John Bowie Gordon (23 July 1921 – 17 March 1991), known as Peter Gordon, was a New Zealand politician of the National Party.

Biography

Gordon was born in Stratford in 1921 to Stratford doctors William and Doris Gordon. Like his two brothers, he attended St Andrew's College, Christchurch, where he was a boarder from 1935 to 1937. He then attended Lincoln College and the Nuffield School in farming in

Crookston, Minnesota Crookston is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Polk County. The population was 7,482 at the 2020 census. It is part of the "Grand Forks, ND- MN Metropolitan Statistical Area" or "Greater Grand Forks". Crookst ...

. In World War II, he was a flight lieutenant and pilot for the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeal ...

. After the war, he was a farmer and joined many organisations, where he had leading roles with the West Otago A & P Association (president), Farmers' Mutual Insurance (director, 1952–1960), and Shaw, Savill & Company (member of the New Zealand Advisory Board, 1956–1960). Gordon was the Member of Parliament for Clutha from to 1978, when he retired for health reasons. With

Robert Muldoon Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party. Serving as a corporal and sergeant in th ...

and Duncan MacIntyre he was one of the three 'Young Turks' of the National Party, a "ginger group" who entered Parliament in 1960. In 1966 the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

at the time

Keith Holyoake Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake, (; 11 February 1904 – 8 December 1983) was the 26th prime minister of New Zealand, serving for a brief period in 1957 and then from 1960 to 1972, and also the 13th governor-general of New Zealand, serving from 197 ...

promoted Gordon to the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

, along with several other

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 ...

s including future Prime Minister Robert Muldoon. In the Second National Government under

, he was made

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 infrastructure. ...

(1966–1972),

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

(1966–1972), and Minister of Civil Aviation (1966–1968). He maintained the transport and railways portfolios under

Jack Marshall Sir John Ross Marshall New Zealand Army Orders 1952/405 (5 March 1912 – 30 August 1988) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. He entered Parliament in 1946 and was first promoted to Cabinet in 1951. After spending twelve years ...

in 1972, and was made Minister of Marine and Fisheries. In the Third National Government under Muldoon, Gordon was from 1975 Minister of Labour and Minister of State Services until his retirement in 1978. He was made a

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

in 1978, and a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the p ...

for public services in the

1990 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1990 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

. He died in 1991.

Notes

References

* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Peter 1921 births 1991 deaths New Zealand National Party MPs Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand People from Stratford, New Zealand New Zealand World War II pilots Companions of the Queen's Service Order Lincoln University (New Zealand) alumni Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates People educated at St Andrew's College, Christchurch 20th-century New Zealand politicians New Zealand members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom University of Minnesota Crookston alumni New Zealand expatriates in the United States