Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
honorific-prefix	The Honourable
name	Tony Ryall
honorific-suffix	MP
order	38th Minister of Health
term start	19 November 2008
primeminister	John Key
predecessor	David Cunliffe
order2	Minister of State Services
term start2	19 November 2008
primeminister2	John Key
predecessor2	David Parker
constituency mp3	Bay of Plenty
parliament3	New Zealand
predecessor3	''Seat Established''
term start3	1996
constituency mp4	East Cape
parliament4	New Zealand
successor4	''Seat Abolished''
term start4	1990
term end4	1993
constituency mp5	Eastern Bay of Plenty
parliament5	New Zealand
predecessor5	''Seat Established''
successor5	''Seat Abolished''
term start5	1993
term end5	1996
party	National
birth date	November 1964
birth place
nationality	New Zealand
party	National Party
occupation	Politician
footnotes	}}

Anthony Boyd Williams "Tony" Ryall (born in November 1964) is New Zealand politician. He has represented voters and the National Party in the New Zealand Parliament since 1990. Since November 2008 he has served as a cabinet minister, holding the posts of Minister of Health and Minister of State Services. He served previously in the Shipley Cabinet 1997-1999.

Early life and family

Tony Ryall is married with two children. The family home is in Tauranga.

Professional career

Before entering politics, he worked as a credit analyst at a bank.

Member of Parliament

He first won election to Parliament as MP for the East Cape electorate in the 1990 elections at age 26. Subsequent boundary reorganisations saw him represent the Eastern Bay of Plenty electorate (1993–96) and the Bay of Plenty electorate (1996- ).

Ryall served in the Cabinet between 1997-99 variously as Minister for State-Owned Enterprises, Minister of Local Government, Minister of Youth Affairs, and Minister of Justice.

During the National Party's time in Opposition, he was Law and Order Spokesman (1999–2005) and then Health Spokesman (2005–2008).

In the 2005 General Election Ryall won the largest National Party electorate majority in the country: in his Bay of Plenty Electorate he gained a majority of approximately 15,800 votes. In the 2008 election he secured the country's second largest majority, behind the Prime Minister; 17,600 majority.

Since 2008, he has served as the Minister of Health and the Minister of State Services.

The Bay of Plenty electorate office is located in Devonport Road, Tauranga.

References

External links

Profile at National party

Category:Living people Category:New Zealand National Party MPs Category:Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Category:Ministers of Housing (New Zealand) Category:1964 births Category:Massey University alumni

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	Bill English
honorific-prefix	The Honourable
honorific-suffix	MP
birth date
birth place	Dipton, New Zealand
order	17th
office	Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand
term start	19 November 2008
primeminister	John Key
predecessor	Michael Cullen
order2	29th Leader of the Opposition
term start2	8 October 2001
term end2	28 October 2003
predecessor2	Jenny Shipley
successor2	Don Brash
Deputy2	Roger Sowry
Order3	39th Minister of Finance
term start3	19 November 2008
Predecessor3	Michael Cullen
Primeminister3	John Key
term start4	January 1999
term end4	June 1999
Predecessor4	Bill Birch
Successor4	Bill Birch
Primeminister4	Jenny Shipley
Order5	3rd Treasurer of New Zealand
Primeminister5	Jenny Shipley
Term start5	June 1999
Term end5	5 December 1999
Predecessor5	Bill Birch
Successor5	''Position abolished''
order6	1st Minister of Infrastructure
term start6	19 November 2008
primeminister6	John Key
order7	Deputy Leader of National Party
term start7	27 November 2006
leader7	John Key
predecessor7	Gerry Brownlee
constituency mp8	Wallace
parliament8	New Zealand
term start8	1990
term end8	1996
predecessor8	Derek Angus
successor8	''Seat Abolished''
constituency mp9	Clutha-Southland
parliament9	New Zealand
majority9	15,475
predecessor9	''Seat Established''
term start9	1996
party	National
religion	Roman Catholic
spouse	Mary English
children	6
website	billenglish.co.nz
profession	Policy analyst }}

Simon William "Bill" English (born 1961) is the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Minister of Infrastructure of New Zealand.

