Richard Francis Walls, QSO

Queen's Service Order

The Queen's Service Order was established by Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, awarded by the government of New Zealand "for valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the public sector, whether in elected or...

, JP

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 (9 October 1937 – 30 October 2011) was a New Zealand politician

Politics of New Zealand

The politics of New Zealand take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy. The basic system is closely patterned on that of the Westminster System, although a number of significant modifications have been made...

 and businessman.

Member of Parliament

Walls was a Member of Parliament

New Zealand House of Representatives

The New Zealand House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the legislature of New Zealand. The House and the Queen of New Zealand form the New Zealand Parliament....

 for Dunedin North

Dunedin North (New Zealand electorate)

Dunedin North is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was established for the 1905 election and has existed since....

 from 1975

New Zealand general election, 1975

The 1975 New Zealand general election was held to elect MPs to the 38th session of the New Zealand Parliament. It was the first election in New Zealand where 18-20 year olds and all permanent residents of New Zealand were eligible to vote, although only citizens were able to be...

 to 1978. In the Labour

New Zealand Labour Party

The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....

-stronghold that Dunedin

Dunedin

Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...

 represents, he was the last National Party

New Zealand National Party

The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...

 representative to win an electorate in that city.

Dunedin City Council

Walls was first elected onto Dunedin City Council in 1980. Prior to that he served on the St. Kilda Borough Council (1962–65) and on the Otago Harbour Board (1965–74; Chairman 1971–73. He was Mayor of Dunedin

Mayor of Dunedin

The Mayor of Dunedin is the head of the municipal government of Dunedin, New Zealand, and presides over the Dunedin City Council. The Mayor is directly elected, using the Single Transferable Vote system in 2007....

 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

Dunedin local elections, 2010

The Dunedin local elections, 2010 were part of the New Zealand local elections, 2010, to elect members to sub-national councils and boards. The Dunedin elections are used to elect the Mayor of Dunedin and to elect councilors to the Dunedin City Council...

, he stood in the Central ward, but was unsuccessful.

Outside politics

In 2010 Walls was Chairman of Dunedin International Airport Limited; a Fellow of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand

Institute of Directors in New Zealand

The Institute of Directors in New Zealand is a New Zealand-based organisation that supports, represents and sets standards for company directors in New Zealand. It began 40 years ago as a division of the Institute of Directors in the UK, but became a separate legal entity in 1989....

(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 in 1996 for public services.

He died suddenly in his Dunedin home on 30 October 2011 at the age of 74, and is survived by his wife June and three children.