John Key: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 09:16, 10 November 2008
John Phillip Key MP | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Prime Minister of New Zealand Designate | |
| Assuming office TBA | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governor General | Anand Satyanand |
| Deputy | Bill English (Designate) |
| Succeeding | Helen Clark |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| Assumed office 27 November 2006 | |
| Deputy | Bill English |
| Preceded by | Don Brash |
| Succeeded by | Helen Clark |
| Leader of National Party | |
| Assumed office 27 November 2006 | |
| Deputy | Bill English |
| Preceded by | Don Brash |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Helensville | |
| Assumed office 27 July 2002 | |
| Majority | 12,778[1] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 August 1961 Auckland, New Zealand |
| Political party | National |
| Spouse | Bronagh Key |
| Children | Two |
| Residence(s) | Parnell, Auckland |
| Website | www.johnkey.co.nz |
John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand politician, and member of the New Zealand House of Representatives, representing the north-west Auckland constituency of Helensville. He is the current Parliamentary leader of the National Party and is Prime Minister elect of New Zealand after the 2008 New Zealand General Election.[2]
Before politics
Key was born in Auckland, New Zealand, to George Key and Ruth Key (née Lazar). His father 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.[3][4]
He attended Burnside High School, and earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree in accounting from the University of Canterbury in 1981.[3] He has attended management studies courses at Harvard University, although he did not receive a degree from this institution.[5][6]
His 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.[7] 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.[3]
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.[3][8] 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.[4][8] He was a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the New York Federal Reserve Bank from 1999 to 2001.[9]
In 2001, on learning of his interest in pursuing a political career, the National Party president John Slater worked 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".[4]
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.[4]
Political career
| Parl. | Electorate | List Pos. | Party |
| 47th | Helensville | 43 | National |
| 48th | Helensville | 7 | National |
| 49th | Helensville | 1 | National |
Helensville
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 been rendered a safe 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.[10] Key was re-elected with ease at the 2005 election garnering 63% of votes cast in Helensville.[1]
Finance spokesman
In 2004, Key was promoted to the Opposition front benches by then-leader Don Brash, and 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.[11]
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.[12] 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.[13]
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.[14] Key and Prime Minister Helen Clark agreed a compromise giving police the discretion to overlook smacking they regard as "inconsequential".[15]
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."[16]
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.[17][18]
Labour MPs have criticised Key for not releasing specific policy information at their annual conference. Key responded that National will set its own policy agenda and that there is adequate time before the next election for voters to digest National Party policy proposals.[19]
On 25 July 2008, Key was added to the New Zealand National Business Review (NBR) Rich List[20] for the first time. The list details the wealthiest New Zealand individuals and family groups. Key had an estimated wealth of NZ$50 million.
Prime Minister
Key is Prime Minister-elect following the general election on 8 November 2008 which signalled an end to the Labour Party's nine year administration 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 (2 seat overhang), a big margin over the Labour Party which won 43 seats.
Political views
Key portrays himself as more centrist than his predecessor, Don Brash. However he also notes the differences are more of style, than anything else.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] In an interview that appeared in the Herald on March 23, 2002, he is quoted as saying "some form of orientation towards privatisation in health, education and superannuation makes sense."
Key has a mixed voting record on social issues: he voted against the bill creating civil unions,[21] but was part of a large bloc of MPs voting to defeat a bill that defined marriage as being between a man and a woman.[22] Key voted for an ill-fated attempt to raise the legal drinking age from 18 back to 20.[23]
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. Critics note that as recently as 2005, Key made statements indicating that he was skeptical of the effects and impact of climate change. [citation needed]
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.[24]
Religious views
Key does not profess any faith as such, describing himself as "not a heavy believer" and not a believer in life after death, although his mother was Jewish which makes him Jewish through his maternal lineage.[25] Upon becoming Prime Minister, Key would be the third premier of New Zealand with Jewish ancestry (Julius Vogel and Francis Bell being the other two).
References
- ^ a b "Official Count Results – Helensville". New Zealand Electoral Commission. 1 November 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
- ^ http://www.electionresults.govt.nz/
- ^ a b c d "POLITICS: John Key - A snapshot". Sunday Star Times. 2008-02-03. Archived from the original on 2008-03-19. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- ^ a b c d Bevan Rapson (2005-04-26). "Golden Boy". Metro Magazine. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- ^ Maggie Tait (2006-11-27). "Profile: John Key". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- ^ "New Zealand Parliament - Key, John". Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- ^ Donna McIntyre (12 January 2008). "My Job: John Key, Leader of the National Party". New Zealand Herald.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Gillian Tett and Ruth Laugesen (2008-02-03). "Who is John Key?". Sunday Star Times. Archived from the original on 2008-03-19. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- ^ "New Zealand Parliament - Key, John". Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- ^ "Official Count Results – Helensville". New Zealand Electoral Commission. 10 August 2002. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
- ^ NZPA, NZHerald Staff (23 November 2006). "Don Brash gone at lunchtime". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2007-08-26.
- ^ John Key (28 November 2006). "Speech to North Shore National Party luncheon". New Zealand National Party. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
- ^ John Key (4 February 2007). "National launches its Food in Schools programme". Scoop. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
- ^ "78pc of parents say they'll still smack". June 18 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Colwill, Jennifer (2007-05-02). "The smacking bill - what it says". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ John Armstrong (2 August 2007). "John Armstrong: At last, Labour gets to give Key a good kicking". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
- ^ Trevett, Clare (2007-08-25). "Former SFO chief backs Key's claims". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
- ^ Long, Richard (2007-08-28). "Muck-rakers desperate for dirt". Fairfax. Archived from the original on 2008-03-19. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Paula Oliver (3 August 2007). "John Key's policy: There'll be more, later". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
- ^ NBR Staff (25 July 2008). "Rich List 2008: A bad economy, but the rich still get richer". National Business Review. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
- ^ Newstalk ZB and Herald Staff (2004-12-02). "MPs vote 65-55 in favour of Civil Union Bill". Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ "Marriage (Gender Clarification) Amendment Bill, First Reading". Hansard. 2005-12-07.
- ^ Mike Houlahan (2006-11-09). "Drinking age stays at 18, review announced". Retrieved 2008-02-26.
- ^ Matt McCarten (26 August 2007). "All you wanted to know about John Key but were afraid to ask". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
- ^ Ruth Berry (25 November 2006). "Will the real John Key step forward". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
External links
