Walter Nash House

This seems a rather ordinary house to have a Category I heritage rating but the man who lived here played an important role in the Labour governments which were in power in the transformative years for New Zealand's welfare state before, through World War II and after. One of our most significant twentieth Century politicians, he ended up as Prime Minister.
Walter Nash was member of parliament for Hutt from 1929. His house became a 'de facto electorate office where Nash would meet constituents'. As the third ranking member of the Labour Government he represented New Zealand in the United States and was involved in setting up the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT). Following the death of Peter Fraser he became the leader of the Labour Party serving as Prime Minister for a three year term which ended in the Party losing power because an unpopular 'Black budget'.