Rex Willing

Rex John Willing (25 March 1923 – 23 September 2000) was a New Zealand public servant and politician who was the private secretary to Prime Minister Norman Kirk.

Biography Early life and career Willing was born in 1923 to Thomas Elwin and Alice Mona Willing. In 1947 he married Marie Frisk and lived together in Elsdon, north of Wellington. He worked in the public service successively for the Department of Statistics, Department of Industries and Commerce and Consumers Institute.

Political career In 1966, Willing became assistant secretary to Norman Kirk, who was then the Leader of the Opposition. He worked under Malcolm McNamara, who was Kirk's private secretary. At the time the Leader of the Opposition had no research office, so Willing started a makeshift one with Margaret Hayward that served the entire parliamentary caucus and a personal research system for Kirk. A formal research office was later established in 1971. McNamara was a different personality to Kirk as an academic and active Christian, both traits which Kirk mistrusted. Willing was more working class and the two got along well personally. When McNamara tendered his resignation (which he assumed would not be accepted) Kirk made no hesitation in promoting Willing to replace him.

At the 1968 local-body elections, Willing was elected a member of the Porirua City Council on the Labour Party ticket. He served as a councillor until 1974 when he did not seek re-election. After the election, he gained employment at the Department of Statistics.

In 1976, he made a return to local-body politics when he won a by-election for the Porirua City Council to replace Gary McCormick who had resigned. In 1977 he stood for Mayor of Porirua as well as the city council as an independent candidate. He was unsuccessful in both elections. For standing as an independent against the official Labour ticket he was expelled from the party. In 1980 he was elected for a third spell as a Porirua City Councillor. Once on the council again, he voted in favour of a motion to refer the controversial appointment of former Lower Hutt deputy mayor John Seddon as Porirua's Town Clerk to the Office of the Ombudsman. After one term, he was defeated when standing for re-election in 1983. For six years he was also a member of the Porirua Licensing Trust (1977–80, 1983–86).

Later life and death His wife, Marie, died in 1992 and Willing moved from Elsdon to Tītahi Bay in 1994. He died at Kenepuru Hospital on 23 September 2000, aged 77. He was survived by his three sons and one daughter.