Robert Masters (15 June 1879 – 29 June 1967) was a New Zealand politician of the

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and later

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parties, as well as a cabinet minister.

Biography

Early life and career

Masters was born in 1879 at

Greymouth Greymouth () (Māori: ''Māwhera'') is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is , which accounts for % of the West Coas ...

and was educated at Greymouth Boys' College. Around 1896 he moved to Stratford where he became a storekeeper with his father, Jonas Masters. He played representative rugby, and later, was a member of the

Taranaki Rugby Football Union Taranaki Rugby, previously the Taranaki Rugby Football Union, is the governing body for rugby union in Taranaki, New Zealand; Taranaki is a region of New Zealand that covers areas in the districts of New Plymouth and South Taranaki. Established ...

, executive. Masters was also a member of the executive of the Stratford Chamber of Commerce. On 3 May 1906 he was married to Alice Gertrude Hopkins in Stratford. Interested in agricultural matters, he was a member of Stratford's Agricultural and pastoral Association of which he had been both president and treasurer. He helped set up the Stratford

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and later a member of its executive. Masters was chairman of directors of the Stratford Electric Lighting Company, until it entered the ownership of the Stratford Borough Council.

Political career

Masters entered politics via local government. In 1916 he was elected a member of the Taranaki Board of Education, and became its chairman by the end of the same year. Masters represented the

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

electorate of Stratford from for the

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; though the result was declared void in the following year, he won the subsequent . Masters was a personal friend of Liberal Party leader George Forbes and the two went for daily walks together. He took on a mentoring role with Forbes for which he was mockingly dubbed 'His Master's Voice'. He was defeated by Edward Walter in 1925. After losing his seat he remained politically active and was involved in setting up the United Party, which succeeded the Liberal Party in 1928. Notably he was the chairman of the September 1928 convention in

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that launched the party's formal existence, decided its policies and where delegates elected former Prime Minister 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 its leader. He also negotiated successfully to bring about co-operation with several independent MPs and candidates (such as

Harry Atmore Harry Atmore (14 December 1870 – 20 August 1946) was a New Zealand Independent Member of Parliament for Nelson in the South Island. Harry Atmore held the Nelson seat as an Independent for a total of thirty years from 1911 to 1914 and th ...

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and

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) to support the United Party in the house. Masters was appointed to the

New Zealand Legislative Council The New Zealand Legislative Council was the upper house of the General Assembly of New Zealand between 1853 and 1951. An earlier arrangement of legislative councils for the colony and provinces existed from 1841 when New Zealand became a col ...

on 11 June 1930 and served for one seven-year term. When Ward retired as Prime Minister his successor, Forbes, added Masters to the cabinet on 20 August 1930 as a Minister without portfolio. In the Forbes Ministry, he was a Member of the Executive Council without portfolio from 1930 to 1931. When the United and Reform Party decided on entering in to a coalition, Forbes relied on Masters heavily for support during the tense negotiations that created the United-Reform Coalition government in 1931. In the coalition government, he was both Minister of Education and

Minister of Industries and Commerce The Minister of Industries and Commerce in New Zealand is a former cabinet position (existing from 1894 to 1972) appointed by the Prime Minister to be in charge of matters of industrial and commercial growth and trade. In 1972 it was replaced w ...

. At the he was the United Party's campaign chairman. He was frequently called on to resolve selection disputes as part of the coalition agreement with Reform was to not oppose each others MPs. He had to work with the Reform leadership to make sure that in as many electorates as possible there was only one "anti-Labour" candidate to avoid

vote splitting Vote splitting is an electoral effect in which the distribution of votes among multiple similar candidates reduces the chance of winning for any of the similar candidates, and increases the chance of winning for a dissimilar candidate. Vote spl ...

. In 1935, Masters was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal. In the

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, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, for public services.

Later life and death

In 1957 he was appointed to the Electricity and Gas Co-ordination Board by the

first National government The Anniversary of the First National Government ( es, Primer gobierno patrio) is a public holiday of Argentina, commemorating the May Revolution and the creation of the Primera Junta on May 25, 1810, which is considered the first patriotic govern ...

. He was also the patron of the New Zealand Federation of Wholesale Hardware Guilds. He died in Stratford on 29 June 1967, aged 88. His wife had predeceased him on 27 May 1962.

Notes

References

* * 1879 births 1967 deaths New Zealand Liberal Party MPs Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council People from Taranaki New Zealand Liberal Party MLCs New Zealand education ministers Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates New Zealand Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Unsuccessful candidates in the 1925 New Zealand general election {{NewZealand-Liberal-politician-stub