candidacy race. Formerly a Public Trust accountant, he was made managing director of the Development Finance Corporation and executive chairman of New Zealand Railways by

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 ...

. From his time in Parliament, he was a friend of

Roger Douglas Sir Roger Owen Douglas (born 5 December 1937) is a retired New Zealand politician who served as a minister in two Labour governments. He became arguably best known for his prominent role in New Zealand's radical economic restructuring in the 198 ...

, and of

Michael Bassett Michael Edward Rainton Bassett (born 28 August 1938) is a former New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party member of the New Zealand House of Representatives and cabinet minister in the reformist Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand, fourth L ...

who said that his "contribution to New Zealand went well beyond what he managed in three short years to do for the people of Whangarei". He joined the Baháʼí community in 1989, becoming the chief executive officer in New Zealand in 1991 and deputy secretary-general of the Baháʼí international secretariat in 1994. He died in Raglan on 27 September 2009.

References

*Obituary in ''Dominion Post'' (Wellington) of 31 October 2009.

External links

Smith in 2005 (photo)
1941 births 2009 deaths New Zealand Labour Party MPs New Zealand Bahá'ís New Zealand accountants 20th-century New Zealand businesspeople Deaths from prostate cancer People from Hamilton, New Zealand Converts to the Bahá'í Faith 20th-century Bahá'ís 21st-century Bahá'ís Unsuccessful candidates in the 1975 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1969 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1966 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates {{NewZealand-business-bio-stub