Fred Hackett

Hackett was the Member of Parliament for Grey Lynn from 1943 to 1963, when he died.[3] He defeated John A. Lee in the electorate after Lee was expelled from the Labour Party following the "Lee Affair".[4]

Contemporary Martyn Finlay said Hackett was an extremely effective representative for his electorate due to his ability to use the life experiences he acquired to relate personally with constituents; "Hackett learnt his trade in the best university of all - that of practical experience on the job."[2]

Hackett was described by contemporaries as a party hack, though he was well-liked by caucus members and the wider Labour Party.[5]

He was a cabinet minister in the Fraser Ministry of the First Labour Government: Postmaster-General and Minister of Telegraphs (1946–1949),[6] Minister of Transport (1947–1949),[6] Minister of Marine (1947–1949),[6] Minister in charge of the Public Trust Office (1946–1947),[7] State Fire Insurance (1946–1947),[8] and Government Life Insurance Department (1946–1947).[9]

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.

Towards the end of the First Labour Government Hackett made a speech in New Plymouth where he stated that "The first duty of any government is to stay in office." It was said in rebuke to sentiments that when people were suffering in economic hardship they turned to Labour, but after prosperity had been restored Labour was deemed expendable. The remark was seen as 'cynical but true'.[10]

In the Second Labour Government, he was Minister of Labour, Minister of Mines, and Minister of Immigration from 1957–1960.[11] As Minister of Labour he represented New Zealand at the 1959 International Labour Organisation conference in Geneva. There, he was unanimously elected as chairman of the government group at the conference. His largest challenge as Minister of Immigration was the decline of immigrants to New Zealand following the economic upturn in Europe during the late 1950s.[2]

Following Labour's defeat in 1960, Hackett served on the opposition frontbench and in June 1962 Hackett was elected as the deputy leader of the Labour Party, in preference to Arnold Nordmeyer and Hugh Watt, upon the unexpected death of Jerry Skinner.[12] He beat Nordmeyer on the second ballot after Watt (a fellow Aucklander) had been eliminated in the first ballot 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.[5]

On 25 July 1962 he was admitted to Auckland Hospital for an operation on his brain, which saved his life. Following the operation he recovered steadily and was discharged in early September. During his absence Nordmeyer acted as deputy leader until Hackett returned to Parliament on 27 November 1962.[2]

Following Skinner's death Walter Nash favoured Hackett to replace him when he retired prior the 1963 election, but with the death of Hackett, Nash was eventually replaced by Arnold Nordmeyer. Before he died, Hackett informed the caucus that he would also resign the deputy-leadership when Nash retired. He was replaced by Hugh Watt.[13] He did however intend to stay in parliament and had been re-selected to contest Grey Lynn at the upcoming 1963 general election.[2]