English entered parliament in 1990 as a National party MP representing the Wallace electorate. In 1999 English served as Minister of Finance for a brief period until National, under the leadership of Jenny Shipley at the time, lost the election later that year. In October 2001 he replaced Shipley as the leader of the National Party, but after a disastrous result in the 2002 election he was replaced as the leader by Don Brash in October 2003. After Don Brash's resignation in November 2006 he became deputy leader of the party under John Key, becoming the Deputy Prime Minister after a November 2008 election victory.

Personal life

English was born in the small Southland town of Dipton. He was a boarder at St. Patrick's College, Silverstream in Wellington, and was Head Boy. He later gained degrees in commerce at the University of Otago, where he was a resident at Selwyn College and in English literature, at Victoria University of Wellington. After completing his studies, he returned to Dipton to work as a farmer. In 1987, he returned to Wellington to work as a policy analyst in the New Zealand Treasury, returning to Dipton two years later.

He married a GP, Mary, and they now have six children. He is an active Roman Catholic, but considers his religious beliefs personal and separate from politics.

On 7 June 2002, English took part in TV3's ''Fight For Life'', a celebrity boxing fundraiser, in this case for the Yellow Ribbon anti youth-suicide campaign. English took part because of the death of a teenage nephew in 1997, and lost to entertainer Ted Clarke.

Political career

Member of Parliament

English had joined the National Party in 1980, and had served in administrative capacities for party branches both in Southland and in Wellington. In 1990 he stood as the National candidate in Wallace, the Southland electorate that encompassed Dipton, and won. He has been re-elected from this electorate, now known as Clutha-Southland, at every election since then. At the 2005 election, English retained his seat with a 13,032 majority or 65% of the electorate vote. In the 2008 election ''English'' continued to hold the seat winning by a margin of about 15500. At the beginning of 1996, English became a member of the Cabinet and gained responsibility for Crown Health Enterprises, publicly owned healthcare providers created by the National Party's reforms of the public health service, which sought to create an internal competitive market. He also became Associate Minister of Education and started the process to introduce the NCEA to high schools. After the elections later that year, however, Prime Minister Jim Bolger reshuffled his Cabinet, and English emerged Minister of Health. As a condition of the coalition agreement, a member from New Zealand First served as Associate Minister of Health.

After the coalition between National and the smaller New Zealand First party collapsed, the position of Treasurer (senior to that of Finance Minister and created especially for New Zealand First leader Winston Peters) became vacant. The former Finance Minister, Bill Birch, gained promotion to the position Peters had vacated, leaving the Minister of Finance portfolio free. English took up this role. Later that year, Birch and English swapped positions, with English becoming Treasurer and Birch becoming Minister of Finance again.

After the National Party lost the 1999 elections to Helen Clark's Labour Party English remained as National's spokesperson for financial matters.

Leader of the Opposition

In October 2001, dissatisfaction with party leader Jenny Shipley had failed to abate, and English secured the backing of a majority of National Party MPs. English replaced Shipley as head of the National Party and thus as Leader of the Opposition.

However, English failed to improve the party's performance. In the 2002 elections, National suffered its worst electoral defeat ever, gaining barely more than twenty percent of the vote. Both party insiders and the general public were split as to how much to blame English for this loss, but most of the party believed that English would be able to rebuild National's support.

By late 2003, however, National's performance in opinion polls remained poor. The party had briefly increased its popularity in the year following the election, but by October its support had fallen to levels only slightly better than what it achieved in the last ballot. English also appeared in a boxing match for a charity against entertainer Ted Clarke. This "stunt" did not boost his polling or that of the National party either, with suggestions that it devalued his image as a serious politician. Don Brash, former governor of the Reserve Bank and a relative newcomer to politics, began to build up support to replace English. On 28 October, Brash gained sufficient backing in Caucus to replace English as leader.

Shadow Education Spokesman

On 2 November 2003, when Brash announced changes in responsibilities for certain MPs, English became National's spokesman for education, ranked at fifth place in the party's parliamentary hierarchy. He remained in parliament after the 2005 election. In his new shadow education portfolio, English performed strongly, and remained a party favourite despite his election defeat as leader in 2002, as indicated by his subsequent appointment as Deputy Leader of the Opposition (see below) and spokesman for Finance and Revenue.

