Joe Cotterill

Joseph Bernard Francis Cotterill (26 September 1905 – 8 July 1982) was a New Zealand trade unionist, sport administrator and politician of the Labour Party.

Biography Early life and career Cotterill was born in 1905 in Wanganui, both his parents were foundation members of the Labour Party, and entered an apprenticeship as a painter, working at the East Town Railway Workshops. Soon after he became secretary of the East Town branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants. In 1930 he married Daisy Ellen Wilks, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.

He was an active athlete and played competitive rugby, hockey, swimming and rowing as well as a surf lifesaver. He represented Wanganui at both rugby and hockey. Cotterill was an active member of the Pirate Rugby Club and the Union Boat Club.

He became Labour's junior whip in 1951 and was senior whip from 1952 until 1958. Cotterill was regarded as one of the best performing backbenchers of the First Labour Government and many thought he was more than unlucky to miss out on a place in cabinet after the formation of the Second Labour Government in 1957.

Cotterill was particularly interested in foreign affairs and spoke frequently on the topic in parliament. During the Second Labour Government he was chairman of Parliament's External Affairs Committee. In 1960 he represented the government at the opening of the third Cook Islands Legislative Assembly. He was also New Zealand's representative at two Commonwealth association conferences, in Ottawa in 1952 and Kampala in 1960.

In 1953, Cotterill was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.

Later life and death After retiring from Parliament, Cotterill became President of the New Zealand Swimming Association (1957–59) and was a national selector from 1960 until 1962. From 1954 to 1962 he was New Zealand's representative on the Olympic Swimming Association executive.

In 1976, Cotterill had a leg amputated and suffered from ill health frequently thereafter. He was admitted to Wanganui Hospital in June 1982 and died there on 8 July 1982. He was survived by his wife, three children, eleven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.