Alexander Lockwood Smith (born 13 November 1948), a member of the
New Zealand National PartyThe New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties...
, has served as a
Member of Parliament (MP)A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
since
1984The 1984 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the 41st New Zealand Parliament. It marked the beginning of the Fourth Labour Government, with David Lange's Labour Party defeating long-serving Prime Minister Robert Muldoon of the National Party. It was also the...
. He represented first the
Kaipara-Population Centres:The electorate is rural and north of Auckland city, in the North Auckland region.-History:The electorate was created in 1902, and abolished in 1946. From 1911 the seat was represented by Gordon Coates , until he died in 1943...
electorate and then
RodneyrightRodney is a New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Rodney is Dr Lockwood Smith of the National Party...
, and has held a number of
CabinetThe New Zealand Cabinet functions as the policy and decision-making body of the executive branch within the New Zealand government system. The Prime Minister and many Ministers of the Crown serve as members of the Cabinet....
positions, including Minister of Education, Minister of Agriculture, Minister for International Trade, and Associate
Minister of FinanceThe Minister of Finance is a senior figure within the government of New Zealand. The position is often considered to be the most important Cabinet role after that of the Prime Minister....
. In 2008 he became
Speaker of the HouseSpeaker of the House is a political term referring to a number of people:*In the United Kingdom and Canada, the Speaker of the House of Commons is the individual elected to preside over the elected House of Commons...
. On 18 January 2009, it was revealed that he was getting married to "long-term girlfriend" Alexandra Lang.
Before entering politics Dr Smith lectured at
Massey UniversityMassey University is one of New Zealand's largest universities with approximately 36,000 students. The University has campuses in Palmerston North , Wellington and Auckland . In addition, Massey offers most of its degrees extramurally within New Zealand and internationally...
, worked as a television presenter (presenting a children's quiz show), and managed
marketingMarketing is an integrated communications-based process through which individuals and communities are informed or persuaded that existing and newly-identified needs and wants may be satisfied by the products and services of others....
at the
New Zealand Dairy BoardFonterra is New Zealand’s largest multinational company with revenue exceeding NZD $19.5 billion. It is a co-operative that is owned by over 11,000 farmers. The company controls around 30% of the world's dairy exports- History :...
.
Dr Smith served as
Minister of EducationThe Minister of Education is a minister in the government of New Zealand with responsibility for the country's schools, and is in charge of the Ministry of Education.The present Minister is Anne Tolley, a member of the National Party.-History:...
from 1990 until 1996 in the
Fourth National Government of New ZealandThe Fourth National Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 2 November 1990 to 27 November 1999. Following in the footsteps of the previous Labour government, the fourth National government embarked on an extensive programme of spending cuts...
.
Alexander Lockwood Smith (born 13 November 1948), a member of the
New Zealand National PartyThe New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties...
, has served as a
Member of Parliament (MP)A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
since
1984The 1984 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the 41st New Zealand Parliament. It marked the beginning of the Fourth Labour Government, with David Lange's Labour Party defeating long-serving Prime Minister Robert Muldoon of the National Party. It was also the...
. He represented first the
Kaipara-Population Centres:The electorate is rural and north of Auckland city, in the North Auckland region.-History:The electorate was created in 1902, and abolished in 1946. From 1911 the seat was represented by Gordon Coates , until he died in 1943...
electorate and then
RodneyrightRodney is a New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Rodney is Dr Lockwood Smith of the National Party...
, and has held a number of
CabinetThe New Zealand Cabinet functions as the policy and decision-making body of the executive branch within the New Zealand government system. The Prime Minister and many Ministers of the Crown serve as members of the Cabinet....
positions, including Minister of Education, Minister of Agriculture, Minister for International Trade, and Associate
Minister of FinanceThe Minister of Finance is a senior figure within the government of New Zealand. The position is often considered to be the most important Cabinet role after that of the Prime Minister....
. In 2008 he became
Speaker of the HouseSpeaker of the House is a political term referring to a number of people:*In the United Kingdom and Canada, the Speaker of the House of Commons is the individual elected to preside over the elected House of Commons...
. On 18 January 2009, it was revealed that he was getting married to "long-term girlfriend" Alexandra Lang.
Before entering politics Dr Smith lectured at
Massey UniversityMassey University is one of New Zealand's largest universities with approximately 36,000 students. The University has campuses in Palmerston North , Wellington and Auckland . In addition, Massey offers most of its degrees extramurally within New Zealand and internationally...
, worked as a television presenter (presenting a children's quiz show), and managed
marketingMarketing is an integrated communications-based process through which individuals and communities are informed or persuaded that existing and newly-identified needs and wants may be satisfied by the products and services of others....
at the
New Zealand Dairy BoardFonterra is New Zealand’s largest multinational company with revenue exceeding NZD $19.5 billion. It is a co-operative that is owned by over 11,000 farmers. The company controls around 30% of the world's dairy exports- History :...
.
