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 received his education at

Christchurch Normal School Cranmer Court, the former Christchurch Normal School, was one of the most significant heritage buildings in Christchurch, New Zealand. Its demolition, due to some damage in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, was controversial. History The Canter ...

and

Christchurch Boys' High School Christchurch Boys' High School, often referred to as CBHS, is a single sex state secondary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is situated on a site between the suburbs of Riccarton, New Zealand, Riccarton and Fendalton, to the west of ce ...

. He received his BA in 1940, and joined the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF; ) is the aerial warfare, aerial military service, service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Perm ...

in 1942. He married Sylvia Elizabeth Hefford in 1942 and they had four children. He obtained his LLB in 1947 and LLM in 1948. At the

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

and

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

local-body elections he was stood unsuccessfully for the

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the city of Wellington, the country's capital city and List of cities in New Zealand#City councils, third-largest city by popul ...

on the Labour Party ticket. He served as a law clerk at O'Regan and Arndt in Wellington until 1954. He was a barrister and solicitor until 1968, when he was named

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

(QC). He represented the victims of the ''Wahine'' ferry disaster in 1968. Also in 1968 he was elected a member of the Otaki Borough Council. In 1971 he stood unsuccessfully for the

Wellington Hospital Board Wellington is Capital of New Zealand, 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 List of cities in New Zealand, third-largest city ...

. O'Flynn represented Brian Brooks in the 1972, where Brooks successfully sued prime minister

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. Departing from National Party convention, Mu ...

for defamation for remarks Muldoon made on a 1972 television programme. O'Flynn's cross-examination of Muldoon generated a lot of interest, and was described in his Law Society obituary as a highlight of his career.

Political career

He represented the seat of Kapiti from 1972 to 1975, when he was defeated. Soon after losing his seat he went to Nelson to seek the Labour candidacy for the seat in a

1976 by-election Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, but was unsuccessful. O'Flynn's attempt was not helped by an effort to seek candidates with links to Nelson as there were fears in the area that MPs who had lost their seats in 1975 would become "

parachute candidate A parachute candidate, or carpetbagger in the United States, is a pejorative term for an election candidate who does not live in the area they are running to represent and has little connection to it. The allegation is thus that a desperate polit ...

s". He was the only defeated candidate to try for the nomination. Following his attempt in Nelson, O'Flynn seriously considered standing for

Mayor of Wellington The mayor of Wellington is the head of the municipal government of Wellington, the city of Wellington. The mayor presides over the Wellington City Council. The mayor is directly elected using the Single Transferable Vote method of proportional ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

, but he withdrew in favour of Sir

Frank Kitts Sir Francis Joseph Kitts (1 May 1912 – 16 March 1979) was a New Zealand politician. Originally from the South Island, he served in the military and later was a civil servant before entering politics with the Labour Party. He was the Member o ...

. At the same election he stood for the

and was elected. Between 1980 and 1981 he was leader of the Labour caucus on the council. He was re-elected in 1980 but unexpectedly lost his seat on the council in 1983. His defeat was in the wake of him hinting that he would rethink his position on the council should he become a cabinet minister after being promoted earlier in 1983. Following the controversial de-selection of

Gerald O'Brien John Gerald O’Brien (2 December 1924 – 13 December 2017), known as Gerald O'Brien, was a New Zealand politician of the New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party. Early life O'Brien was born in Wellington on 2 December 1924, the son of John T ...

, O'Flynn was selected as his replacement in the

Island Bay Island Bay is a coastal suburb of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, situated south of the city centre. Island Bay lies on the bay which shares its name, one of numerous small bays off Cook Strait and west of Lyall Bay. 500m offshore i ...

electorate. O'Brien ran as an independent candidate and drew away many former Labour voters causing O'Flynn to come close to losing one of Labour's safest seats. He was elected narrowly by 650 votes and represented Island Bay from 1978 to 1987, when he retired due to ill health. Soon after returning to Parliament he was appointed as Shadow Minister of Health by 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 Leader of the New Zealand ...

. He was later shifted from Health to be Shadow Minister of Justice in 1981. O'Flynn was a backer of

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. A member of the New Zealand Labour Party, Lange was also the Minister of Education ...

for leader and was rewarded by being promoted to the front bench and given the role of Shadow Attorney-General. Following Labour's victory at the O'Flynn was naturally expected to in both political and legal circles to become

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

, but Lange had been persuaded by his deputy

Geoffrey Palmer Geoffrey Palmer may refer to: Politicians *Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 1st Baronet (1598–1670), English lawyer and politician *Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 3rd Baronet (1655–1732), English politician, member of parliament (MP) for Leicestershire *Geoffrey Pal ...

