David Buick (politician)

David Buick JP
David Buick in the 1890s
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Palmerston
In office 1908–1918
Preceded by	William Wood
Succeeded by	Jimmy Nash
Personal details
Born	1848
Died	18 November 1918
Political party	Reform Party
Profession	Farmer, politician

David Buick (1848 – 18 November 1918) was a New Zealand politician of the Reform Party. A New Zealand-born sheep breeder, he represented farming interests in Parliament. He owned racing horses and won various high profile races. He died in office in the 1918 influenza epidemic.

Buick was born in Wellington in 1848. His father, William Buick, had come to Wellington in 1841 on the Arab from England. Buick senior farmed in the Hutt Valley, with Buick junior taking over the farm in 1867. On 5 June 1876, he married Mary Ann (Polly) Buick (née Hill), daughter of I. M. Hill from Nelson.

In 1881, Buick junior bought land in the Manawatu's Kairanga Block. Living at a time when many New Zealanders were immigrants, Buick was proud of his birth in the colony and referred to it on occasions.

In 1885, he started making submissions to the Road Board over access issues. In 1887, he joined the Road Board and within months, he became its chairman. The Road Board ran into financial difficulties over a court case concerning stormwater run off, and ratepayers thus petitioned for the establishment of the Manawatu Land Drainage Board (MLDB), which was established in 1894. In December 1895, Buick became the MLDB's second chairman and held that position until 1898.

He first stood for Parliament in the 1896 election against the incumbent Frederick Pirani in the Palmerston electorate (since 1938 called the Palmerston North electorate) and came within 50 votes of unseating him (1553 versus 1603 votes for Buick and Pirani, respectively). Pirani, who represented the Liberal Government, fell out with Premier Richard Seddon. In the 1899 election, Pirani contested the Palmerston electorate as an Independent, whilst the Liberal Party put William Wood, who had been Mayor of Palmerston North since 1895, forward as their candidate. Buick, who contested the election as a conservative candidate, came a distant third.