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David Clendon

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David Clendon
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Green party list
In office
2 November 2009 – 23 September 2017
Preceded bySue Bradford[n 1]
Co-convenor of the Green Party
In office
2001–2004
Serving with Catherine Delahunty
Preceded byRichard Davies
Succeeded byPaul de Spa
Personal details
Born (1955-09-11) 11 September 1955 (age 69)
Helensville, New Zealand
Political partyGreen (1990–2017)
Domestic partnerLindis
ChildrenKaya
ResidenceKerikeri

David James Clendon (born 11 September 1955) is a New Zealand former politician. He was a list Member of Parliament in the New Zealand House of Representatives for the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand from 2009 until 2017. He later served one term on the Far North District Council from 2019 to 2022.

Early life and career

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Clendon is of Ngāpuhi, Te Roroa and Pākehā descent. He is a descendant of James Reddy Clendon, the United States Consul in New Zealand. He has a partner, Lindis, and one daughter, Kaya.[1]

Clendon left school aged 15. He worked in business, eventually managing an engineering supplies company.[2] In 1994, he completed a Master of Science from Lincoln University.[3] He worked as an environmental management lecturer at Unitec Institute of Technology in Auckland and as a sustainable business advisor.[4][5]

Clendon has been resident in Kerikeri since 2012.[6]

Early political career

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Clendon joined the Green Party in 1990.[7] In both the 1999 and 2005 elections, Clendon polled third in the seat of Waitakere,[8][9] ranked 19th[10] and 12th on the party list, respectively.[11]

With Catherine Delahunty, Clendon was a co-convenor of the Green Party from 2001 to 2004. He did not contest the 2002 general election because the party's constitution bars co-convenors from standing for Parliament.

Along with MP Nándor Tánczos, former MP Mike Ward and 2005 election campaign manager Russel Norman, Clendon contested the Green's male leadership role in 2005 after the unexpected death of co-leader Rod Donald, saying that it made sense to "appoint an out-of-Parliament leader, rather than stretch the sitting MPs even further."[11] In contrast to his leadership rivals, Clendon characterised himself as a left-wing conservative.[12] Norman won the leadership after a vote at a party AGM in June 2006.[13]

Clendon contested the Helensville electorate for the Green Party in the 2008 general election and was ranked 10th on the party list. The party won nine MPs, so he was the highest-ranked Green Party candidate not to be elected.

Member of Parliament

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New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2009–2011 49th List 10 Green
2011–2014 50th List 8 Green
2014–2017 51st List 11 Green

Green MP Sue Bradford resigned her seat in Parliament after she lost the party's co-leadership election to Metiria Turei in 2009.[5] As Clendon was next on the party list, he became a Member of Parliament on 2 November 2009[14][15] and delivered his maiden speech to Parliament on 17 November.[16]

A private member's bill in Clendon's name was drawn from the ballot in February 2010. The Smart Meters (Consumer Choice) Bill would require that domestic power users be advised on the options available for the use of smart meters in their homes.[17] It was voted down by the Government later that year.[18]

In the 2011 election, Clendon unsuccessfully contested the Mount Albert electorate but was re-elected as a list MP, ranked eighth.[19] Having moved to Kerikeri in 2012,[6] he stood in the Northland electorate at the 2014 election and was re-elected as a list MP, ranked 11th. He did not contest the 2015 Northland by-election, but was planning to stand in the seat again in the 2017 election and was ranked 16th on the party list.[20]

During his Parliamentary career, Clendon sat on the Auckland governance legislation committee, the commerce committee, and the law and order committee. He was deputy musterer (whip) of the Green Party from 2010 to 2011 and musterer from 2014 to 2017. He was the Green Party spokesperson for corrections for his entire tenure, as well as spokesperson for police (2014–2017), courts (2011–2017), small business, tertiary education and tourism (2011–2014), and resource management reform (2009–2011).[21] As corrections spokesperson, Clendon held the position that New Zealand's punitive, tough-on-crime approach to the corrections system did not work and led to overcrowded prisons.[22] In 2017, he criticised the corrections department for paying working inmates below the minimum wage.[23]

Clendon voted against approving Easter trading in 2009 and 2016,[24][25] in favour of retaining the minimum age for purchasing alcohol at 18 in 2012,[26] and in favour of legalising same-sex marriage in 2014.[27]

On 7 August 2017, Clendon and fellow Green Party MP Kennedy Graham announced that they were planning to resign as Green Party candidates for the 2017 election, after revelations that co-leader Metiria Turei committed benefit and electoral fraud.[28][29] Graham and Clendon stated that their resignations were due to the public positions she had taken regarding her offending, and her subsequent refusal to step down from her leadership role.[29][30][31] The next day, both Clendon and Graham resigned from the party caucus and as candidates,[32][30] after there were moves to remove them involuntarily.[29] On 9 August 2017, Turei resigned as co-leader of the party and as a list candidate for the 2017 election.[33] Clendon did not ask to be reinstated after Turei's departure.[34] He did not give a valedictory statement and left Parliament at the September 23 election.

