Hugh Campbell Templeton (born 24 March 1929) is a former New Zealand diplomat, politician and member of parliament for the National Party.

Early life and family

Templeton was born in Wyndham, Southland, in 1929. He was educated at Gore High School, King's High School, the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

, and then as a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in 1952–53. He married Russian-born New Zealand novelist Natasha Templeton in Wellington in 1961. His brother,

Malcolm Malcolm, Malcom, Máel Coluim, or Maol Choluim may refer to: People * Malcolm (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Malcom (footballer) (born 1997), Brazilian football forward * Clan Malcolm * Maol Choluim de Innerp ...

, was a Foreign Service officer who represented New Zealand at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. His twin brother Ian is a veteran press gallery journalist and author. From 1954 to 1969 Templeton served with the New Zealand Department of External Affairs, first in London, and then in Wellington, before going as the last Deputy High Commissioner of Western Samoa to prepare specially for independence and then to New York to assist secure Samoa's post independence aid programmes, under

Guy Powles Sir Guy Richardson Powles (5 April 1905 – 24 October 1994) was a New Zealand diplomat, the last Governor of Western Samoa and architect of Samoan independence, and New Zealand's first Ombudsman. Early life Powles was born in Ōtaki, north of ...

. From 1965 to 1969 Templeton served in Wellington working on Asian and European and Defence affairs, before being elected to Parliament.

Member of Parliament

Templeton was elected as MP for Awarua in Southland in . However, he lost the electorate in the to Labour's Aubrey Begg. He was one of four National Party incumbents from

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

and Southland who lost their normally blue electorate to the Labour challenger over the proposed raising of the lake levels of lakes

Manapouri Manapouri is a small town in Southland / Fiordland, in the southwest corner of the South Island, in New Zealand. The township is the westernmost municipality in New Zealand. Located at the edge of the Fiordland National Park, on the eastern ...

and

Te Anau Te Anau is a town in the Southland, New Zealand, Southland List of regions in New Zealand, region of the South Island of New Zealand. In Māori language, Māori, Te-Anau means the Place of the Swirling Waters. It is on the eastern shore of Lake ...

, which was opposed by the Save Manapouri campaign. Labour's election manifesto was for the lakes to remain at their natural levels. From 1972 to 1975, after losing his parliamentary seat, he was executive assistant to the Leaders of the Opposition (first

Jack Marshall Sir John Ross Marshall New Zealand Army Orders 1952/405 (5 March 1912 – 30 August 1988) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. He entered Parliament in 1946 and was first promoted to Cabinet in 1951. After spending twelve years ...

and then

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 ...

). Despite no longer being a Member of Parliament Templeton continued as the secretary of the National caucus. Templeton was re-elected to Parliament in 1975 for the Wellington electorate of . The electorate was renamed Ohariu and was represented by Templeton until the when he was defeated by

Peter Dunne Peter Francis Dunne (born 17 March 1954) is a New Zealand retired politician. Dunne was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ōhāriu electorate and its predecessors from 1984 to 2017, first as a member of the Labour Party from 1984 to 1 ...

, then a member of the Labour Party, in a three-way contest with the

New Zealand Party The New Zealand Party operated as a political party in New Zealand from 1983 to 1993. Established by millionaire property tycoon Bob Jones, the party promoted economic liberalisation—it was the first political party to promote free market r ...

's leader Bob Jones. His friend and diplomatic colleague Chris Beeby commented on Templeton's election losses "It must take a very special kind of talent to fuck up two blue-ribbon seats." In contrast, former

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 ...

Chris Finlayson Christopher Francis Finlayson (born 1956) is a New Zealand lawyer and former Member of Parliament, representing the National Party. He was elected to Parliament in 2005. In the Fifth National Government, from 2008 to 2017, he was Attorney-G ...

said that Templeton was "...a fine MP and Minister, whose contribution to this country has never been properly recognised."

Cabinet minister

Templeton was appointed to various positions in communications and economic portfolios during the Muldoon National Government of 1975–1984. Templeton was Minister of Revenue (1977–1982) and Minister of Trade and Industry (1981–1984) with responsibility for ANZCER (Australia – New Zealand

Closer Economic Relations The Australia–New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement, commonly known as Closer Economic Relations (CER), is a free trade agreement between Australia and New Zealand. It came into force on 1 January 1983, but the actual treaty w ...

free trade agreement). Templeton also worked with the Prime Minister on stimulating New Zealand's onshore petroleum programme as part of

Think Big Think Big was an interventionist state economic strategy of the Third National Government of New Zealand, promoted by the Prime Minister Robert Muldoon (1975–1984) and his National government in the early 1980s. The Think Big schemes saw t ...

. He wrote a book ''All Honourable Men: Inside the Muldoon Cabinet 1975–1984'' on this period. In the

1992 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1992 were appointments by most of the 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 countrie ...

, Templeton was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The King's Service Order () established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant of Queen regnant, Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to t ...

for public services.

Post parliamentary career

New Zealand Flag

In 2004, Templeton supported the NZ Flag.com Trust campaign for a referendum to change New Zealand's flag. A petition for a referendum on the issue failed to gain enough signatures.

Australian honour

In November 2009, he was appointed an Honorary Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

, "for service to Australia-New Zealand economic relations, particularly through the establishment of the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement".It's an Honour
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Notes

References

* * *

Works by Templeton

* ''All Honourable Men: Inside the Muldoon Cabinet 1975–1984'' (1995, Auckland University Press, Auckland) * * * *

External links

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Templeton, Hugh Living people 1929 births New Zealand National Party MPs People from Wyndham, New Zealand University of Otago alumni Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand New Zealand diplomats New Zealand Rhodes Scholars Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Companions of the Queen's Service Order Honorary officers of the Order of Australia Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates New Zealand MPs for Wellington electorates People educated at Gore High School Unsuccessful candidates in the 1984 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1972 New Zealand general election