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Sir James Belich
Belich in 1986
30th Mayor of Wellington
In office
30 October 1986 – 28 October 1992
DeputyHelene Ritchie (1986-88)
Terry McDavitt (1988-89)
David Watt (1989-92)
Preceded byIan Lawrence
Succeeded byFran Wilde
Personal details
Born(1927-07-25)25 July 1927
Awanui, New Zealand
Died13 September 2015(2015-09-13) (aged 88)
Wellington, New Zealand
Political partyLabour
Spouse
Valerie Anzulovich
​
(m. 1951)​
[1]
RelationsJames Belich (son)
Camilla Belich (granddaughter)[2]
Children3
Alma materVictoria University College
ProfessionAdvertising agent

Sir James Belich (25 July 1927 – 13 September 2015) was a New Zealand local politician. He was the mayor of Wellington from 1986 to 1992.

Biography

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Early life and career

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Belich was born on 25 July 1927, of Croat descent, in Awanui, Northland, to immigrant parents, Jakov and Marija, from the Dalmatian island of Korcula.[1][3] He grew up bilingual, speaking Serbo-Croatian with his parents and English to both of his elder brothers.[4] His family home was a two room house at the edge of a gum-digging town, later with a lean-to kitchen added by his father after borrowing £400. He helped diggers from the gumfields at the supply shop next to their house by translating for them into English to the shopkeeper.[5] He was head boy at Otahuhu College.[1] He and his two brothers formed a Hawaiian music and dancing band. At one wedding in Auckland they were playing at he met his future wife who was the bridesmaid.[5] He received his tertiary education at the Auckland University College and Victoria University College, graduating from the latter with a Bachelor of Arts in 1955.[6] In 1948, due to his education and language skills, he was asked by the Yugoslav government to work with expatriate communities of Yugoslavs in both New Zealand and Australia. For the next several years he worked with the politically fragmented communities (many who had fled invasion from Nazi Germany) in both Auckland and Sydney until 1956.[7]

He worked for the firm J. Inglis Wright Advertising from 1956 to 1986. He was head of the firm from 1974 to 1986.[4] He had joined the Labour Party in 1954 and was involved in advertising for the party, including media training for Labour leader Norman Kirk for television appearances.[4]

Belich was the founding president of UNICEF New Zealand during which time New Zealand signed up to the United Nations treaty on the Convention on the Rights of the Child. He was also president of the United Nations Association and in 1979 was chairman of the International Year of the Child, which led to the establishment of the Children's Commission. Belich belonged as well to Rotary, the Wellington Chamber of Commerce and the Wellington Club.[4]

Political career

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Since his youth Belich had been a supporter of the Labour Party. He attributed this to the lack of financial security his parents and other people in the town he grew up in had and thought Labour promised "jobs and a fair go for workers".[8] Belich had been approached to stand for mayor in 1977 and 1980, but declined the offers for personal reasons.[9] In 1986 Belich, supported by Wellington Central MP Fran Wilde, was chosen as Labour's candidate for mayor over regional councillor Ken Boyden and Wellington Clean Water Campaign convener John Blincoe.[10] His main opponent in his election bid was incumbent mayor Ian Lawrence. Belich and Lawrence had been friends for nearly twenty years adding a more personal element than normal to an election.[11] The two first met in the late-1960s when Lawrence, as a member of the Jaycees, helped organise a fundraising international ball for a UNICEF, which Belich was then president of. Both of them agreed to a "peace pact" to fight fair in the election.[12]

Highlighting an unpopular council sewage scheme, both the Labour Party and the Wellington Clean Water Campaign ran a hostile ad campaign against Lawrence and the Citizens' Association. Lawrence responded, stressing that the sewage scheme was a collective decision of the council, not a personal decision of his. In the last week of the campaign Labour launched a series of particularly controversial advertisements on Lawrence and the council. One newspaper ad showed a toilet on the beach, linking to the clean water campaign to stop raw sewage discharge at Moa Point. Lawrence was angered by the attack which reneged on an earlier pact between the two to fight fair. Belich professed that he did not intend for any personal offence.[13] The hostility of the sewage ads left Lawrence feeling bitter, but did not blame Belich personally for them.[14]

