Joe Walding

The Honourable Joe Walding
17th High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
In office 1985 – 1985†
Prime Minister	David Lange
Preceded by	Bill Young
Succeeded by	Bryce Harland
2nd Minister of the Environment
In office 8 December 1972 – 10 September 1974
Prime Minister	Norman Kirk
Preceded by	Duncan MacIntyre
Succeeded by	Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Palmerston North
In office 2 December 1967 – 29 November 1975
Preceded by	Bill Brown
Succeeded by	John Lithgow
In office 25 November 1978 – 28 November 1981
Preceded by	John Lithgow
Succeeded by	Trevor de Cleene
Personal details
Born	18 June 1926 Christchurch, New Zealand
Died	5 June 1985 London, England
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Eileen Norma Paul (m. 1950)

Joseph Albert Walding (18 June 1926 – 5 June 1985) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He represented the Palmerston North for several terms. After his retirement from Parliament, he became High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, but died within months of taking the post.

Early life

Walding was born in Christchurch in 1926. He went to school in that city. When he was 15, he joined the New Zealand Merchant Navy and later the British Merchant Navy. The impressions that he gained through the war shaped his outlook on life.^[1] He became a carpenter after the war, working in the Wellington area.^[1]

He married Eileen Norma Walding (née Paul) of Feilding in 1950. They had six daughters.^[1] After the marriage, the couple moved to Palmerston North. Walding joined his mother's catering business, Smith and Walding. Together with his brother Charlie, he developed the company into a successful venture. In 1957, Walding established Prepared Foods Co Ltd, a gourmet food and canning business with an export focus.^[1]

Political career

Walding was first elected to Palmerston North City Council in 1959; councillors were already elected for three year terms at that time. He was re-elected in 1962 and 1965. Having been elected to Parliament in 1967, he did not stand for the City Council again in 1968.^[1]

Walding stood unsuccessfully against Bill Brown for the Palmerston North seat in the 1966 election. Following Brown's sudden death in 1967, Walding successfully contested the resulting 1967 by-election against four others: Gordon Cruden (National Party), John O'Brien (Social Credit Party), Goldingham (Progress) and P. J. Wedderspoon (Democratic Labour).^[1]

Walding represented the Palmerston North electorate from 1967 to 1975, when he was defeated by John Lithgow, and from 1978 to 1981.^[2] Between 1972 and 1974, he was Minister of Overseas Trade, Minister for the Environment, and Minister of Recreation and Sport.^[3] Six months prior to the 1981 election, he announced his retirement from Parliament.^[1]

High Commissioner

In late 1984, he was appointed High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Three months after starting the position, he died on 5 June 1985 in London.^[1]

Walding's wife, Eileen Walding, was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for community service in the 1990 New Year Honours.^[4] She died in Havelock North on 8 June 2017.^[5]

Notes

References

• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.