Rex Austin
{{short description|New Zealand politician (1931–2022)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Rex Austin
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MBE|size=100%}}
| image = Rex Austin 1950 (cropped).jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Austin in 1950
| constituency_MP = Awarua
| parliament = New Zealand
| majority =
| predecessor = Aubrey Begg
| successor = Jeff Grant
| term_start = 1975
| term_end = 1987
| birth_name = William Rex Austin
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|05|23|df=y}}
| birth_place = Riverton, New Zealand
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2022|06|23|1931|05|23|df=y}}
| death_place = Invercargill, New Zealand
| spouse = {{marriage|Miriam Helen Brumpton|1958|2007|end=d.}}
| party = National
| relations = Butler Te Koeti (great-uncle)
| children = 4
| alma_mater = Lincoln College
| occupation =
| profession =
| module =
}}
William Rex Austin {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MBE|size=85%}} (23 May 1931 – 23 June 2022) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party.
Biography
{{NZ parlbox header|nolist = true|align=left}}
{{NZ parlbox
|start = {{NZ election link year|1975}}
|end = 1978
|term = 38th
|electorate = {{NZ electorate link|Awarua}}
|party = New Zealand National Party
}}
{{NZ parlbox
|start = {{NZ election link year|1978}}
|end = 1981
|term = 39th
|electorate = Awarua
|party = New Zealand National Party
}}
{{NZ parlbox
|start = {{NZ election link year|1981}}
|end = 1984
|term = 40th
|electorate = Awarua
|party = New Zealand National Party
}}
{{NZ parlbox
|start = {{NZ election link year|1984}}
|end = 1987
|term = 41st
|electorate = Awarua
|party = New Zealand National Party
}}
{{NZ parlbox footer}}
Austin was born in Riverton, Southland, in 1931.{{cite book |title=Who's Who in New Zealand, 1978 |editor-last=Traue |editor-first=James Edward |editor-link=Jim Traue |year=1978 |edition=11th |publisher=Reed Publishing |location=Wellington | page=47}} Of Māori descent, he affiliated to Ngāi Tahu, Waitaha and Kāti Māmoe.{{cite web |url=https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/document/HansS_20220628_050460000/mallard-trevor |title=Obituaries – William Rex Austin MBE |website=Hansard |publisher=New Zealand Parliament |date=28 June 2022 |access-date=26 July 2022}} He received his education at Southland Technical College and Lincoln College;{{cite book |last = Gustafson |first = Barry |author-link= Barry Gustafson |title = The First 50 Years: A History of the New Zealand National Party |year = 1986 |publisher = Reed Methuen |location = Auckland |isbn = 0-474-00177-6 |page = 298}} at the latter institution, he obtained a diploma in agriculture.{{cite web |title=Rex Austin |url=http://alumnilinc.lincoln.ac.nz/members/?id=18191132 |publisher=Lincoln University |access-date=28 November 2015}} In 1958, he married Miriam Helen Brumpton, with whom he had four sons.
Austin farmed at Colac Bay in Southland and lived in Riverton. From 1971, he was a member of the Southland Hospital Board.
In the 1975 election he was elected to Parliament as the National Party MP for Awarua, which he represented until 1987.{{cite book |last= Wilson |first= James Oakley |title= New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 |edition= 4th |orig-date= First ed. published 1913 |year= 1985 |publisher= V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer |location= Wellington |oclc=154283103 |page=181}}
Austin and Ben Couch were the second and third Māori (after Sir James Carroll) to win a general electorate, as opposed to one of the Māori electorates.
Austin died in Invercargill on 23 June 2022, at the age of 91.{{cite news |url=https://deaths.stuff.co.nz/nz/obituaries/southland-times-nz/name/w-austin-obituary?pid=202269143 |title=W. Rex Austin |date=27 June 2022 |work=The Southland Times |access-date=27 June 2022}}
Honours
In 1977, Austin was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal, and in 1990 the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Alister |last2=Coddington |first2=Deborah |authorlink1=Alister Taylor |authorlink2=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=52}} In the 1994 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the community.{{London Gazette |issue=53528 |date=31 December 1993 |page=34 |supp=2}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{S-start}}
{{s-par | nz}}
{{S-bef | before = Aubrey Begg }}
{{s-ttl | title = Member of Parliament for Awarua| years=1975–1987}}
{{s-aft | after = Jeff Grant}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Rex}}
Category:New Zealand National Party MPs
Category:New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire
Category:New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates
Category:Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
Category:People from Riverton, New Zealand
Category:Lincoln University (New Zealand) alumni
Category:People educated at Aurora College (Invercargill)
Category:Waitaha (South Island iwi)
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{{Māori-bio-stub}}