Local government political career

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Far North district councillor Willow-Jean Prime resigned her position in September 2017 after being elected to Parliament as a Labour list MP. Clendon unsuccessfully contested the vacancy in a 2018 by-election,[6] but was successful in seeking a councillor role in the council's Bay of Islands–Whangaroa ward at the 2019 local elections.[35] Prior to his election, Clendon was chair of Vision Kerikeri, a community development organisation and lobby group, from 2018 to 2019.[36][37][38]

On council, Clendon voted in support of Māori wards in the Far North and criticised the government's Three Waters reforms for not being able to promise that water infrastructure would be able to remain in public ownership.[39][40] He retired in 2022 after completing one term[41] and took a position as regional coordinator for the Tohu Whenua visitor programme in February 2024.[42]

Notes

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  1. ^ Normally, list MPs do not have individual predecessors or successors, but Bradford resigned during a sitting parliament and therefore was succeeded by Clendon.

References

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  1. ^ "David Clendon". Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. Archived from the original on 8 August 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  2. ^ "The dissenting Greens: Who exactly are they?". RNZ. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  3. ^ Clendon, David J. (1994). Comprehensiveness, integration, and coordination : a study of their application and role in coastal management in Aotearoa/New Zealand (MSc thesis). Lincoln University.
  4. ^ "Green hopefuls stress flexibility in choosing political partners". NZ Herald. 31 May 2006. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  5. ^ a b "MP Sue Bradford resigns - New Zealand News". NZ Herald. 24 September 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  6. ^ a b c "Green MP who quit pops up in byelection". NZ Herald. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  7. ^ Latif, Justin (4 December 2009). "Green MP talks transport". North Harbour News. Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  8. ^ "56_Waitakere_cp" (Microsoft Excel document). Elections New Zealand. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  9. ^ "Official Count Results – Waitakere". Elections New Zealand. 1 October 2005. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  10. ^ "Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  11. ^ a b Thomson, Ainsley (24 April 2006). "Greens' co-leader contest gets testy". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 23 May 2007.
  12. ^ Hubbard, Anthony (30 April 2006). "Natural selection". Sunday Star-Times. pp. C.5.
  13. ^ "Green Co-Leader announced" (Press release). Green Party. 3 June 2006. Archived from the original on 22 May 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  14. ^ "New list MP for Green Party". Chief Electoral Office. Elections New Zealand. 2 November 2009. Archived from the original on 22 May 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  15. ^ Lundy, Sharon (25 September 2009). "Bradford's replacement 'very excited'". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  16. ^ "New Greens MP delivers maiden speech". 3 News. 17 November 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  17. ^ "Smart Meters (Consumer Choice) Bill". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  18. ^ "Government fails to protect electricity consumers" (Press release). Green Party. 6 May 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  19. ^ "Party lists for the 2011 General Election". Elections New Zealand. 2 November 2011. Archived from the original on 10 November 2011.
  20. ^ "Clendon to stand for Greens in Northland". The New Zealand Herald. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  21. ^ "Clendon, David - New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. 13 February 2024. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  22. ^ Towle, Max (17 July 2017). "Big Read: Should prisoners be allowed to have sex?". NZ Herald. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  23. ^ Clarke-Mamanu, Mānia (19 April 2017). "Prison training incentive should match minimum wage - Green MP". Te Ao Māori News. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  24. ^ "Easter trading bill defeated on conscience vote". www.stuff.co.nz. 9 December 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  25. ^ "Shop Trading Hours Amendment Bill — Third Reading". www.parliament.nz. 25 August 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  26. ^ Hartevelt, John (30 August 2012). "No age rise for alcohol sales". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  27. ^ "Gay marriage: How MPs voted - New Zealand News". NZ Herald. 17 April 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  28. ^ "Statement from James Shaw on Kennedy Graham and David Clendon". Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017 – via Scoop.co.nz.
  29. ^ a b c Patterson, Jane; McCulloch, Craig (8 August 2017). "Green Party in chaos after two MPs rebel". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  30. ^ a b "Rogue Green MPs withdraw from caucus". Radio New Zealand. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  31. ^ Clendon, David; Graham, Kennedy (7 August 2017). "Joint Statement" (PDF). Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  32. ^ "Rogue Green MPs withdraw from caucus – party 'united' behind co-leader Metiria Turei". Stuff.co.nz. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  33. ^ "Metiria Turei resigns as Green Party co-leader". Radio New Zealand. 9 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  34. ^ Satherley, Dan (12 October 2017). "'Tough pill' of Opposition better than 'dead rats'". Newshub. Archived from the original on 16 October 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  35. ^ Jackson, Peter (5 November 2019). "New council and a new deputy Mayor for Far North". The Northland Age. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  36. ^ de Graaf, Peter (28 August 2018). "Bay News: Vision Kerikeri founder retires after 14 years". NZ Herald. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  37. ^ Mail, Cliff (25 August 2018). "Rod Brown delivers his final AGM report as Chairperson". visionkerikeri. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  38. ^ Mail, Cliff (21 November 2019). "New Chairperson for Vision Kerikeri". visionkerikeri. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  39. ^ Botting, Susan (4 May 2021). "Far North District Council about turns, votes for Māori wards". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  40. ^ Botting, Susan (15 August 2021). "Three Waters: Far North District Council opts out". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  41. ^ "Contribution of Mayor and Councillor recognised". www.fndc.govt.nz. 23 September 2022. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  42. ^ "Former Green Party MP David Clendon coordinating Northland visitor programme". NZ Herald. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to David Clendon.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Richard Davies
 Co-convenor of the Green Party
2001–2004
Served alongside: Catherine Delahunty 		Succeeded by
Paul de Spa
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