Ralph Kerr Maxwell (20 March 1934 – 25 March 2012) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. After his parliamentary career, he joined

New Zealand First New Zealand First (), commonly abbreviated to NZ First or NZF, is a political party in New Zealand, founded and led by Winston Peters, who has served three times as Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, deputy prime minister. The party has form ...

Early life and family

Maxwell was born in 1934. He married Frances Maxwell in circa 1963 and they had three children.

Political career

Maxwell had a high profile as chairman of the Portage Licensing Trust, one of two

Licensing Trust Under New Zealand law, a licensing trust is a community-owned company with a government-authorised monopoly on the development of premises licensed for the sale of alcoholic beverages and associated accommodation in an area. This applies to both ...

s in West Auckland. When Maxwell stood for Parliament in the electorate in for the Labour Party, he was successful. He represented the Waitakere electorate for three parliamentary terms, and when it was abolished for the , he successfully stood in the electorate instead. In the , he was defeated by Marie Hasler, one of a number of losses contributing to the fall of 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 ...

. In 1983 he was appointed as Labour's spokesperson for Primary Industries and Horticulture by Labour leader

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 ...

. Maxwell had a keen interest in agriculture and worked closely with

Colin Moyle Colin James Moyle (18 July 1929 – 11 May 2024) was a New Zealand politician. A member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1963 to 1976 and again from 1981 to 1990. He was a Government minister in the Third L ...

, who would become Minister of Agriculture in 1984. Maxwell was the Associate Minister of External Relations and Trade and the Associate Minister of Agriculture in 1990.

After parliament

Maxwell moved from West Auckland to Otumoetai after he left parliament. Ahead of the he wished to stand for election again, but failed to win the Labour selection for the Titirangi electorate. He responded by leaving the party in 1993 saying Labour was being taken over by "

wets Wets and dries are British political terms that refer to opposing factions within the Conservative Party. The terms originated in the 1980s during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher: those who opposed some of Thatcher's more hard-line polic ...

" and moving too far away from the previous Labour government's policies. He instead joined

and served on the party executive. He then moved to Paerata near

Pukekohe Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. The town is located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. The hills of Puke ...

where he worked in real estate. He supported the formation of a

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

/New Zealand First coalition (over a Labour/New Zealand First coalition) 1996 general election. In the

1995 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1995 were appointments by most of the sixteen 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 c ...

, Maxwell was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for public services. Maxwell died on 25 March 2012 aged 78. He was survived by his wife and their three children.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell, Ralph 1934 births 2012 deaths New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand Labour Party MPs New Zealand First politicians Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates Unsuccessful candidates in the 1990 New Zealand general election