Bill Jeffries

Jeffries was born in Wellington in 1945 and he was educated at St Patrick's College. He attended Victoria University and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws, after which he became a lawyer at his brother's legal firm. Later he left New Zealand to work in the United Kingdom, before returning to Wellington and establishing his own law firm.{{cite book |title=Who's Who in the New Zealand Parliament 1987 |location=Wellington |publisher=Parliamentary Service |date=1987 |page=59}}

He was an active athlete in his youth, playing both tennis and rugby. Jeffries married and had six children.

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Jeffries was a member of the Wellington City Council from 1974 until 1980. From 1977 to 1980 he was leader of the Labour caucus on the council; he was the youngest ever leader.{{cite news |work=The Evening Post |title=Labour leader to step down |date=22 May 1980 }}{{cite news |work=The Evening Post |title=Cr Jeffries sets a worthy example |date=24 May 1980 }} Wellington Mayor Sir Michael Fowler later described Jeffries as an "extremely good" councillor.{{cite news|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/the-wellingtonian/2447879/The-Wellingtonian-interview-Sir-Michael-Fowler |title= The Wellingtonian interview: Sir Michael Fowler |date=28 May 2009 |work= The Wellingtonian |access-date=25 May 2013 |first=Joseph |last=Romanos}} His brother John was previously also a councillor and Deputy Mayor to Sir Frank Kitts.

In 1978 Jeffries unsuccessfully contested the seat of Miramar for the Labour Party.{{cite book |last = Norton |first = Clifford |title = New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science |year = 1988 |publisher = Victoria University of Wellington |location = Wellington |isbn = 0-475-11200-8 |page=278 }}

He represented the Heretaunga electorate from 1981 to 1990, when he was defeated by National candidate Peter McCardle in a swing against Labour. He was undersecretary to the Minister of Transport in 1986 and also to the Minister of Works, and chairman of a parliamentary committee on road safety in 1987. In April 1988 he was appointed chairman of the National Roads Board. He was Minister of Justice from 1989 to 1990 in the Fourth Labour Government.

In 1990, Jeffries was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Alister |last2=Coddington |first2=Deborah |author-link1=Alister Taylor |author-link2=Deborah Coddington |title=Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand |year=1994 |publisher=New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa |location=Auckland |isbn=0-908578-34-2 |page=202}}

On 24 February 2012 Jeffries was convicted, along with fellow former Justice Minister Sir Douglas Graham and two other men, of breaching the Securities Act by making untrue statements to investors in his capacity as a director of Lombard Finance.{{cite news |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/6474192/Former-Cabinet-ministers-guilty-of-making-false-statements |title=Former Cabinet ministers guilty of making false statements |newspaper=Stuff |date=24 February 2012 |access-date=24 February 2012}} Justice Robert Dobson wrote, "I am satisfied that the accused genuinely believed in the accuracy and adequacy of the ... documents", but that the offences were ones of strict liability so there was no need for "any form of mental intent to distribute documents that were false or misleading".{{cite news |title=Rulings have raised the bar for directors |first=Brian |last=Gaynor |url= http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10790987 |newspaper=The New Zealand Herald |date=10 March 2012 |access-date=11 March 2012}} Jeffries was sentenced to 400 hours' community service. The Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal against conviction and increased his sentence to eight months' home detention and 250 hours' community work,{{cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8867989/Court-increases-Lombard-sentences |title=Court increases Lombard sentences |publisher=Stuff.co.nz |date=2013-07-02 |access-date=2013-11-14}} but the Supreme Court restored the original sentence.{{cite news |title=Lombard directors' home detention too harsh - Supreme Court |first=Kurt |last=Mayer |url= http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11250923 |newspaper=The New Zealand Herald |date=7 May 2014 |access-date=11 January 2016}} Retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Edmund Thomas described his convictions as a "grievous miscarriage of justice", saying of the crucial piece of evidence that "you would never ever convict a dog on the basis of the schedule".{{cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9373553/Lombard-conviction-miscarriage-of-justice |title=Lombard conviction 'miscarriage of justice'|publisher=Stuff.co.nz |date=2013-11-07 |access-date=2013-11-14}}

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• {{cite book |last= Wilson |first= James Oakley |title= New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 |edition= 4th |orig-year=First published in 1913 |year= 1985 |publisher= V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer |location= Wellington |oclc=154283103 }}

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{{s-ttl | title=Member of Parliament for Heretaunga | years=1981–1990}}

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Category:1945 births

Category:People educated at St Patrick's College, Wellington

Category:Victoria University of Wellington alumni

Category:New Zealand Labour Party MPs

Category:Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand

Category:Living people

Category:New Zealand MPs for Hutt Valley electorates

Category:Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives

Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1990 New Zealand general election

Category:Wellington City Councillors

Category:New Zealand politicians convicted of crimes

Category:Ministers of justice of New Zealand