Gavin Downie

Gavin Price Ansell Downie (5 December 1924 – 27 January 1998) was a Member of Parliament for Pakuranga in Auckland, New Zealand.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Member of Parliament 2.1 National Party 2.2 Independent 3 After Parliament 4 Notes 5 References

Early life

Downie was born in 1924. He was married twice and father to four children. He spent his early years as a teacher and then toured with the Gilbert and Sullivan opera company before becoming an MP in Pakuranga, New Zealand.

Member of Parliament

National Party

Parliament of New Zealand
Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1972–75	37th	Pakuranga		National
1975–78	38th	Pakuranga		National

Downie represented the Pakuranga electorate from 1972 to 1978 for the National Party. He was the first Member of Parliament to raise the health implications of smoking. He was replaced as the National candidate for Pakuranga by Pat Hunt in a controversial challenge to a sitting MP.^[1]

Independent

He unsuccessfully stood as an Independent in the 1978 election.^[2]

After Parliament

Gavin Downie was awarded the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal for service to the community and the NZ 1990 Medal for services to New Zealand.^[3] A member of the Auckland YMCA, Downie was a keen marathon runner and held the fastest record for the over 60's for several years (3 hours 14 minutes). In his later years he qualified as a classical homoeopath.

Gavin Downie died on 27 January 1998 in Glen Eden, Auckland.

Notes

References

• The New Zealand Parliamentary Record 1840-1984 by J. O. Wilson (1985, Government Printer, Wellington)
• Ministers and Members in the New Zealand Parliament Edited by G.A. Wood (1996, Otago University Press, Dunedin)
• Honoured by the Queen-New Zealand: 1953 to 1993 by Alister Taylor (1994, Who's Who Aotearoa, Auckland)

Persondata
Name	Downie, Gavin
Alternative names
Short description	New Zealand politician
Date of birth	5 December 1924
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death