Patrick O'Regan

Patrick Joseph O'Regan (1869 - 1947) was a Member of Parliament for Inangahua and Buller, in the South Island of New Zealand.

Member of Parliament

O'Regan represented Inangahua (1893-96) and Buller (1896-99) in the New Zealand House of Representatives.

O'Regan was born in Charleston, on the West Coast of New Zealand. He was involved with the Knights of Labour and Henry George's Single Tax Movement. In 1896, O'Regan introduced the Proportional Representation Bill into Parliament: it failed to carry the second reading by only 6 votes (Yesterdays in Golden Buller by Ella Matthews, p.203, 1999, Cadsonbury Publications).

A lawyer by profession, O'Regan represented striking workers in 1913 and conscientious objectors charged with sedition in WWI.

O'Regan supported Labour's Peter Fraser in the Wellington Central by-election of 1918 and Harry Holland in the Wellington North by-election also in 1918. However, he did not join the NZ Labour Party (Gustafson, p.163).

O'Regan was made a member of the Legislative Council in 1946 and 1947 (Wilson, p.160).

Further reading

* "Labour's Path to Political Independence: the Origins and Establishment of the NZ Labour Party 1900-1919" by Barry Gustafson (1980, Oxford University Press, Auckland)
* "The New Zealand Liberals: the Years of Power 1891-1912" by David Hamer (1988, Auckland University Press, Auckland)
* "The Parliamentary Record: 1840-1984" by J.O. Wilson (1985, Government Printer, Wellington)