Deputy Leader

After the resignation of Don Brash, English aspired to Deputy Leader Gerry Brownlee's deputy leadership. On November 26 Brownlee announced that he was stepping aside and English was predicted to take over the deputy leadership and also the finance portfolio. This was confirmed the next day following a caucus meeting.

Leaked tapes

Two tapes were covertly made of conversations with English at the National Party conference in August 2008, and subsequently leaked by Kees Keizer to the media. The first indicated that English would like to eventually sell Kiwibank. The second, released to the media on 4 November 2008, just before the New Zealand election, gave English's views on Barack Obama. He is heard on the tape saying: "I'm a bit worried about this whole Obama and Europe thing, just because there's a limited effectiveness in being moralistic about international relations and Europe has turned out to be particularly ineffective even in its own backyard." "And the US can argue over-do it (sic) and Bush should have put a different window dressing - there still needs someone willing to pull the trigger."

Deputy Prime Minister

English became Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand in the Fifth National Government, being sworn into office on 19 November 2008. He also became Minister of Finance and gained the new portfolio of Minister of Infrastructure.

Living allowances controversy

In 2009, the media, including TVNZ and TV3 revealed that English was receiving about NZ$900 a week as part of a living allowance for ministers, to live in his own NZ$1.2 million Wellington home. English also receives $276,200 in his annual salary as Deputy Prime Minister. It was also revealed other ministers with homes in the capital city were also claiming accommodation allowances. On Monday 3 August 2009, Prime Minister John Key announced a review of the housing allowances claimed by cabinet ministers. The Prime Minister also stated that English was only claiming what he was entitled to under current ministerial housing allowances.

English subsequently announced he would pay back $12,000 and only claim about $24,000 a year in living allowances. The Auditor-General's office said in September 2009 that they were making "preliminary enquiries" into parliamentary housing expenses in response to a letter of complaint from Progressive party leader Jim Anderton. Two days later English announced that he would no longer take up any housing allowance and had paid back all the allowance he had received since the November 2008 election.

Political views

English has opposed abortion, voluntary euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, civil unions, and the decriminalisation of prostitution.

See also

Politics of New Zealand

References

External links

Bill English MP official site

Profile at National party

Political offices

|- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-

Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Category:New Zealand farmers Category:New Zealand finance ministers Category:New Zealand National Party MPs Category:New Zealand National Party leaders Category:New Zealand Roman Catholics Category:People from the Southland Region Category:University of Otago alumni Category:Victoria University of Wellington alumni Category:Former students of St. Patrick's College, Silverstream Category:Leaders of the Opposition (New Zealand)

ja:ビル・イングリッシュ pl:Bill English sco:Bill English

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
honorific-prefix	The Honourable
name	David Cunliffe
honorific-suffix	MP
office2	Minister of Communications and Information Technology
term start2	2002
term end2	19 November 2008
predecessor2	Paul Swain
successor2	Steven Joyce
order3	37th Minister of Health
term start3	31 October 2007
term end3	19 November 2008
predecessor3	Pete Hodgson
successor3	Tony Ryall
constituency mp4	Titirangi
parliament4	New Zealand
term start4	1999
term end4	2002
constituency mp5	New Lynn
parliament5	New Zealand
majority5	4,025
term start5	2002
birth place	Auckland, New Zealand
party	Labour
religion	Anglican
website
profession	Business consultant }}

David Richard Cunliffe (born 1963) is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the Labour Party, and the sitting member of parliament for New Lynn, West Auckland. He served as the Minister of Health and Minister for Communications and Information Technology for the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand from October 2007 until November 2008. After the 2008 general election defeat of the Labour Party, and the resignation of Helen Clark as the party leader, Cunliffe was appointed to be the party's Finance Spokesman. This is considered to be the third highest ranking within the party after leader and deputy leader. Cunliffe has been touted as a future leader of the Labour party, and party insiders have suggested he seriously considered challenging Goff in the aftermath of the 2008 electoral defeat. Speculation of a leadership challenge again arose during the June 2010 expenses scandal and again after the 'Cartergate' affair.

