Edwin Joseph Keating (29 October 1910 – 22 October 1987) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for the Labour Party, academic and director of the

Bank of New Zealand Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) is one of New Zealand's Big Four (banking), big four banks and has been operating in the country since the first office was opened in Auckland in October 1861 followed shortly after by the first branch in Dunedin in D ...

Biography

Early life and career

Keating was born in

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

, England, in 1910 and arrived in New Zealand in 1926 alongside family members. He found employment with the

New Zealand Post Office The New Zealand Post Office (NZPO) was a government department of New Zealand until 1987. It was previously (from 1881 to 1959) named the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department (NZ P&T). As a government department, the New Zealand Post Office ...

and attended the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

part-time, eventually graduating with a master of arts majoring in history. He married Marguerita Mary (Rita) Wigg in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

on 29 March 1948 with whom he had four sons and one daughter. He was Vice-President of the New Zealand Post Office Association from 1949 to 1954 and a member of the Post Office Promotion Board from 1950 to 1954. He was a member of the Government Superannuation Board from 1948 to 1953.

Political career

At the 1953 local-body elections he stood unsuccessfully for the

Wellington Harbour Board (Strong but true) , predecessor = , merged = , successor = , formation = , founder = , founding_location = , dissolved = , merger = , type ...

on the Labour Party ticket. Keating represented the

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

electorate from

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, when he was defeated by

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

's Duncan MacIntyre. He attempted to regain the seat in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

, but was unsuccessful. Keating was thought of as a potential cabinet member at the formation of the

Second Labour Government The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds eac ...

. The press thought him the most qualified member of the Labour caucus for the position of

Postmaster-General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a Ministry (government department), ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having ...

due to his work experience prior to entering Parliament. However he was not selected for cabinet and remained a

backbencher In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

. For the duration of the government Keating defended the government's record and countered attacks from the opposition regarding taxation levels. He particularly highlighted the success of the introduction of the

Pay-as-you-earn tax A pay-as-you-earn tax (PAYE), or pay-as-you-go (PAYG) in Australia, is a withholding tax, withholding of taxes on income payments to employees. Amounts withheld are treated as advance payments of income tax due. They are refundable to the extent th ...

(PAYE) as an improvement to the tax system in place prior to Labour taking office. He was a member of the Labour Party's national executive from 1957 to 1960 and chairman of the Wellington Labour Party Division from 1968 to 1975. In 1969 Keating stood for the vice-presidency of the Labour Party. He gained minimal support with only 2 delegates voting for him in the ballot.

Later career

After politics he became a tutor and senior lecturer in industrial relations at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

. Keating also served as a director of the Bank of New Zealand from 1975 to 1987. He had previously been a member of the bank's housing allocation committee from 1947 to 1960. In the 1986 Queen's Birthday Honours, Keating was appointed a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

, for public and community services.

Death

He died in 1987 in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

a week before his 77th birthday after a lengthy illness. He was survived by his wife, five children and three grandchildren.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keating, Edwin 1910 births 1987 deaths University of Auckland alumni Academic staff of Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand Labour Party MPs English emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates New Zealand Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Unsuccessful candidates in the 1960 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1963 New Zealand general election