(who had been O'Flynn's legal clerk decades earlier) to appoint him to the role instead. During the

Fourth Labour Government The Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand governed New Zealand from 26 July 1984 to 2 November 1990 (the period up to 8 August 1989 is also called the Lange Government). It was the first Labour government to win a second consecutive term si ...

he was a cabinet minister and served as

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

from 1984 to 1987. He was also Minister of State, Minister in charge of War Pensions, Minister in charge of Rehabilitation, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Associate Minister of Overseas Trade and Marketing. As Minister of Defence he famously said that ''"he would defend New Zealand by blowing up bridges and tunnels."'' He was instrumental in developing Labour's nuclear-free policies, which despite resulting in the breakdown of

ANZUS The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS or ANZUS Treaty) is a collective security agreement between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States that was signed in 1951, and from which New Zealand has been partially su ...

, O'Flynn described as "by far the brightest thing

he Government He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

had done." He had a meeting in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

in 1985 with United States Secretary of State

George Shultz George Pratt Shultz ( ; December 13, 1920February 6, 2021) was an American economist, businessman, diplomat and statesman. He served in various positions under two different Republican presidents and is one of the only two persons to have held f ...

, where Shultz lambasted New Zealand's stance but O'Flynn defended their position resulting in deadlock. O'Flynn disliked the Defence portfolio and felt the officials at the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

took him for granted on many issues. On three occasions (July, August and December 1985) he threatened to resign as minister after Lange failed to back him during a disagreement with officials regarding the posting of a Defence official overseas at great cost to the taxpayer. O'Flynn thought that it was a waste of public money and that the official was little more than 'a big, dull fat Poo-Bah'. His bench mate

Michael Bassett Michael Edward Rainton Bassett (born 28 August 1938) is a former Labour Party member of the New Zealand House of Representatives and cabinet minister in the reformist fourth Labour government. He is also a noted New Zealand historian, and h ...

felt that O'Flynn's dislike of the defence portfolio was more an expression of his disappointment that Lange had broken his promise of giving him the position of Attorney-General. O'Flynn and Lange became increasingly estranged and their communications were reduced to being conducted through Bassett as an intermediary. Not long after deciding to retire, he suffered a stroke (which he later recovered from) and was unable to deliver his valedictory speech in Parliament. It was read instead by

Mike Moore Michael Moore is an American filmmaker and author. Michael Moore may also refer to: Academia * Michael G. Moore (fl. 1970s–2020s), professor of education * Michael S. Moore (academic) (fl. 1960s–2020s), American law professor * Michael Mo ...

on his behalf.

Life after politics

He was appointed to the Privy Council in 1987; however, that same ill-health prevented him from travelling to England to be sworn into the Council by Queen Elizabeth II. He suffered a stroke in that year which led to a permanent disability, he then retired to

Raumati Beach Raumati Beach is a beach community on the Kāpiti Coast of New Zealand's North Island; located 60km north-west of Wellington, and about 2 km north of Raumati South. It is immediately to the south-west of the larger town of Paraparaumu. The Ma ...

. O'Flynn died on 17 October 2003 in

Paraparaumu Paraparaumu is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the Kāpiti Coast, north of the nation's capital city, Wellington. It is also known to residents as Pram or Paraparam. Like other towns in the area, it has a ...

, a week shy of his 85th birthday. He was survived by his wife, Sylvia and his four children. He was buried at

Karori Cemetery Karori Cemetery is the second-largest cemetery in New Zealand. It opened in 1891, and is located in the Wellington suburb of Karori. History Karori Cemetery opened in 1891 to address overcrowding at Bolton Street Cemetery. In 1909, it recei ...

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oflynn, Frank 1918 births 2003 deaths Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Ministers of defence of New Zealand New Zealand Labour Party MPs 20th-century New Zealand lawyers New Zealand King's Counsel Unsuccessful candidates in the 1975 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Wellington City Councillors New Zealand MPs for Wellington electorates New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates People from Greymouth People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School Victoria University of Wellington alumni New Zealand military personnel of World War II New Zealand members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Burials at Karori Cemetery