Early life

Cunliffe studied politics at University of Otago before working first as a diplomat and then as a business consultant. In 1994 and 1995, he was a Fulbright Scholar and Kennedy Memorial Fellow at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School, earning a Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School in 1995.

Member of Parliament

He was first elected to Parliament in the 1999 elections, standing as the Labour candidate for the Titirangi seat. Since the 2002 election he has represented the seat of New Lynn. At the 2005 elections, Cunliffe was returned with 18,087 votes (8,000 more than his nearest opponent) or 55% of the electorate vote . He retained his seat in the 2008 general election, but his majority was cut to 4,025. Labour was defeated in the election.

Cabinet minister

Cunliffe was a member of the New Zealand Cabinet as the Minister of Health, and Minister for Communications and Information Technology in the Fifth Labour Government until Labour lost the election in 2008.

In the 2002-2005 Parliament he held the ICT portfolios and was Associate Minister of Finance and Revenue, after previously serving as Parliamentary Private Secretary for Finance and Commerce.

During his first term (1999–2002) he served as Chair of the Commerce Select Committee, and sat on the Finance and Expenditure and Regulations Review select committees.

In 2006, in his previous role as Immigration Minister, he announced a major review of the Immigration Act 1987. As Minister for Communications and Information Technology he announced local loop unbundling in the telecommunications sector.

On 30 June 2008 Cunliffe was conferred the title of ''Honorary Fellow of the NZCS'' (HFNZCS) by the New Zealand Computer Society, the professional body of the ICT profession in recognition of his significant contribution to the ICT sector.

District Health Board controversy

In February 2008, as the Minister of Health, Cunliffe dismissed the Hawke's Bay District Health Board over political, monetary and conflict of interest troubles. Napier Mayor Barbara Arnott and a number of members of the district voiced opposition to Cunliffe's move as many of the board members were democratically elected. Following the release of a Health Ministry-commissioned independent report into the matter, Cunliffe referred to the board as "nasty little nest of self-perpetuating provincial elites".

Opposition

While in opposition of the Fifth National Government, Cunliffe was made Labour's spokesman of Finance, shadowing National's Finance Minister, Bill English.

Political views

Cunliffe is a supporter of New Zealand becoming a republic. During the Address-In-Reply debate on 4 September 2002, Cunliffe said: "A New Zealand where we journey together towards maturity as a nation, and to the Commonwealth republic I personally believe we will become before the Treaty turns 200".

Further reading

:''This was a discussion forum about information technology policy - ''National's Maurice Williamson ''is also a participant.''

References

External links

Cunliffe's official website

Parliamentary page

|- |- |- |-

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:John F. Kennedy School of Government people Category:New Zealand Labour Party MPs Category:New Zealand diplomats Category:New Zealand republicans Category:Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Category:University of Otago alumni

sco:David Cunliffe

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
Name	Len (Leonard) Brown
Office	Mayor of Auckland
Term start	1 November 2010
Predecessor	''created''
Majority	65,945
Office2	Mayor of Manukau City
Term start2	October 2007
Term end2	31 October 2010
Predecessor2	Barry Curtis
Successor2	''abolished''
Majority2	14,777
Birth date	October 01, 1956
Birth place	Taumarunui, New Zealand
Spouse	Shirley Anne Inglis
Children	Three daughters
Alma mater	De La Salle College and University of Auckland
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Catholic
Website	www.LenBrownforMayor.co.nz }}

Len Brown (born October 01, 1956) is the mayor of Auckland in New Zealand and the head of the Auckland Council. He was previously the final mayor of Manukau City, which was disestablished on 31 October 2010.

He won the 2010 Auckland mayoral election on 9 October 2010 and was sworn in as mayor of Auckland on 1 November 2010. He was elected mayor of Manukau in October 2007, the second time he ran for that office.

