Howard Neill Austin (12 December 1924 – 24 June 2008) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. He held many positions with Federated Farmers.

Early life

Austin was born in 1924 in Rawene, a town on the south side of the Hokianga harbour. His father was William Neill Austin. He received his education at Okaihau District High School (now

Okaihau College In 1973 the Ōkaihau district high school in the Far North District of New Zealand was granted Form 1-7 (Year 7-13) status and became Okaihau College with Mr. Laurenson as first principal. At the same time a full primary school was completed ar ...

). In 1946, he married Violet Mudgway, the daughter of Herbert Lewis Mudgway; the couple were to have three daughters.

Outside politics

Austin was a member of the Umawera School committee from 1956 to 1962. He was on the executive of the Umawera Settlers' Association, and chaired the group from 1960 to 1965. He was a member of the Waihou Memorial Church committee from 1968; Waihou is a locality west of Kaitaia. Austin was on the Auckland Provincial Executive of Federated Farmers from 1969 to 1975, and was president of the Bay of Islands branch of the group from 1970 to 1975. From 1971 to 1975, he was a member of the Council of the Dominion Dairy Section of Federated Farmers.

Political career

He represented the Hobson electorate from

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. ...

to 1978, and then the Bay of Islands electorate from

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

. During his time at Parliament he was known by his nickname "Old Blackberry" for successfully lobbying for public funding for farmers to eradicate the spread of wild blackberry which had become a noxious weed. In 1986 Austin was deselected by the National Party in favour of John Carter, the party electorate chairman. He briefly considered resigning and forcing a by-election and standing as an independent, but decided against it. He also ruled out standing at the against Carter as he had signed a candidates pledge not to do so. Austin's son-in-law, tutor Chris Robertson, stood in the seat against Carter as the Labour Party candidate.

Later life

In the

1994 Queen's Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday. Publication dates vary from year to year. Most are published in supplements to the ''London Gazette'' and many are formally conferred by the monarch (or ...

, Austin was appointed a

Member 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 o ...

, for public services. He died on 24 June 2008.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Neill 1924 births 2008 deaths New Zealand National Party MPs New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives 20th-century New Zealand politicians