Bill Parry (politician)

The Honourable Bill Parry
Photograph of Bill Parry taken in 1935.
Minister of Internal Affairs
In office 6 December 1935 – 13 December 1949
Prime Minister	Michael Joseph Savage Peter Fraser
Preceded by	Alexander Young
Succeeded by	William Bodkin
Minister of Social Security
In office 25 June 1946 – 13 December 1949
Prime Minister	Peter Fraser
Preceded by	new office
Succeeded by	Jack Watts
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Auckland Central
In office 17 December 1919 – 4 November 1946
Preceded by	Albert Glover
Succeeded by	Bill Anderton
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Arch Hill
In office 27 November 1946 – 27 July 1951
Succeeded by	John Stewart
Personal details
Born	1878 Orange, New South Wales, Australia
Died	27 November 1952 Auckland, New Zealand
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Georgina Fowke (m. 1906)
Children	Two daughters

William Edward (Bill) Parry (1878 – 27 November 1952) was a New Zealand Minister and trade unionist.

Parry was born at Orange, in New South Wales, Australia. He had 12 siblings and the family faced hardship. His father, John Parry, was a goldminer and prospector, and at age 12, Bill Parry left school and went mining himself in Barmedman. Parry first came to New Zealand in 1902 and lived in Auckland for a short time, and went mining in Karangahake. After two years, he returned to Australia. On 15 April 1906, he married Georgina Fowke at Wyalong in New South Wales. Later that year, they and some family members arrived in New Zealand.

Parry was a miner at Waihi and Secretary of the Waihi Miners' Union. He became a miners' inspector and was appointed to the 1911 Royal Commission on Mines. He was imprisoned at Mount Eden during the 1912 Waihi miners' strike. He was blacklisted in Waihi and moved to Palmerston North. He became involved in the 1913 waterfront and general strike. He moved to Auckland in 1915 to be an agent for the Maoriland Worker newspaper. He opposed conscription during World War I, but not during World War II.

Parry was one of the founders of the New Zealand Federation of Labour and was vice president from 1911 to 1913. He was on the executive of the Social Democratic Party and joined the New Zealand Labour Party when it was formed by the merger of various parties in 1916.