Early years

He was born in Taumarunui, and his family moved to Otara in Auckland when he was seven years old. He attended Mayfield Primary School, Papatoetoe Intermediate School and De La Salle College. He remembers his youth in prosperous small-town New Zealand fondly, remarking on them as "They were generous, generous days". His life growing up has been described as revolving around family, church, school and community, while parents Tom and Ngaire were described as strong believers in social equity and social justice as well as active in the community life. 1974-1975 The Big O.E. The Netherlands. While not having grown up fully in Auckland, his family often travelled to see relatives there, his parents having originally moved to Taumarunui from South Auckland.

A lawyer by profession, Brown was a partner at law firm Wynyard Wood, and co-founded the Howick Free Legal Service.

Political career

He was first elected to the Manukau City council in 1992, and continued as councillor until 2004 when he did not run for re-election. He was also the chairperson of the Counties Manukau Health Council from 1998. Brown first ran for mayor of Manukau in 2004, and narrowly lost to long serving mayor Sir Barry Curtis; he lost by fewer than 600 votes. Brown had considered requesting a re-count due to the closeness of the vote, but decided that he had not been close enough to warrant it. Despite his affiliation with the New Zealand Labour Party since age 17, Brown did not run for election in the 2005 General Election, and instead returned to working for Wynyard Wood.

Mayor of Manukau

Brown announced his candidacy for the Manukau Mayoralty in 2006, Barry Curtis announced that he would not be running for re-election, and Brown's main opposition were former Olympic runner Dick Quax and radio personality Willie Jackson. Brown resigned from Wynard Wood in 2007 to focus on his candidacy full time. In August 2007, both Quax and Brown were polling "neck and neck". Brown ran on several policies, including; capping rates at the cost of inflation, increasing public transport, and working with youth in the region.

Brown won the election in October 2007 with more than 32,000 votes; his next closest rival Dick Quax had less than 18,000, and the election was humorously termed a 'Lenslide' by some. He was officially sworn in on 26 October 2007 at the Manukau City Council hall.

On 31 May 2008 he suffered a heart attack, while at a music awards ceremony. The condition arose from a previously unrecognised congenital heart problem and Brown was admitted to Auckland Hospital. Brown had successful heart bypass surgery two days later and made a full recovery, returning to mayoral duties after a few months. His wife acknowledged that the attack was not stress-related, but rather a family issue, with Len's mother having died from a heart attack at 47.

Mayor of Auckland campaign

In August 2009, Brown stated he would run for the mayoralty of the combined Auckland "super-city" in the Auckland mayoral election, 2010. Brown announced his candidacy in front of more than 300 supporters at Sorrento in the Park, One Tree Hill, Maungakiekie. His campaign speech focused on delivering public transport, public ownership of the region's public assets, environmental protection, economic and social development. He won the position by a majority of 65,945 votes over main rival candidate, Auckland City mayor John Banks, on 9 October 2010.

;Credit card and expense issues In June 2010, Brown came under media attention for matters relating to his spending on his council credit card and other council expense claims, which included items of a personal nature like toys, groceries and insect repellant. His subsequent explanations for these purchases were also scrutinised at a council meeting, where Brown repeatedly slapped his face and got emotional. An advisor later explained that Brown's emotional behaviour was attributable to his use of a Maori tradition, which Brown subsequently denied.

Another council expense claim included an $810 dinner at a restaurant, which Brown has refused to discuss who was in attendance. He noted that the event was a fundraiser for a local singer for which the Council bought a table, an explanation later supported by the artist.

Private life

Brown is married to Shirley Anne Inglis, and has three children. They live in the Totara Park suburb of Manukau.

References

External links

Len Brown For Mayor (official campaign website)

Category:1956 births Category:Living people Category:People from the Auckland Region Category:Mayors of Auckland Category:Mayors of Manukau

simple:Len Brown

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
Honorific-prefix	The Right Honourable
Name	John Key
Honorific-suffix	MP
Alt	Profile photo of John Key
Office	38th Prime Minister of New Zealand
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor general	Anand SatyanandJerry Mateparae
Deputy	Bill English
Term start	19 November 2008
Predecessor	Helen Clark
Office2	31st Leader of the Opposition
Deputy2	Bill English
Term start2	27 November 2006
Term end2	8 November 2008
Predecessor2	Don Brash
Successor2	Phil Goff
Office3	12th Leader of the National Party
Deputy3	Bill English
Term start3	27 November 2006
Predecessor3	Don Brash
Constituency mp5	Helensville
Parliament5	New Zealand
Term start5	27 July 2002
Majority5	20,547 (56.49%)
Birth date	August 09, 1961
Birth place	Auckland, New Zealand
Party	National Party
Spouse	Bronagh Key (1984–present)
Children	StephieMax
Alma mater	University of CanterburyHarvard University
Signature	John Key sig.svg
Website	Official website }}

John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand, in office since 2008. He has led the New Zealand National Party since 2006.

