John Andrew Millar (8 July 1855 – 15 October 1915) was a New Zealand politician of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

from Otago.

Early life

Born in

Jalandhar Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...

, India, in 1855, he first came to New Zealand in 1870, but then embarked on a seafaring career. In 1881, he changed from international to coastal shipping. Although an officer, he was a member of the union. When he was elected the first full-time general secretary of the Federated Seamen's Union of New Zealand in 1887, he moved to

Port Chalmers Port Chalmers is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre. History Early Māori settlement The origi ...

, as that is where the union's headquarters were.

Political career

He was a

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 o ...

for Chalmers in the 12th Parliament –1896, for the City of Dunedin in the

13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave pl ...

, 14th and 15th Parliaments –1905, for

Dunedin Central Dunedin Central was a parliamentary electorate in the city of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand from 1881 to 1890 and 1905 to 1984. Population centres The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–1876 election. In th ...

in the 16th Parliament –1908, and for Dunedin West in the 17th and 18th Parliaments –1914. He disagreed with some Liberal policies, but did not join the New Liberal Party group in 1905. Millar was Chairman of Committees from 1903 to 1905. He was

Minister of Customs The Minister of Customs was a position in the Cabinet of the Government of Canada responsible for the administration of customs revenue collection in Canada. This position was originally created by Statute 31 Vict., c. 43, and assented to on 22 M ...

(6 August 1906 – 6 January 1909),

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

(6 August 1906 – 6 January 1909; 17 June 1909 – 28 March 1912), Minister in Charge of Marine Department (6 August 1906 – 28 March 1912), and

Minister of Railways A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructur ...

(6 January 1909 – 28 March 1912) in the Ward Ministry. In 1912 he was spoken of as a successor to Sir

Joseph Ward Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, (26 April 1856 – 8 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 17th prime minister of New Zealand from 1906 to 1912 and from 1928 to 1930. He was a dominant figure in the Liberal and Unit ...

as leader of the Liberal Party. But he did not stand in the ballot of 22 March when

Thomas Mackenzie Sir Thomas Mackenzie (10 March 1853 – 14 February 1930) was a Scottish-born New Zealand politician and explorer who briefly served as the 18th prime minister of New Zealand in 1912, and later served as New Zealand High Commissioner in ...

defeated George Laurenson (with 22 votes to 9) as he was not supported by Labour members of the caucus, although he had support from "arbitrationist" unions. So in July he appeared in the House ''to help turn out the Liberal government ... ill, pyjama-clad, consumed with the desire to destroy the government that he had not been permitted to lead''. He was appointed to the Legislative Council on 23 June 1915, but could only attend one meeting to be sworn in before his health failed him. He died in Auckland on 15 October 1915 and was buried in the

Dunedin Northern Cemetery The Dunedin Northern Cemetery is a major historic cemetery in the southern New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located on a sloping site close to Lovelock Avenue on a spur of Signal Hill close to the Dunedin Botanic Gardens and the suburb of ...

Notes

References

* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Millar, John A. 1855 births 1915 deaths New Zealand Liberal Party MPs Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council New Zealand Liberal Party MLCs New Zealand MPs for Dunedin electorates People from Port Chalmers Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Unsuccessful candidates in the 1890 New Zealand general election Burials at Dunedin Northern Cemetery 19th-century New Zealand politicians