John Gerald O’Brien (2 December 1924 – 13 December 2017), known as Gerald O'Brien, was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

Early life

O'Brien was born 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 m ...

on 2 December 1924, the son of John Thomas O'Brien, and was educated at St Patrick's College. He joined 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 ...

(RNZAF) in 1942 when he was 17 and trained as a radar operator in Harewood and Wigram. He did not see overseas' service as the Americans "had enough manpower in

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mech ...

area". In 1956, O'Brien married Fausta Filipidis. O'Brien owned and operated his own business Enzart Import Ltd. which exported locally manufactured products overseas. He was also a member of the Brooklyn Progressive Association and Brooklyn Community Association.

Political career

He joined the Labour Party and in 1946 he became the electorate secretary, the seat represented by Prime Minister

Peter Fraser Peter Fraser (; 28 August 1884 – 12 December 1950) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 24th prime minister of New Zealand from 27 March 1940 until 13 December 1949. Considered a major figure in the history of the New Zealand Lab ...

, and later became chairman. In 1963 he became the secretary of the Wellington Labour Representation Committee. In 1950 he suggested to Frank Kitts that he should stand on behalf of Labour for the mayor and council; Kitts was the highest-polling councillor, although he did not win the mayoralty until 1956. O'Brien stood as a Labour candidate for the council himself in both 1959 and

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wo ...

but was unsuccessful. In 1962 and again in 1965 he stood unsuccessfully for the Wellington Harbour Board on the Labour Party ticket. In

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

he was elected as a member of the

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...

and re-elected in

1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...

. On the council he was deputy chair of the city's works department. During this period O'Brien was approached to stand for Labour in the

1967 Petone by-election The 1967 Petone by-election was a by-election for the electorate of Petone on 15 April 1967 during the 35th New Zealand Parliament. The by-election resulted from the death of the previous member the Hon Mick Moohan on 7 February 1967. The by-elec ...

. He declined the invitation however, citing the demands of running his business would be incompatible with a parliamentary candidature at that time. He represented the Island Bay electorate from to 1978. Following his election to Parliament O'Brien did not stand for re-election to the city council and his brother Brian (a sports journalist) replaced him on the Labour ticket. Brian O'Brien was elected in 1971 and served as a councillor until 1980 when he retired. O'Brien was particularly opposed to the

Vietnam war The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and was honoured by the Vietnamese in appreciation. He went as far as to use his importing business to bring goods from Vietnam into New Zealand, directly defying the policy of the Holyoake government. In 1974 O'Brien was elected as Vice-President of the Labour Party. As vice-president was on the panel to choose the successor to

Norman Kirk Norman Eric Kirk (6 January 1923 – 31 August 1974) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 29th prime minister of New Zealand from 1972 until his sudden death in 1974. Born into poverty in Southern Canterbury, Kirk left school at ...

in the Sydenham electorate. Initially the three electorate representatives wanted John Kirk and the three head office nominees wanted the party secretary John Wybrow. O'Brien switched his vote to John Kirk, who got the nod. He was also on the committee that chose

David Lange David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. Lange was born and brought up in Otahuhu, the son of a medical doctor. He became ...

at the

1977 Mangere by-election The Mangere by-election of 1977 was a by-election for the electorate of Mangere on 26 March 1977 during the 38th New Zealand Parliament. The by-election resulted from the resignation of the previous member Colin Moyle after accusations against ...

. In January 1976 he was appointed by Labour leader

Bill Rowling Sir Wallace Edward Rowling (; 15 November 1927 – 31 October 1995), commonly known as Bill Rowling, was a New Zealand politician who was the 30th prime minister of New Zealand from 1974 to 1975. He held office as the parliamentary leader of t ...

as Shadow Minister of Local Government. He was charged over an incident in 1976 in Christchurch, where he allegedly asked two boys back to his motel room for a drink. The charges were thrown out, and O'Brien maintained that it was nothing but an attempt by political enemies to "get rid of me". He also stated that he got more sympathy from members of the National Party than from his own party. He was subsequently deselected by Labour for the Island Bay electorate. In 1978, he was defeated as an Independent Labour candidate. He ran against the official Labour candidate,

Frank O'Flynn Francis Duncan O'Flynn (24 October 1918 – 17 October 2003) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. Biography O'Flynn was born in Runanga in 1918. He was the son of Francis Edward O'Flynn and Margaret Helen Valentine Duncan. He r ...

, and received some 3,700 votes at O'Flynn's expense, almost costing O'Flynn what had always been a Labour bastion. O'Brien reaffirmed his rift with Labour at the

1979 Christchurch Central by-election The Christchurch Central by-election of 1979 was a by-election during the 39th New Zealand Parliament. It was prompted by the death of Bruce Barclay, a Labour Party MP, and resulted in Geoffrey Palmer, also of the Labour Party, being elected t ...

where he endorsed the

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

candidate

Terry Heffernan Terence Michael Heffernan (3 February 1952 – 13 March 2010) was a New Zealand politician who stood for Parliament on eight separate occasions. Heffernan was originally a member of the Social Credit Party before joining the New Zealand Fir ...

. At the 1981 election, the Social Credit Party invited him to stand for his old Island Bay electorate, but he declined.

Private artworks

After organising O'Brien's possessions upon his death, his nephew Lucien Rizos discovered a complex series of illustrations depicting an imaginary world and its residents – including cut-out illustrations of more than 700 original-named characters and their fictional island homelands. The dates marked on these indicated they had been created by O'Brien over a series of decades. Rizos told ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'': "I talked to him for a year … about all sorts of things, but he imaginary worldnever came up and it pisses me off that I didn't know", he says. "He didn’t say – knowing he was dying – 'you're going to find this'." Rizos scanned these findings during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, and published them in a catalogue titled “Everything", the contents of which are to be exhibited at the

Adam Art Gallery Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

in October 2022.

Later life

O'Brien died in Wellington on 13 December 2017. He was survived by his wife of 61 years.

Notes

References

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External links

O'Brien and his wife Fausta in 1978
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Gerald 1924 births 2017 deaths New Zealand Labour Party MPs New Zealand military personnel of World War II Wellington City Councillors Unsuccessful candidates in the 1978 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Wellington electorates Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel Politicians from Wellington City People educated at St. Patrick's College, Wellington