Community advocate
Whether it was with cabinet ministers, mayors or members of the Mongrel Mob, Josephine (Jo) Millar was never one to back away from a good debate.
She was synonymous with Otago Grey Power, and the "feisty" and "formidable" community advocate was held in high regard by people from all walks of life.
Born in Ellerslie, Auckland, on October 8, 1939, Josephine Flora Millar (nee Canning) was one of five children to Nora and Mervyn Canning.
She attended St Dominic’s School, in Auckland, and was from a generation where young people were reluctant to speak out in public.They were to be seen, not heard.
But her father was a very good debater and public speaker, and he shared that passion with her.
One of her first public speaking engagements was within the walls of Mt Eden Prison when she was just 15.
While the experience of being locked in with prisoners was terrifying for her, it left her with confidence, knowing she could talk to just about anybody on the planet, no matter who they were.
By age 16, she had won The New Zealand Herald Public Speaking Contest, and she went on to gain a licentiate in elocution from the Trinity College of London.
Not surprisingly, when she left school, she had a long career in communications with the National Airways Corporation and Air New Zealand.
Jo worked at Wellington Airport, plugging in the calls as they came through into the switchboard, and sent messages up and down the pneumatic tubes to the different departments.
When the communications became computerised, she moved to checking in passengers and dispatching aircraft.
The job served her well. It gave her the fantastic people skills that she became so well known for.
But at the same time, she did not suffer fools gladly, and she was not scared to say what was on her mind or give somebody "a bollocking".
There were only two things she hated — people who told her lies, and people who tried to placate her.
Right up until her last days, she was still as sharp as a tack, and if you were one of those people, she would most certainly let you know what she thought.
It was during her time in Wellington that she met and married Bill Nairn and had three children — Les, Rex and Heather.
After they separated, she went on to marry Donald Millar and became stepmother to Rex, Carol, Donald (jun) and Janette.
Together, they had a blended family of seven, and a marriage which lasted for more than 50 years.
The couple shared an interest in rugby league — particularly Jo, who was described as being "pathologically passionate" about the sport.
At one of the club’s games, the team was behind 18-0 at halftime, and as soon as the referee blew the halftime whistle, she popped up out of her seat, marched down the isle, on to the field, and pushed her way into the middle of the Waterside huddle.
She was seen to wag her finger and gesticulate wildly at the big muddy men, before marching back to her seat.
Her vocabulary was extensive and she had apparently just told the boys something along the lines of: "What the jolly hell do you silly people think you’re doing? If you think I’m going to give up my Sunday afternoon watching you blimmin’ so-and-sos muck about on a rugby field, you’ve got another think coming".
While the team didn’t win, they made a stunning comeback to finish the game 20-18.
They held her in high regard and were always on their best behaviour around her.
When Jo retired from her communications job at Air New Zealand, she and Don moved to Dunedin.
At an age when she should have been slowing down and taking a well-deserved rest, her daily schedule became busier than ever.
She didn’t know anybody in Dunedin, and when she saw an advertisement for Grey Power Otago in the newspaper, she thought joining might be a good way to meet new people.
She went to the association’s annual meeting, very prepared to serve as a committee member, but before she knew it, she was Grey Power Otago’s new president.
It was the start of her 20 years as leader of the organisation.
She worked long hours advocating for the Dunedin community, but she would not have it any other way.
Her life had a new purpose, and everything she did was with other people in mind.
Her aim was always to be an effective voice for the elderly, and Grey Power was the driving force behind that.
People would bring problems to her, and she enjoyed bringing them to the forefront and seeing if she could get them fixed.
Her daily schedule consisted of sending emails, attending meetings and public forums, organising petitions, grant applications, sometimes standing on the street highlighting issues like the new Dunedin hospital, and sometimes there was even time for a cup of tea in between.
Jo continued to be an impressive and fierce advocate for the organisation right to the end, and was a regular sight in the halls of Parliament, at Dunedin City Council meetings, Otago Regional Council meetings, at public forums and on the streets of Dunedin.
She was very familiar with parliamentary and council processes. She was eagle-eyed about making sure councillors followed protocol and had all the available information before making big decisions.
She was a stickler for holding politicians, councillors and council staff accountable for their actions.
Some of the recent highlights of her time at Grey Power Otago included starting a petition about roading in the build-up to construction of the new Dunedin hospital; stopping council changes to the over-75 parking permits; moving of the bus stop from outside Heff’s in South Dunedin for easier access; and calling for the replacement of the footpath outside the new South Dunedin Library.
"[They are] just little things which probably don’t mean very much to most people, but they mean a lot to the people using them," she said.
As well as serving on numerous Grey Power committees, Jo was also a former administrator and secretary of the Grey Power New Zealand Federation.
She was also a consumer representative on numerous Otago committees, including the community health committee for the outpatients clinic, the Southern DHB clinical leadership group, the Health Quality Safety Commission and Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora Southern care planning committee.
In addition, she liaised nationally with the Pharmacy Guild of NZ, the Royal College of GPs and Pharmac.
Much of her time was also spent at Parliament, lobbying Cabinet ministers and political parties.
She had a remarkable work ethic, and her knowledge and recall of information and events was incredible — something that many at Grey Power believe will never be able to be replaced.
Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich said he would always remember Jo Millar with a smile.
"To me, she was a great sweetheart.
"She was such a delightful and friendly person, but also forceful and clear and lucid when she made her arguments.
"We didn’t always agree, but we always talked them through in a friendly and amicable way.
"She’s done us all proud over the years."
It was a mark of respect that he and half a dozen Dunedin city councillors attended her funeral, he said.
Taieri Labour MP Ingrid Leary said Jo was one of the best politicians she had ever met.
"She had her feistiness, but she was nuanced enough and smart enough to be able to navigate those corridors of Parliament like nobody else.
"She would come with her shopping list of demands and bring a pretty grumpy beginning to the meetings, and by the end of every meeting, people would be smiling and hugging — and Jo would leave, knowing that she was probably going to get some of her way.
"That is quite a feat."
Just before Jo’s death, she told the ODT she often wondered what would happen if organisations like Grey Power and people like her were not around.
"I fear for what would happen to people.
"I know in the current situation that we’re in, on a national level, the ordinary things that are happening to people at the moment are horrendous.
"There has to be groups like ours to make sure that what we’ve got now is not eroded, because we’ll never get it back if we lose it.
"So we have to fight for what we’ve got and improve it where we can.
"I find that doing what I’m doing makes me feel that I’m still of value — that I’ve still got a purpose."
Jo Millar left her mark, not only on Grey Power, but also on the Dunedin community, to which she was so heavily committed to for 20 years.
She died on July 19, 2025, aged 85, and is survived by husband Donald; children Les, Rex and Heather; stepchildren Rex, Carol, Donald (jnr) and Janette; grandchildren and great-grandchildren. — John Lewis
