Jim Belich

children = 3 alma_mater = Victoria University College occupation = profession = Advertising agent signature =

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 Early life and career 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. He grew up bilingual, speaking Croatian with his parents and English to both of his elder brothers. He was head boy at Otahuhu College. 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.

He worked for the firm J. Inglis Wright Advertising from 1956 to 1986. He was head of the firm from 1974 to 1986. 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. Belich had been approached to stand for mayor in 1977 and 1980, but declined the offers for personal reasons. 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. 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. 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.

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. The hostility of the sewage ads left Lawrence feeling bitter, but did not blame Belich personally for them.

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.

Belich retired from the mayoralty in 1992. He died in Wellington on 13 September 2015.

Awards and recognition In 1990, Belich was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.

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

Personal life In 1951, Belich married Valerie Anzulovich, who was also of Croatian descent. They had three children, including the historian, James Belich. His granddaughter, Camilla Belich, was elected to the New Zealand Parliament on the Labour list in the 2020 election.