Mayor Jim Belich at the unveiling of The Bronze Form sculpture by Henry Moore, Midland Park, Wellington, in 1988

Belich was elected mayor of Wellington, despite having no previous experience as an elected official and was re-elected in 1989. He also served on the Wellington Regional Council and Wellington Harbour Board from 1986 to 1989.[1] Key to Belich's victory was a campaign pledge to end the practice of discharging raw sewage into the sea along the south coast of the city which sullied the sea. Belich began the process toward a newer and more environmentally sustainable sewerage system, however the years long project to build a new plant was not completed until after he retired.[4] During most of his mayoralty Wellington was going through a period of economic recession. Belich and the majority Labour councillors navigated the downturn through a public works programme which included an extension to the Kilbirnie pool and the re-development of the central library, art museum and Civic Square.[4] Belich also oversaw large changes in council operations, due to the 1989 local government reforms, seeing council departments restructured to self accountable business units. He also set up a trust to organise the infamous 'Sesqui 1990' celebrations to mark 150 years since the foundation of Wellington.[15]

Belich retired from the mayoralty in 1992.[1]

Later life and death

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In 2008, Belich was made an honorary citizen of the town that his family came from, Korčula in Dalmatia, Croatia.[16] He died in Wellington on 13 September 2015.[1]

Awards and recognition

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In 1990, Belich was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.[3] In the 1991 New Year Honours, he was appointed as a Knight Bachelor, for services to local government and the community.[17]

In 2019 the Wellington City Council opened a playground in Berhampore named the Jim Belich Playground after him.[18]

Personal life

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In 1951, Belich married Valerie Anzulovich, who was also of Croatian descent. They had three children, including the historian, James Belich.[1] A year into the marriage his mother-in-law moved in with them at their flat in Mount Cook.[5] His wife, Valerie, Lady Belich, died in 2022.[19] His granddaughter, Camilla Belich, was elected to the New Zealand Parliament on the Labour list in the 2020 election.[20]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Forbes, Michael (15 September 2015). "Former Wellington mayor Sir James Belich dies at age 88". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  2. ^ Wade, Amelia (24 May 2020). "Labour Party's latest candidate to contest key Epsom seat". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  3. ^ a b Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. p. 63. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Macdonald, Nikki (18 September 2015). "Obituary: Sir James Belich - from ad-man to capital clean-up merchant". Stuff. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  5. ^ a b c O'Leary, Eileen (22 October 1992). "A mayor who opened a can of worms bows out". The Evening Post. p. 7.
  6. ^ "NZ university graduates 1871–1960: Ba–Be". shadowsoftime. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  7. ^ Hubbard, Anthony (23 April 1986). "An Adman Set to Market Himself". The Dominion.
  8. ^ O'Leary, Eileen (2 March 1992). "Belich to step down in October". The Evening Post.
  9. ^ Hogan, Anne (11 February 1986). "Jim Belich tipped for Labour's mayoral bid". The Evening Post.
  10. ^ "Labour picks mayoral candidate". The Dominion. 13 February 1986.
  11. ^ "Mayor, Belich — old friends". The Dominion. 17 February 1986.
  12. ^ "Pact for clean fight". The Evening Post. 19 August 1986.
  13. ^ MacDonald, Nikki (19 September 2015). "Sir James Belich - from ad-man to capital clean-up merchant". Stuff. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  14. ^ Busby, Anita (13 October 1986). "Lawrence bows out with a brave face". The Dominion. p. 5.
  15. ^ "Past Mayors of Wellington". Wellington City Council. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  16. ^ "Diary". The Dominion Post. 1 August 2008. p. 4.
  17. ^ "No. 52383". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 31 December 1990. p. 29.
  18. ^ "Playground locations". Wellington City Council. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Valerie Belich". The Dominion Post. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  20. ^ Belich, Camilla. "Maiden Statement". New Zealand Parliament. Hansard. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
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Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Wellington
1986–1992 		Succeeded by
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