Patrick Joseph O'Regan (6 February 1869 – 24 April 1947) was a Member of Parliament for Inangahua and Buller, in the South Island of New Zealand. He was later appointed to the Legislative Council.
Early life
O'Regan was born in Charleston, on the West Coast of New Zealand to Patrick O'Regan (an Irish immigrant and goldminer) and his wife Mary.
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.[2]
A lawyer by profession, O'Regan represented striking workers in 1913 and conscientious objectors charged with sedition in World War I.
O'Regan was made a judge of the Court of Arbitration in 1937 and a member of the Legislative Council on 9 September 1946 and he held that position for the few months until his death in Wellington on 24 April 1947.[4][5]
The Parliamentary Record: 1840–1984 by J.O. Wilson (1985, Government Printer, Wellington)
References
^"The General Election, 1899". Wellington: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 19 June 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
^Yesterdays in Golden Buller, by Ella Matthews, p. 203, 1999, Cadsonbury Publications
^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), p. 163
^Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Government Printer. p. 82.
