Arthur Kinsella
Arthur Ellis Kinsella (15 January 1918 – 4 March 2004) was a New Zealand National Party politician and cabinet minister. He was born in Waikino and studied at Waihi District High School, Waihi School of Mines, the University of Auckland, Victoria University of Wellington and Auckland Teachers College, earning an MA and a Diploma in Education. Before entering politics he was a farmer and a teacher. During World War II he served with the New Zealand Engineers (7th Field Company) in the UK, the Middle East and Greece, where he was wounded and returned to New Zealand.
Kinsella was elected Member of Parliament for Hauraki in 1954 and served until 1969. He held several ministerial roles: Minister of Broadcasting (1960–1963), Postmaster-General (1961–1963) and Minister of Education (1963–1969). He helped introduce television to New Zealand and supported allowing private radio and television stations through the Broadcasting Corporation amendment bill.
New Zealand faced a telephone shortage in the early 1960s, with about 19,000 people on a waiting list. As education minister, Kinsella lengthened teacher training from two years to three and worked to reduce class sizes; he also helped establish a new medical school in Auckland. He retired from Parliament in 1969 after a serious car crash. In 1970 he was granted the right to keep the title The Honourable for life.
After Parliament, Kinsella served on local councils: Auckland City Council (elected 1971, one term) and Wellington City Council (elected 1983; he left in 1986 but won a seat again in a 1987 by-election). He worked as a business consultant and later as Principal of the Technical Correspondence Institute. In the 1992 New Year Honours, he was made a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for public services. He died in 2004.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 03:45 (CET).