Robert John Sutherland Munro (born 2 April 1946) is a former New Zealand politician of the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

, serving as Member of Parliament for

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

from 1987 to 1993.

Early life

Munro was born in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

on 2 April 1946.

Military service

Aged 17, Munro enlisted in the

New Zealand Army The New Zealand Army (, ) is the principal Army, land warfare force of New Zealand, a component of the New Zealand Defence Force alongside the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Formed in 1845, as the New Zealand Mil ...

in January 1964. On 13 December 1967, he graduated from the

Royal Military College Royal Military College may refer to: ;Australia * Royal Military College, Duntroon, Campbell, Australian Capital Territory ;Canada * Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario * Royal Military College Saint-Jean, Saint-Jean, Quebec ;Indi ...

. In November 1970 with the rank of captain, Munro was posted to General Staff (Intelligence) Section Headquarters,

1st Australian Task Force The 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) was a brigade-sized formation which commanded Australian Army, Australian and New Zealand Army units deployed to South Vietnam between 1966 and 1972. 1 ATF was based in a rubber plantation at Nui Dat, north ...

, at

Nui Dat Nui Dat (Núi Đất) is the former military base of the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) now part of Ba Ria city in Ba Ria–Vung Tau province, Vietnam. It is not the name of an official ward, it just means "land hill" or "soil hill" (:wikt:nú ...

in Vietnam. There he was responsible for compiling the enemy order-of-battle, requiring him to analyse the organisation and capability of enemy units. In June 1971, he was given the duties of General Staff Officer Grade Three (Intelligence), in which role he received, prepared and distributed daily intelligence reports, and briefed interrogation teams, aerial reconnaissance pilots, unit commanders and visitors. For his diligent and dedicated performance of those duties, he was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

in March 1972. After returning to New Zealand, Munro served at Defence Headquarters, commanded 161 Battery RNZA in Papakura and later Waiouru Training Depot. He reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. After discharge from the NZ Army he worked in Wellington as a lawyer. In 2019, Munro was presented his mention in despatch award by the governor-general, Dame Patsy Reddy, in a ceremony at

Government House, Wellington Government House is the principal residence of the governor-general of New Zealand, the representative of the New Zealand head of state, King Charles III. Dame Cindy Kiro, who has been Governor-General since October 2021, currently resides ther ...

Member of Parliament

Munro represented the

electorate in Parliament from 1987, when he replaced Norman Jones to 1993, when he was defeated by Mark Peck.''1990 Parliamentary Candidates for the New Zealand National Party'' by John Stringer (New Zealand National Party, 1990)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munro, Rob 1946 births Living people New Zealand National Party MPs New Zealand Conservative Party politicians Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates Unsuccessful candidates in the 1993 New Zealand general election New Zealand Army officers New Zealand military personnel of the Vietnam War Politicians from Dunedin People from Invercargill Military personnel from Dunedin