After a career in foreign exchange, Key entered the New Zealand House of Representatives in 2002 representing the Auckland electorate of Helensville, a seat that he has held since then. In 2004, he was appointed Finance Spokesman for National and eventually succeeded Don Brash as the National Party leader in 2006. After two years as Leader of the Opposition, Key led his party to victory in both the November 2008 and the November 2011 general elections.

Personal life

Key was born in Auckland, New Zealand, to George Key and Ruth Key (née Lazar), on 9 August 1961. His father was an English immigrant and a veteran of the Spanish Civil War and World War II. He died of a heart attack in 1967. Key and his two sisters were raised in a state house in Christchurch by his Austrian Jewish immigrant mother.

He attended Aorangi School, then Burnside High School, and earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree in accounting from the University of Canterbury in 1981. He has attended management studies courses at Harvard University.

Key met his wife Bronagh when they were both students at Burnside High School. They married in 1984. She also has a BCom degree, and worked as a personnel consultant before becoming a full-time mother. They have two children, Stephie and Max.

Before politics

Key's first job was in 1982, as an auditor at McCulloch Menzies, and he then moved to be a project manager at Christchurch-based clothing manufacturer Lane Walker Rudkin for two years. Key began working as a foreign exchange dealer at Elders Finance in Wellington, and rose to the position of head foreign exchange trader two years later, then moved to Auckland-based Bankers Trust in 1988.

In 1995, he joined Merrill Lynch as head of Asian foreign exchange in Singapore. That same year he was promoted to Merrill's global head of foreign exchange, based in London, where he may have earned around US$2.25 million a year including bonuses, which is about NZ$5 million at 2001 exchange rates. Some co-workers called him "the smiling assassin" for maintaining his usual cheerfulness while sacking dozens (some say hundreds) of staff after heavy losses from the 1998 Russian financial crisis. He was a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the New York Federal Reserve Bank from 1999 to 2001.

In 1998, on learning of his interest in pursuing a political career, the National Party president John Slater began working actively to recruit him. Former party leader Jenny Shipley describes him as one of the people she "deliberately sought out and put my head on the line–either privately or publicly–to get them in there".

Member of Parliament

Auckland's population growth, as evidenced in the 2001 census, led to the creation of a new electorate called Helensville, which covered the north-western corner of the Auckland urban area. Key beat long-serving MP Brian Neeson (whose own Waitakere seat had moved on paper to being a Labour seat by the boundary changes) for the selection. At the 2002 elections Key won the seat with a majority of 1,705, ahead of Labour's Gary Russell, with Neeson, now standing as an independent, coming third. Key was re-elected with ease at the 2005 election garnering 63% of votes cast in Helensville, and increased his majority again in 2008, gaining 73% of the electorate vote.

Finance spokesman

In 2004, Key was promoted to the Opposition front benches by party leader Don Brash and was made the party spokesman for finance. In late 2006 Brash resigned as leader, citing damaging speculation over his future as the reason. His resignation followed controversies over an extramarital affair, and over leaked internal National Party documents which were later published in the book ''The Hollow Men''.

Leader of the Opposition

In his maiden speech as leader on 28 November 2006, Key talked of an "underclass" that had been "allowed to develop" in New Zealand, a theme which received a large amount of media coverage. Key followed this speech up in February 2007 by committing his party to a programme which would provide food in the poorest schools in New Zealand.

He relented on his stance in opposition to Sue Bradford's Child Discipline Bill, which sought to remove "reasonable force" as a defence for parents charged with prima facie assault of their children. Many parents saw this bill as an attempt to ban smacking outright. Key and Prime Minister Helen Clark agreed a compromise giving police the discretion to overlook smacking they regard as "inconsequential".

