Norman Philip Hastings Jones (15 August 1923 – 19 November 1987) was a New Zealand National Party politician, who represented the Invercargill electorate in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Biography

Jones was born on 15 August 1923 in

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 ...

. He was one of six brothers and two sisters and the only one of the brothers to complete primary school, although he left secondary school shortly before his 15th birthday. From that point on he held a number of short-term jobs, working principally as a farm labourer before he joined the

New Zealand Army , image = New Zealand Army Logo.png , image_size = 175px , caption = , start_date = , country = , branch = ...

in 1941 after lying about his age. He served as a private in the 23rd Infantry Battalion during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and lost his right leg to tank-fire at the age of 19 in North Africa. After his war service he attended

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Universities and Dunedin Teachers' College. He taught at

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

for some time before returning south to become assistant master at Southland College. Subsequently, he worked at

James Hargest High School James Hargest College is a large school of about 1,950–2,000 students, in Invercargill, New Zealand. The school caters for students from year 7–13. The school is divided into two campuses, known as James Hargest Junior Campus (Year 7–8) an ...

and 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 ...

. Jones and his wife Marjorie were committee members of the

Save Manapouri campaign The Save Manapouri campaign was an environmental campaign waged between 1969 and 1972 in New Zealand to prevent the raising of the levels of lakes Manapouri and Te Anau as part of the construction of the Manapouri Power Project. Origins The ...

. Jones was an Invercargill city councillor for 18 years, and served one term as

deputy mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments. Duties and functions Many elected dep ...

. In the

1975 Queen's Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1975 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 6 June 1975 for ...

, he was awarded the

Queen's Service Medal The Queen's Service Medal is a medal awarded by the government of New Zealand to recognise and reward volunteer service to the community and also public service in elected or appointed public office. It was established in 1975 and is related to ...

for public services, for services to civil defence and the community. He became particularly notable for his vehement opposition to the

Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986 The Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986 is a New Zealand law that broadly legalised consensual sex between men as well as anal sex between any parties including opposite-sex partners. It removed the provisions of the Crimes Act 1961 that criminalise ...

. Owing to his outspokenness on this and other issues, the media dubbed him "the mouth from the south". When the Labour Party won office in 1984, an economic summit took place in the parliamentary debating chamber. Representatives from industry, unions and community groups attended. Jones refused to vacate his seat, saying he would not give up his chair for some

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

to sit down. Jones first stood for Parliament at a by-election in 1945. He had contested seven elections before being chosen as the National candidate for Invercargill in , when he beat the incumbent

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 ...

representative,

J. B. Munro John Baldwin Munro (né John Baldwin, 15 August 1936 – 4 June 2018), better known as J. B. Munro, was a New Zealand politician of the New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party. He was also a notable disability advocate. Early life and educa ...

. He remained in Parliament until shortly before his death in 1987. Jones died on 19 November 1987 from a

brain tumour A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondary ...

at the age of 64. His

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, ''Jonesy'', published five years earlier in 1982, detailed his wartime service and his political career. A number of the most controversial aspects and events of his public service occurred after the book's publication.

Notes

References

* *

External links

''New Zealand History online'': "Norman Jones speaking against homosexual law reform" (photograph included)''New Zealand History online'': "Homosexual law reform in New Zealand"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Norman 1923 births 1987 deaths Invercargill City Councillors New Zealand educators New Zealand National Party MPs New Zealand military personnel of World War II People from Invercargill Burials at Eastern Cemetery, Invercargill Deaths from brain tumor Deaths from cancer in New Zealand Neurological disease deaths in New Zealand Deputy mayors of Invercargill Place of birth missing Place of death missing New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Unsuccessful candidates in the 1946 New Zealand general election Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal New Zealand politicians with disabilities Educators with disabilities