Jonathan Hunt (New Zealand)

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Jonathan Hunt being invested as a Member of the Order of New Zealand by Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright, 1 April 2005

Jonathan Hunt, ONZ, (born December 2, 1938) is a New Zealand politician, and currently New Zealand's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He formerly served as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. He is a member of the Labour Party, and was until recently the longest serving MP in Parliament. Hunt is a member of the Order of New Zealand, the highest civilian honour in the Royal Honours System.

[edit] Early life

Hunt was born in Lower Hutt, but grew up in Palmerston North and Auckland. After studying at Palmerston North Boys' High School and later Auckland Grammar School, he enrolled at Auckland University, where he gained a BA (Hons) degree.

In 1958 Hunt was elected editor of the Auckland University Students' Association's (AUSA) Craccum magazine for the 1959 year.

After graduating, Hunt became a high school teacher and then a university tutor. Hunt also has a long-standing relationship with the Department of Political Studies at the University, which for many years has collected and archived Hunt's personal and professional papers.

[edit] Member of Parliament

In 1966, Hunt was elected to Parliament in Auckland's New Lynn electorate. He remained MP for New Lynn until 1996, when he became a list MP. At various times, he served as Minister of Telecommunications and Broadcasting, Minister of Tourism, Minister of Housing, and Postmaster General. He was the longest serving member of Parliament, earning him the unofficial title of 'Father of the House'. In 1989, Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer nominated Hunt a member of the Privy Council in recognition of his long service.

[edit] Speaker of the House of Representatives

After first serving as Deputy Speaker during the fourth Labour Government, he was elected Speaker when the fifth Labour government came to power in 1999. He retained his position following the election in 2002.

[edit] High Commissioner to the United Kingdom

In December 2004, it was announced that he would retire from politics and replace Russell Marshall as New Zealand High Commissioner in London, a move that had long been anticipated. He was replaced as Speaker by Margaret Wilson on 3 March 2005, and left Parliament on 30 March. As a list MP, his vacant parliamentary seat was filled by the next available candidate on the Labour Party list, Lesley Soper.

[edit] Trivia

• Hunt is also the subject of a documentary, "Father of the House", directed by Simon Burgin and Xavier Forde, filmed in Wellington in 2005 and finalist of the DocNZ film festival in the same year.