Brian Peter MacDonell (born 19 May 1935) is a former New Zealand

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 Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

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 the ...

in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasma ...

Early life and career

He was born in Dunedin on 19 May 1935, the son of Roderick MacDonell. He received his education at Christian Brothers High School, since renamed

Kavanagh College , motto_translation = With Her As Our Guide , type = State-integrated secondary , established = 1989; years ago (antecedent secondary schools: 1871, 1876, 1878, 1897 and 1976) , streetaddress ...

. He became active with the labour movement in 1950. In 1958, he married Joan Banwell, the daughter of William Banwell. The MacDonells have four sons. MacDonell worked for a bank from 1953 to 1963, and was a national councillor for the New Zealand bank officers union.

Political career

MacDonell first attempted to enter politics at the 1959 local-body elections when he stood unsuccessfully for the

Dunedin City Council The Dunedin City Council ( mi, Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Ōtepoti) is the local government authority for Dunedin in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Dunedin. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Dunedin is Ju ...

on the Labour Party ticket. He stood for the council again in 1962 and was likewise unsuccessful. He represented the

electorate in Parliament for 21 years from to 1984. He was Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Trade and Industry (1973–1975) and to the Minister of Energy Resources (1974–1975). Following the

Royal Commission on Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion __NOTOC__ The Royal Commission on Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion was carried out in New Zealand from 1975 to 1977, shortly after the 1975 general election. The members of the Royal Commission were M. D. Matich, Barbara J. Thomson, Dame ...

, parliament discussed legislation to legalise abortion, and MacDonell supported his pro-life stance by holding a jar with a pickled 12-week-old foetus during the debate. Parliament passed the

Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977 Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977, also known as the CS&A Act 1977, is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand. It was passed shortly following an inquiry by the Royal Commission on Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion. The ...

. MacDonell was Shadow Minister of Customs and Shadow Postmaster-General from 1975 to 1983 under

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 ...

. The Dunedin Central electorate was abolished in the 1983 electoral redistribution, and the electorate of

Dunedin West Dunedin West was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, in the city of Dunedin. It existed for three periods between 1881 and 1996 and was represented by seven Members of Parliament. Population centres The previous electoral redistribution was ...

was established in its place. MacDonell was not selected as the Labour candidate for the new electorate of Dunedin West; instead, the party's president,

Jim Anderton James Patrick Anderton (born Byrne; 21 January 1938 – 7 January 2018) was a New Zealand politician who led a succession of left-wing parties after leaving the Labour Party in 1989. Anderton's political career began when he was elected to th ...

, installed his personal friend Clive Matthewson. MacDonell stood as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

in the 1984 general election but was not successful. MacDonell was later elected a member of the

at the 1995 local-body elections representing the South Dunedin ward for three years.

Later activities

As of 2013, MacDonell resided in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, Australia. He enjoys fishing for recreation.

Honours and awards

In 1977, MacDonell was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du jubilé d'argent de la reine Elizabeth II) is a commemorative medal created in 1977 to mark the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. The medal is p ...

, and in 1990 he received the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to approximately 3,000 people. Background The New Zea ...

. In the

1993 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1993 were appointments by most of the 16 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 count ...

, he was appointed 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 pu ...

for public services.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonell, Brian 1935 births People educated at Trinity Catholic College, Dunedin Living people New Zealand Labour Party MPs Independent MPs of New Zealand Companions of the Queen's Service Order Local politicians in New Zealand New Zealand MPs for Dunedin electorates Unsuccessful candidates in the 1984 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1960 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Dunedin City Councillors