At the age of 18, Brian Chamberlin led his first worship service at Ararimu, South Auckland. The Bombay-Tuakau circuit was huge and there was just one minister to cover seven preaching places. Brian recalls spending hours preparing for his debut service. “There were five people in the congregation and it was all over in 20 minutes.” It may have been a low-key start but he has continued his lifelong association with church and ministry, in conjunction with a prestigious farming career. In 2020 Brian was awarded a long service certificate by the New Zealand Lay Preachers Association in recognition of 55 years of service in lay ministry.

Brian grew up on a farm in South Auckland and attended the local Methodist church with his mother, who was Anglican. At that time there were few choices, Brian says. “People were either Catholic or Protestant. If you were Protestant, the Methodist Church was the only Protestant one in the area to attend.”

Brian credits his parents and Jan, his wife of 58 years, for their encouragement and support. Jan was 11 years old when her family moved to a farm that shared a boundary with the Chamberlin’s farm. Being four years younger than Brian, it was not until she reached her teens that she captured the attention - and heart - of her neighbour. The couple married when Brian was 24, shortly after he completed his lay preacher’s exams.

In 2020, Reverend Kuli Fisi’iahi of the Wesley Methodist Church in Dargaville took great pleasure in presenting the NZLPA long service certificate to a man described by fellow lay preacher, Margaret Bishop, as “a very humble, accomplished and highly esteemed individual.”

A Career in Farming

In 1967 Brian and Jan purchased his parents’ farm, where they lived and raised their two children. In conjunction with managing their own farm, Brian took a leading role in the future of farming in New Zealand and overseas.

Margaret Bishop’s citation sums up Brian’s impressive career:

“During his lifetime, Brian has committed himself to many worthy organisations and causes, from which he has gained a wealth of leadership experience. Highly esteemed, accomplished, trailblazer, leading light, and front runner, all are terms that which describe Brian well.”

As a former Federated Farmers President (1987-1990), he was awarded Life Membership of FFNZ in July 2002 for distinguished service. He was Chairman of the Meat and Wool Council from 1979-81 and Auckland Provincial President 1977-79. Brian took a leading role in the Federation and agri-politics when New Zealand and farming woke to the realisation that ‘market signals’ rather than government intervention should dictate the direction of agriculture. Brian was Vice President of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers from 1986-90.

He has held diplomatic positions, including New Zealand Special Agricultural Trade Envoy 1990-91, Councillor for Agriculture at the New Zealand High Commission in London 1992-93 and was the first New Zealander to become a member of the International Policy Council on Agriculture, Food and Trade in 1994. He was awarded a CBE the same year for services to agriculture and trade.

In the 1980s, Federated Farmers proposed a new model for government to support farmers by controlling inflation and expenditure, rather than subsidising farming. At a time when ‘everyone was reaching out for subsidies’, it was a radical departure from what was accepted as usual practice. The proposal drew global attention, initially from NZ treasury officials who strongly supported the concept.

A staunch advocate of more liberal trade, Brian published Farming and Subsidies - Debunking the Myths in 1996, and a sequel Five Years On. These publications continue to have a key role in communicating New Zealand's position in the international arena.

Brian has addressed many international conferences and informed numerous committees and government officials worldwide involved in farming policy. He has been instrumental in developing policy to improve agricultural trade, especially in developing countries, where farming subsidies in affluent economies resulted in surpluses being dumped in poorer areas, thereby putting local farmers out of business.

Brian has had a long association with broadcasting. He was a founding director of Radio Pacific, and subsequently Chairman of the organisation, and along with Jan, hosted a farming programme on Saturday mornings.

That experience, combined with his proven ability to revive struggling companies and a long association with Pacific people, attracted the interest of Don McKinnon, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister of Pacific Island Affairs. The Minister invited him to try to rescue Radio 531pi, which was struggling. Brian spent many years working with the station, and 531pi is still broadcasting successfully.

Jan, an accomplished hymn writer, has always helped Brian in preparing services. Now retired and living in a retirement village in Whangarei, the couple have stepped back from preaching but continue their lifelong commitment to ministry doing voluntary work for the church and community.