Minister of Railways (New Zealand)

Minister of Railways of New Zealand
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	Prime Minister of New Zealand
Formation	24 November 1895
Abolished	19 October 1993

The Minister of Railways was the minister in the government responsible for the New Zealand Railways Department 1895–1981, the New Zealand Railways Corporation 1981–1993, and New Zealand Rail Limited 1990–1993. The portfolio was established in 1895, 15 years after the Railways Department was formed, and was abolished in 1993, when New Zealand Rail Limited was privatised. Today, KiwiRail is answerable to both the Minister of State Owned Enterprises, and the Minister of Transport.

Office-holders

Plaque next to main entrance of Hamilton Railway Station – opened by Hon Ron Bailey, 1975

The following MPs have held the office of Minister of Railways:

Key

  Liberal   Reform   United   Labour   National

No.		Name	Portrait	Term of Office		Prime Minister
style="background:Template:New Zealand Liberal Party/meta/color"|	1	Alfred Cadman		1 January 1895	21 December 1899	width=1 rowspan="2" style="background:Template:New Zealand Liberal Party/meta/color"|	Seddon
height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:New Zealand Liberal Party/meta/color"|	2	Joseph Ward		5 January 1900	6 August 1906
style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:New Zealand Liberal Party/meta/color"|						style="background:Template:New Zealand Liberal Party/meta/color"|	Hall-Jones
style="background:Template:New Zealand Liberal Party/meta/color"|	3	William Hall-Jones		6 August 1906	30 November 1908	rowspan=2 style="background:Template:New Zealand Liberal Party/meta/color"|	Ward
style="background:Template:New Zealand Liberal Party/meta/color"|	4	John A. Millar		6 January 1909	28 March 1912
style="background:Template:New Zealand Liberal Party/meta/color"|	5	Arthur Myers		28 March 1912	10 July 1912	style="background:Template:New Zealand Liberal Party/meta/color"|	Mackenzie
style="background:Template:Reform Party (New Zealand)/meta/color"|	6	William Herries		10 July 1912	3 September 1919	rowspan=3 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Reform Party (New Zealand)/meta/color"|	Massey
style="background:Template:Reform Party (New Zealand)/meta/color"|	7	William Massey		3 September 1919	16 May 1922
style="background:Template:Reform Party (New Zealand)/meta/color"|	8	David Guthrie		16 May 1922	6 June 1923
rowspan=3 style="background:Template:Reform Party (New Zealand)/meta/color"|	9	Gordon Coates		6 June 1923	10 December 1928	height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Reform Party (New Zealand)/meta/color"|
style="background:Template:Reform Party (New Zealand)/meta/color"|						Bell
height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Reform Party (New Zealand)/meta/color"|						Coates
style="background:Template:United Party (New Zealand)/meta/color"|	10	William Burgoyne Taverner		10 December 1928	28 May 1930	style="background:Template:United Party (New Zealand)/meta/color"|	Ward
style="background:Template:United Party (New Zealand)/meta/color"|	11	Bill Veitch		28 May 1930	22 September 1931	rowspan=2 style="background:Template:United Party (New Zealand)/meta/color"|	Forbes
style="background:Template:United Party (New Zealand)/meta/color"|	12	George Forbes		22 September 1931	6 December 1935
height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color"|	13	Dan Sullivan		6 December 1935	12 December 1941	style="background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color;"|	Savage
height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color"|						style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color;"|	Fraser
style="background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color;"|	14	Bob Semple		12 December 1941	12 December 1949	style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color;"|
style="background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|	15	Stan Goosman		13 December 1949	26 November 1954	rowspan="2" style="background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|	Holland
height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|	16	John McAlpine		26 November 1954	12 December 1957
style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|						style="background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|	Holyoake
style="background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color"|	17	Mick Moohan		12 December 1957	12 December 1960	style="background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color"|	Nash
style="background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|	(16)	John McAlpine		12 December 1960	12 December 1966	rowspan=2 style="background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|	Holyoake
height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|	17	Peter Gordon		12 December 1966	8 December 1972
style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|						style="background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|	Marshall
style="background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color"|	18	Tom McGuigan		8 December 1972	10 September 1974	style="background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color"|	Kirk
style="background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color"|	19	Ron Bailey		10 September 1974	12 December 1975	style="background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color"|	Rowling
style="background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|	20	Colin McLachlan		12 December 1975	11 December 1981	rowspan=2 style="background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|	Muldoon
style="background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|	21	George Gair		11 December 1981	26 July 1984
style="background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color"|	22	Richard Prebble	File:Richard Prebble.jpg	26 July 1984	4 November 1988	rowspan=2 style="background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color"|	Lange
rowspan=2 style="background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color"|	23	Stan Rodger		4 November 1988	9 February 1990
rowspan=2 style="background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color"|						Palmer
height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color"|	(22)	Richard Prebble	File:Richard Prebble.jpg	9 February 1990	2 November 1990
style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color"|						style="background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color"|	Moore
style="background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|	24	Doug Kidd		2 November 1990	3 October 1991	rowspan=4 style="background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|	Bolger
style="background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|	25	Maurice McTigue		3 October 1991	1 July 1993
style="background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|	26	Wyatt Creech		1 July 1993	21 December 1993
style="background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|	27	Philip Burdon		21 December 1993	2 March 1994

See also

• Rail transport in New Zealand

Further reading

• Stott, Bob; Leitch, David (1988). New Zealand Railways: The First 125 Years. Auckland: Heinemann Reed. p. 176. ISBN 0-7900-0000-8.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)