The Honourable Fred Hackett |
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Minister of Transport | |
In office 1957–1960 |
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Prime Minister | Walter Nash |
Succeeded by | Harry Lake |
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Grey Lynn |
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In office 1943–1963 |
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Preceded by | John A. Lee |
Succeeded by | Reginald Keeling |
Personal details | |
Born | 1901 Southampton, England |
Died |
(aged 61) Auckland, New Zealand |
Political party | Labour Party |
Spouse(s) | Ivy Lily Bradford (m. 1923) |
Frederick Hackett (1901 – 19 March 1963) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.
Hackett was born in Southampton in 1901. He found employment in the British Merchant Navy transporting refugees. He became a gunner in the Royal Navy during World War I. In 1921 he moved to New Zealand and he married Ivy Lily Bradford in Dunedin in 1923; together they had four children. He became an active unionist and in 1922 Hackett joined the Auckland Transport Board.
Hackett was the Member of Parliament for Grey Lynn from 1943 to 1963, when he died. He replaced John A. Lee in the electorate when Lee was expelled from the Labour Party.
He was a cabinet minister in the Fraser Ministry of the First Labour Government: Postmaster-General and Minister of Telegraphs (1946–1949),Minister of Transport (1947–1949), Minister of Marine (1947–1949), Minister in charge of the Public Trust Office (1946–1947), State Fire Insurance (1946–1947), and Government Life Insurance Department (1946–1947). In the Second Labour Government, he was Minister of Labour, Minister of Mines, and Minister of Immigration (all 1957–1960).
Hackett was opposed to New Zealand joining the International Monetary Fund, arguing that the state should have sole right to govern the country's finances.
In June 1962 Hackett was elected as the deputy leader of the Labour Party upon the death of Clarence Skinner. He beat both Hugh Watt and Arnold Nordmeyer for the position, as a compromise candidate as was regarded by many within the Party as a middle roader. Hackett also likely received sympathy votes as he was known to have been ill.