In August 2007, Key came in for criticism when he changed his position regarding the Therapeutic Products and Medicine Bill: :"John Key had finally slipped up. National's leader had told the Herald on Tuesday he would have signed up to a New Zealand First-initiated compromise on the stalled Therapeutic Products and Medicines Bill had he seen it – and was still willing to sign up – only to change his mind yesterday after his remarks appeared in print."

Also in August 2007, Labour's Trevor Mallard hinted in Parliament that Labour were going to try to link Key to the 1987 "H-Fee" scandal, which involved Key's former employer Elders Merchant Finance and a payment to Equiticorp Chief Executive Allan Hawkins. Hawkins and Elders executive Ken Jarrett were later jailed for fraud. Key forestalled the accusation by declaring that he had left Elders months before the event, that he had no knowledge of the deal, and that his interview with the Serious Fraud Office during the investigation into the affair could only have helped to convict the people involved. This statement was supported publicly by then-SFO director Charles Sturt.

Labour MPs criticised Key for not releasing specific policy information at their annual conference. Key responded that National would set its own policy agenda and that there was adequate time before the next election for voters to digest National Party policy proposals.

On 25 July 2008, Key was added to the New Zealand National Business Review (NBR) Rich List for the first time. The list details the wealthiest New Zealand individuals and family groups. Key had an estimated wealth of NZ$50 million. Key is the wealthiest New Zealand Member of Parliament.

Prime Minister

Key became Prime Minister following the general election on 8 November 2008 which signalled an end to the Labour-led government of nine years under Helen Clark. The National Party, promoting a policy of "change", won 45% of the party vote and 59 of the 122 seats in Parliament (including a two-seat overhang), a substantial margin over the Labour Party, which won 43 seats.

Key was sworn in as Prime Minister on 19 November 2008 along with his new cabinet. His first international outing as Prime Minister was the 20th APEC meeting in Peru the following day.

Arriving at the Ngapuhi Te Tii marae the day before Waitangi Day 2009, Key was briefly shoved and grabbed by two protesters before diplomatic protection officers pulled them off. He told reporters he was "quite shocked" but continued onto the marae and spoke, while police took the two men away and charged with them with assault.

Key has also been tied with the National Cycleway Project since its conception at the national Job Summit in early 2009. He proposed it, and as Minister for Tourism, was instrumental in getting NZ$50 million approved for initial construction work.

In January 2009, after addressing Chinese New Year celebrations at the Greenlane ASB Showgrounds, Key tripped after coming down a small set of stairs in front of cameras leaving him with a broken right arm and "embarrassed".

Controversies

During the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, Key was a proponent of Hosni Mubarak's government, citing his support of Israel and refusing to call for his resignation. When asked if Mubarak should step down, he said "no". In 2011, Key was caught up in a controversy over the purchase of government limousines which he denied knowledge of initially but later reports surfaced his office was aware. He was accused of being dishonest and eventually apologised, calling the deal sloppy. In October 2011, Key made a statement where he claimed Standard and Poor's had said at a meeting in the prior month that "if there was a change of Government, that downgrade would be much more likely", this claim was contradicted by S&P; after Key's credibility had been called into question. Just before the election in November 2011, a recording was made of a conversation between John Key and ACT Party candidate John Banks that they considered private. Mr Key made a complaint to the police who began an investigation to ascertain whether any laws had been broken. He refused to answer media questions about what was said and the recording, which became known as the "teapot tapes", dominated media discussion in the days before the election. The unreleased recording allegedly concerns the leadership of ACT and disparaging remarks about elderly New Zealand First supporters.

UN Security Council bid

Key launched New Zealand's campaign for a Security Council seat at the UN General Assembly meeting in September 2009. He met briefly with US President Barack Obama and former US President Bill Clinton. While in New York, Key appeared on the ''Late Show with David Letterman''. He read out the Top Ten list, 'Top Ten Reasons You Should Visit New Zealand'.

