Mel Courtney

Melvyn Francis (Mel) Courtney (born 1943) is a former Labour then Independent Member of Parliament for Nelson, in the South Island of New Zealand.

Member of Parliament

Mel Courtney represented the Nelson electorate from 1976 to 1981 and was Opposition Spokesman for Horticulture and Fisheries for five years. He was a recipient of both the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977 for service to the community and the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal in recognition of services to New Zealand. Mel Courtney was also a member of the Nelson City Council for nine years.

Independent

In March 1981 Mel Courtney announced that he had let his membership of the Labour Party lapse. Soon after, he withdrew from the Labour Party caucus and sat in the New Zealand House of Representatives as an independent.

The Labour Party suffered defeats in the 1975 and 1978 general elections under the leadership of Bill Rowling. Courtney saw the momentum that had been gained under the Prime Ministership of the charismatic Labour leader Norman Kirk (1972–74) was being eroded and lost by Rowling. Courtney firmly believed that change was needed in the leadership in order to beat Robert Muldoon and the National Party. Rowling was not an effective counter to Muldoon: in Parliament Muldoon had the measure of Rowling and Rowling was perceived as weak in the media. After Courtney's strong performance in the Nelson by-election in 1976 the 1978 Labour Party general election result was a "major disappointment" for Courtney (Henderson, 1981). In the December 1980 leadership vote of confidence Courtney voted against Rowling. Rowling clung onto the Labour leadership by one vote-his own (Bassett, 2008).