John Barr (1 January 1867 – 7 December 1930) was a New Zealand politician representing labour interests.

[3] He was employed as a stonemason and telegraph linesman in the United States, Canada and British Columbia.

[7][8] Barr was appointed to the Legislative Council on 22 January 1907,[9] when the Liberal Government wanted to increase the representation of workers.

[10] Prime Minister Richard Seddon had made the last appointments to the Legislative Council in 1903 and Barr was part of a group of 14 who were appointed by Seddon's successor Joseph Ward to revert the reduction in size of the Legislative Council by about one quarter.

[11] Ward was careful to achieve an appropriate geographical and vocational distribution, but was attacked by the opposition for appointing men lacking in parliamentary experience.

Controversy centred about John Barr, and Ward admitted that the government had been unaware that he had been in the country for less than five years, but that they had been assured that "he would be a suitable representative of the workers".