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 First Party and later, the

New Zealand National Party The New Zealand National Party ( mi, Rōpū Nāhinara o Aotearoa), shortened to National () or the Nats, is a centre-right political party in New Zealand. It is one of two major parties that dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongsi ...

Early years

He was born in

Oamaru Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the ra ...

and attended St Bede's College in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

. He obtained a degree in history and economics at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

after starting an accounting degree. He taught at

Christchurch Boys' High School , motto_translation = I Seek Higher Things , type = State school, Day and Boarding school , gender = Boys , song = The School We Magnify , colours = Blue and Black , established = , address = 71 Straven ...

and

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. ...

, but with a passion for politics became a parliamentary researcher for

Bruce Beetham Bruce Craig Beetham (16 February 1936 – 3 May 1997) was an academic and politician from New Zealand, whose career spanned the 1970s and early 1980s. A lecturer at Hamilton's University of Waikato and at the Hamilton Teachers' Training Coll ...

and then

Winston Peters Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician serving as the leader of New Zealand First since its foundation in 1993. Peters served as the 13th deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 1996 to 1998 and 2017 to 2020, ...

. He admired 1930s Labour politicians Savage and

Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

Political activities

Originally a stalwart of the Social Credit Party, he represented them in the 1979 Christchurch Central by-election and came second; Labour's Geoffrey Palmer won the seat. Heffernan stood in the

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whanga ...

electorate in five general elections: * in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

for the Social Credit Party * in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast As ...

for the Social Credit Party * in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...

for the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

* in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

for the

* in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

for

New Zealand First New Zealand First ( mi, Aotearoa Tuatahi), commonly abbreviated to NZ First, is a nationalist and populist political party in New Zealand. The party formed in July 1993 following the resignation on 19 March 1993 of its leader and founder, Wi ...

In 1987 he came second to Labour's Russell Marshall, who had an election-night majority of only 27 (though Marshall's final majority was 248). In

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

Heffernan stood for

in Albany, against

Murray McCully Murray Stuart McCully (born 19 February 1953) is a former New Zealand politician. He is a member of the National Party, and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2017. Early life Born in Whangārei, McCully was educated at Ara ...

. In the 2008 election, he stood as the National Party candidate for the

electorate of

Port Hills The Port Hills are a range of hills in Canterbury Region, so named because they lie between the city of Christchurch and its port at Lyttelton. They are an eroded remnant of the Lyttelton volcano, which erupted millions of years ago. The h ...

, though already weakened by cancer.

Death

Heffernan died in Christchurch on 13 March 2010, and his funeral was celebrated in St Joseph's Catholic Church in Papanui, Christchurch. A notice of motion in remembrance was lodged by

Ruth Dyson Ruth Suzanne Dyson (born 11 August 1957) is a former New Zealand politician. She was a Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2020. She represented the electorate from the election to 2020. She also held a number of senior offices i ...

in parliament on 18 March 2010.Order Paper
''New Zealand House of Representatives'', 23 March 2010

Notes

References

Obituary in ''Dominion Post'' of 3 April 2010 page B7
(from ''The Press'') *

External links

Terry Heffernan on National Party website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heffernan, Terry 1952 births 2010 deaths Deaths from cancer in New Zealand People from Oamaru University of Canterbury alumni New Zealand schoolteachers People educated at St Bede's College, Christchurch New Zealand Democratic Party for Social Credit politicians Social Credit Party (New Zealand) politicians New Zealand First politicians New Zealand National Party politicians Alliance (New Zealand political party) politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 1996 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2008 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1987 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1990 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1993 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1984 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1981 New Zealand general election New Zealand Roman Catholics