“BIG BILL”

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 64, 18 December 1946, Page 5

“BIG BILL”

A SOUTHERN TRIBUTE THE BAY OF PLENTY M.P. Now that the election is over and Mr W. Sullivan of Whakatane, has once again received the endorsement of the electors • confidence in the Bay of Plenty we publish a tribute to our worthy member as it appeared in a southern periodical. It reads: —

They call him “Big,Bill” Sullivan because that’s just what he is. The Member for Bay of • Plenty stands about 6 feet 4 inches tall, and is broad in proportion. Although he is .now over 50, he still looks an athletic type. It does not surprise you to learn that he once represented Taranaki at football. You can easily picture him, thirty years ago, in the van of one of those formidable rushes which have made the name of Taranaki forwards respected . wherever, the rugby game is played. In Parliament, Sullivan is regard•edas a coming man. Elected less than four years ago, at a by-election following the death of the late A'. G. Hultquist while serving overseas with the New Zealand Division, he is now one. of the leading figures on the Opposition bench. He is not yet a front-bencher, not being senior ■enough for that, but it is commonly assumed, and no doubt accurately, that in the event of a change of 'Government he would certainly be given Cabinet rank. As Minister of Housing he would bring years of practical experience to the job, for his occupation in private life is that a builder and contractor. ~ ,

People entering Whakatane by . .road from Rotorua or Opotiki pass y bis business premises on the right- >' band side of the road, just outside the town. The factory and timberyard bears the name of the partnership, Boon and Sullivan, which has

built some of the biggest buildings in the Bay of Plenty area, and scores •} of State houses fo'r the Government. On the other side of the road, not far distant, is an attractive modern borne, set in a charming garden. This is the home Bill Sullivan built for himself and his family a few years ago, before his election to Parliament required him to spend several months of the year away from his home town.,

A Success—from Scratch The home, the workshop, and the timber-yard are evidence that “Big Bill” has made a success of his affairs, and he did so from scratch. When he arrived in the Bay of .Plenty thirty years ago, from Taranaki, all he had were the tools of ;his trade, a vast capacity for work, and a determination to get on. He literally • “carried his swag on his back.” His success is the product of ambition and industry. When he first started out for himself, he used to. work on small building .jobs all 'day, and toil far into the night drawing up his own plans. His knowledge of the trade is comprehensive, and it is probable that he, more than any othpr one man, has the skill and technical knowledge to avert, or at least ameliorate, the housing tragedy now looming up in the Dominion.

Mr Sullivan first entered public life as a borough councillor and iMayor' of Whakatane. In the latter capacity his administration made history. He tbok over the affairs of the borough when they were in a bad mess. Within a year or two, by efficient,, common sense administration, and by facing the facts and taking the tqwnspeople into his confidence, he began to get things straightened out. Before he relinquished office he had placed the municipal affairs on a sound basis and had reduced the rates.

His by-election campaign in 1941 was remarkable because it marked "the Labour Party’s first loss of a seat at a by-election since the initial succes's of the Party in 1935. The Government sent some of its biggest guns, including the Prime Minister, into the constituency to campaign against him, but the Japs attacked Pearl Harbour just a week, before the poll, and after that Mr Fraser withdrew from the contest. The upshot was that Mr Sullivan had a very comfortable win, which he repeated at the 1943 'general elections. A feature of the latter contest was "that his opponent, in the heat of the campaign, made some unguarded remarks of an actionable nature. Never a man to stand any nonsense, Mr Sullivan gave him the opportunity to retract and apologise, and when he failed to do so, sued him fdr libel, and was awarded damages by the Court.

His brother, incidentally, is a member of the South African ParGiament. ..

An Equable Temperament “Big Bill” is ' the possessor of an equable temperament, and keeps cool, calm and collected even in the most trying circumstances. An instance of this occurred in 1941 when he was motoring to Gisborne to open his election campaign. Near Matawai, right on top of the ranges, his car broke down. Gisborne was 50 miles away, the meeting was to open in a couple of hours, and alternative transport could not be procured. Many Other men, quite pardonably, would have become harrassed and worried. Not so Bill Sullivan. He strolled down the road, interviewed a mechanic in an > almost casual manner, and eventually got his car fixed up in time to get to Gisborne, cool qs a cucumber, only half-an-hour after the start of the meeting, which in the meantime had been carried on by someone else. In his happy domestic life he has brought up a fine family of seven children, but had the misfortune to lose his oldest son, Flight-Lieuten-ant Michael Sullivan, D.F.C., who was killed while serving with a Pathfinder crew in his 31st raid on Gerlnany. His wife is devoted to her home and family, and for this reason rarely accompanies him to Wellington. They have a cottage, at Ohope Beach, near Whakatane, where they spend the summer holidays and weekends. Sometimes Rotorua calls them, for “Big Bill” is a keen angler. There are no frills about the Member for Bay of Plenty. He is direct in manner and direct in speech. In his political speeches he wastes no time in beating about the bush, but gives his views and ideas, straight from the shoulder. Most people find his views sensible and tolerant. That ig why “Big Bill” is considered a coming man.