Richard Francis Walls QSO JP |
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Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Dunedin North |
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In office 1975 – 1978 |
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Preceded by | Ethel McMillan |
Succeeded by | Stan Rodger |
52nd Mayor of Dunedin | |
In office 1989–1995 |
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Preceded by | Cliff Skeggs |
Succeeded by | Sukhi Turner |
Personal details | |
Born |
Dunedin |
9 October 1937
Died | 30 October 2011 Dunedin |
(aged 74)
Political party | National |
Spouse(s) | married to June |
Richard Francis Walls QSO JP (9 October 1937 – 30 October 2011) was a New Zealand politician and businessman.
Walls was a Member of Parliament for Dunedin North from 1975 to 1978. A member of the National Party, he won the normally safe Labour seat as part of Robert Muldoon's landslide victory of 1975. He was the first National MP to represent a significant portion of Dunedin, a long-standing Labour stronghold, in 21 years. Walls was defeated after only one term by Labour's Stan Rodger; to date, he is the last National MP to represent Dunedin.
Walls was first elected onto Dunedin City Council in 1980. Prior to that he served on the St. Kilda Borough Council (1962–1965) and on the Otago Harbour Board (1965–1974; Chairman 1971–1973. He was Mayor of Dunedin for two terms from 1989 to 1995. He was re-elected to the Dunedin City Council in 1998 and until October 2010 he was a councillor representing the Hills Ward; Chair of the Finance and Strategy Committee from 2007 to 2010. In the 2010 Dunedin local elections, he stood in the Central ward, but was unsuccessful.
In 2010 Walls was Chairman of Dunedin International Airport Limited; a Fellow of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand (FInstD) and a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute Of Management (FNZIM). He was a Justice of the Peace and was appointed Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services in the 1996 Queen's Birthday Honours.