Even in a town full of characters, Queenstowner Warren Cooper stands out. Ahead of his 90th birthday this coming Tuesday, he trawls through some of his track gallops with PHILIP CHANDLER and explains why he’s changed his view on Frankton Road traffic congestion
Warren Cooper’s one of this country’s great political survivors, having started his long local government career in the ’60s and even longer parliamentary career in the ’70s.
Though labelled ‘one-coat Cooper’ by an Opposition MP, in reference to his one-time painting occupation, he tended to do things in twos, having two stints as a Cabinet Minister — ’78 to ’84 and ’90 to ’96 — and two as Queenstown’s mayor — ’68 to ’75 and ’95 to 2001.
A fervent private enterpriser and blunt speaker during 36 years’ local and central government service, he could disarm even his enemies with his sense of humour and touches of eccentricity.
Growing up in Labour Party-dominated Dunedin, he had two ambitions from the age of about 10 — ‘‘one was to leave school the day I was 15, the other was to be a National Party MP in Parliament’’.
He plumped for National, he says, ‘‘mainly because of probably my father who was in business and didn’t like the people that came from the Price Tribunal and all the others’’.
Cooper moved to Queenstown in ’54, six months after his parents, Cassey and Bill.
Bill had taken over McBride’s Hotel whose bar, Wicked Willies, took after his nickname, ‘Wicked’.
Aside from helping out his dad, Warren started a signwriting and painting business, then later dabbled in real estate and built a motel, Four Seasons.
In ’56, he clapped eyes on an Aussie lass, Lorraine, whom his dad employed — they married in Brisbane in ’59 and proceeded to have five children.
Warren got onto council in ’65 then after one term successfully stood against mayor George Cochrane, mainly because he felt he was making it hard for the Skyline company to get its gondola going.
As mayor, he stopped issuing building permits for major projects till the town got proper water and sewerage services.
To fund them, he went to Wellington and persuaded Finance Minister Rob Muldoon to let his council take over Queenstown Hill ‘commonage’ land for residential development.
‘‘As I was leaving he asked me, ‘what do you plan to do if we can’t help you?’
‘‘I said, ‘I plan to have a bloody good think about the National Party’.’’
Warren resigned as mayor in ’75 when he became an MP by defeating Otago Central’s Labour incumbent.
By ’78 he was in Prime Minister Muldoon’s Cabinet, becoming his shock pick for Minister of Foreign Affairs three years later — ‘‘people were jumping off roofs’’.
After six years in Opposition, he resurfaced as Minister of Defence in 1990.
Cooper pulled off his own surprise by successfully contesting the Queenstown Lakes mayoralty in ’95 while still in Cabinet, before stepping down as a Minister and MP the next year.
During his second mayoral stint, Warren created waves with his running battle with actor Sam Neill over rural-residential development and for lopping roots of a protected Wellingtonia tree, in the dead of night, to prevent them disturbing paving stones.
He also, arbitrarily, reinstated the Gardens peninsula walkway, which had been washed away.
His purchase of the former council offices building was also controversial amidst fears he’d demolish the historic Foresters Lodge — now happily part of the Brazz bar/restaurant.
Less controversially, he over saw the widening of Frankton Road — ‘‘it was not enough, but we did well to get done what was done’’.
Regarding its current congested state, he thinks more should have been done to divert traffic via the ‘back road’ from Arrowtown.
Personally, Frankton Rd doesn’t get him annoyed any longer — ‘‘I now sit in the car and look at the top of Cecil Peak, Walter Peak, Mt Nicholas, and I think I’m so blessed to sit here in this magnificent grandeur’’.
His only regret from his second mayoral stint is over contracting-out many council services.
‘‘I don’t think in retrospect it worked very well because the key people couldn’t understand the tune they had to dance to.’’
He reiterates he couldn’t have had his political career without Lorraine’s unfailing support and tolerance.
As he told Mountain Scene 10 years ago: ‘‘Many have said, ‘he must be a funny bugger, that Warren Cooper, but I suppose we could vote for him because she seems to think he’s alright’.’’