Political views

Key's views are largely alligned with his own party's view. However he also notes the differences between his predecessor are more of style and focus rather than view. Key has in the past noted others' concern at the pace of asset sales, but argued that the arguments against selling assets in the 1980s were largely irrational. In a 2002 interview he said "some form of orientation towards privatisation" in health, education and superannuation, such as giving firms tax breaks for employer super schemes, made sense. After leading the National party to victory in the 2011 election, Key rejected that the National Party lacks a mandate to partially sell off state-owned assets, he acknowledged that some New Zealanders were anxious about the mixed ownership model. "But I think we got a mandate."

Key has a mixed voting record on social issues: he voted against the bill creating civil unions, claiming that this represented his constituents' views but he supports them personally. He was part of a large block of MPs voting to defeat a bill that defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. Key has also stated that he does not oppose gay adoption.

In regard to addressing the social destruction caused by binge drinking, in 2008 Key voted for an ill-fated attempt to raise the legal drinking age from 18 back to 20 but subsequently ignored a Law Commission recommendation to increase levies on alcohol. He claimed there was 'no appetite' for such a move. A 'suppressed' report on public attitudes to alcohol law reform eventually came to light indicating that in 2010, when he made this claim, 56% of New Zealanders supported a price increase.

Key says that he believes that global warming is a real phenomenon, and that the Government needs to implement measures to reduce human contribution to global warming. Key has committed the National Party to working towards reducing greenhouse emissions in New Zealand by 50% within the next fifty years. Commentators note that as recently as 2005, Key made statements indicating that he was sceptical of the effects and impact of climate change.

Critics note that Key has changed his views on the Iraq war since becoming leader of the opposition. In 2003, as an opposition MP, Key emphasised National's position of supporting New Zealand's traditional allies, the United States and Australia. Key came under fire in the New Zealand Parliament in August 2007, when the Government claimed that had Key been Prime Minister at the time, he would have sent troops to Iraq.

Like his predecessor Helen Clark, Key views a New Zealand republic as "inevitable", although probably not for another decade. "If Australia becomes a republic there is no question it will set off quite an intense debate on this side of the Tasman," he said, "We would have to have a referendum if we wanted to move towards it." Key later stated that he is a monarchist, and that a New Zealand republic would "Not [happen] under my watch".

Religious views

Key attends church frequently but is agnostic when it comes to belief in God. He has stated that he does not believe in an afterlife, and sees religion as "doing the right thing". Key's wife, Bronagh (née Dougan) Key, is the daughter of Northern Irish emigrants of mixed religious descent. Key is the third prime minister or premier of New Zealand (after Julius Vogel and Francis Bell) with Jewish ancestry.

References

External links

Prime Minister of New Zealand official website

Profile at New Zealand National Party website

Profile at Parliament of New Zealand website

Releases and speeches at Beehive website

''The New Zealand Herald'' feature: ''John Key–the unauthorised biography''

|- |- |- |-

Category:1961 births Category:Current national leaders Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Jewish politicians Category:Leaders of the Opposition (New Zealand) Category:Living people Category:New Zealand Jews Category:New Zealand National Party MPs Category:New Zealand people of British descent Category:New Zealand National Party leaders Category:Prime Ministers of New Zealand Category:University of Canterbury alumni Category:New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates Category:People from Christchurch Category:New Zealand people of Austrian descent

ang:John Key ar:جون كي ca:John Phillip Key cs:John Key da:John Key de:John Key et:John Key el:Τζον Κέι es:John Key fa:جان کی fr:John Key ga:John Key gl:John Phillip Key ko:존 키 hr:John Key io:John Phillip Key id:John Key it:John Key he:ג'ון קי la:Ioannes Key lv:Džons Kejs lb:John Key mk:Џон Ки mi:John Key ms:John Key nl:John Key ja:ジョン・キー no:John Key nn:John Key oc:John Key uz:John Key pl:John Key pt:John Key ro:John Key qu:John Key ru:Кей, Джон sm:John Key sco:John Key simple:John Key sh:John Key fi:John Key sv:John Key ta:ஜோன் கீ tr:John Key wuu:约翰·菲利普·凯伊 yo:John Key zh:约翰·基