His father was an official with the Customs Department and due to this the family moved around frequently, first on the West Coast then also living in New Plymouth, Takapuna and Ngāruawāhia later being educated at Hamilton Boys' High School.

Two years later his money ran out and was forced to give up his legal studies and eventually became a commercial traveller for a car parts company.

He then in 1936 founded Airco (NZ) Ltd, a business importing American designed washing machines, refrigerators and other appliances which were assembled in a small factory just off Queen Street.

He later served in the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve at Freetown, Sierra Leone holding the rank of lieutenant.

To National organisers surprise, and in spite of his support for an Auckland harbour bridge paid for by tolls, he won the seat.

[4] He was a liberal within the National Party and, alongside Tamaki MP Eric Halstead, he supported the alternative drainage scheme in Auckland proposed by Dove-Myer Robinson.

[6] In February 1956, Holland announced that Eyre had been granted six weeks leave in order to attend to private business in Sweden.

A surprised Holland reacted quickly and Eyre was forced to cancel his trip, and was stripped of his portfolios and given to Eric Halstead.

Auckland newspaper The New Zealand Herald reported that on 23 November 1966, Eyre had responded to an election meeting question in Devonport that his personal solution to end the war in Vietnam was to drop "a basin full of bombs" on the enemy.

In the 1990s insinuations were levelled that retired three-term MPs were "milking the public purse" by exercising their right to a 90% pension-related travel rebate which had been granted in 1972, in lieu of a pension increase.

In Eyre's case, he was spending around $10,000 every year and a half on air fees from his home in Ottawa (where he had retired) to visit his daughter in the United Kingdom.

[2] Upon the law change The Nelson Mail reported: The most outrageous use of this privilege has been by former defence minister Dean Eyre, who has not lived in New Zealand for 30 years.

He retired in Canada after serving as high commissioner there, and has vigorously defended his right to continue travelling at New Zealand taxpayers' expense.