Minister in the Fourth National Government
Dr Smith served as
Minister of EducationThe Minister of Education is a minister in the government of New Zealand with responsibility for the country's schools, and is in charge of the Ministry of Education.The present Minister is Anne Tolley, a member of the National Party.-History:...
from 1990 until 1996 in the
Fourth National Government of New ZealandThe Fourth National Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 2 November 1990 to 27 November 1999. Following in the footsteps of the previous Labour government, the fourth National government embarked on an extensive programme of spending cuts...
. During this period he implemented a number of changes to the tertiary education sector (universities and technical institutions). One high-profile change involved a radical increase in student fees, as recommended by the Todd Report, which the government had commissioned to address issues of funding.
As opposition education spokesman in 1990, Smith promised to remove the
Labour GovernmentThe Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 26 July 1984 to 2 November 1990. It enacted major social and economic reforms, including reformation of the tax system. The economic reforms were known as Rogernomics after Finance Minister Roger Douglas...
's tertiary tuition fee of
$The New Zealand dollar is the currency of New Zealand. It also circulates in the Cook Islands , Niue, Tokelau, and the Pitcairn Islands. It is divided into 100 cents....
1250, if elected. Once in office, he kept this promise on a technicality: he shifted the burden of charging fees for courses from the government to the institutions, who then had to charge even higher tuition fees due to decreased government funding.
Smith's term as Education Minister also saw the introduction of means-testing for student allowances, with the effect that students of middle-class parents became ineligible for allowances until they reached 25 years of age.
These activities inevitably resulted in considerable antipathy toward Smith from tertiary students, and he became the subject of a considerable amount of protest activity. On one occasion in 1994 Smith had to escape from a mob through a window at the
University of CanterburyThe University of Canterbury , New Zealand's second-oldest university, operates in the suburb of Ilam in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand...
. Another protestor produced an unflattering bust of Smith, sculpted out of horse manure.
In 1996 Smith took up the
AgricultureThe Minister of Agriculture is a ministerial portfolio in the government of New Zealand. the Minister of Agriculture is David Carter, of the New Zealand National Party...
and Trade Negotiation portfolios:
Wyatt CreechWyatt Beetham Creech, CNZM is a former New Zealand politician. He served as Deputy Prime Minister in Jenny Shipley's National Party government from August 1998 to December 1999.-Early life:...
succeeded him as Education Minister. Smith also became Minister for International Trade and for Tourism, as well as holding responsibilities as Associate Minister of Finance, Associate Minister of Immigration (International Access and Processing), and Minister Responsible for
Contact EnergyContact Energy, a New Zealand energy company, generates electricity and sells electricity, natural gas and LPG.The company generates 24% of New Zealand's electricity and has the largest market-share of the country's electricity-retailers...
Ltd.
As Trade Minister, Smith spearheaded New Zealand's efforts at the 1999
APECAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries to cooperate on regional trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation. APEC's objective is to enhance economic growth and prosperity in the region and to strengthen the Asia-Pacific community...
negotiations. He successfully negotiated New Zealand's free-trade agreement with
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At , Singapore is a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast...
, which became the
NZ - Singapore Closer Economic PartnershipThe Agreement between New Zealand and Singapore on a Closer Economic Partnership entered into force on 1 January 2001. It is the most comprehensive trading agreement, outside of Closer Economic Relations with Australia, that New Zealand has negotiated...
. At the
WTO MinisterialThe WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 was a meeting of the World Trade Organization, convened at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington, USA, over the course of three days, beginning November 30, 1999. A week before the meeting, delegates admitted failure to agree...
in Seattle, he took part in efforts which later lead to the Doha Development Round.
Opposition, 1999-2008
In
oppositionThe Official Opposition in New Zealand is usually the largest political party or coalition which is not a member of the ruling government. This means that the political party, while still involved with the political process in New Zealand, they do not have ministers or their supporters in a...
, Dr Smith held a number of spokesperson roles for the National Party, including those of Foreign Affairs, Commerce, and Immigration. In his role as Immigration spokesman, Smith challenged
MangereMāngere is a New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Māngere is Su'a William Sio, elected for the Labour Party. He has held this seat since 2008....
MP
Taito Phillip FieldTaito Phillip Hans Field is a New Zealand politician and former Member of Parliament for Mangere. Following charges of bribery and perverting the course of justice, he was defeated in the New Zealand general election 2008. He was found guilty on some of the charges on 4 August 2009...
over alleged impropriety in Field's dealings with constituents.
During the 2008 election campaign, on October 22, 2008, Smith made some comments in an interview with the
Marlborough ExpressThe Marlborough Express is a newspaper servicing the Marlborough area of New Zealand. Its headquarters are in Blenheim and it is a division of Fairfax....
concerning seasonal Asian and Pacific workers that caused controversy. Regarding Pacific workers he said that some employers "are having to teach them things like how to use a toilet or shower..." And he said that for pruning trees: "some of the Asian workers have been more productive... because their hands are smaller." Maori Party co-leader
Tariana TuriaTariana Turia is a New Zealand politician. She gained considerable prominence during the foreshore and seabed controversy, and eventually broke with her party as a result...
described these remarks as "racist", and the Prime Minister
Helen ClarkHelen Elizabeth Clark , a New Zealand politician and administrator, is the head of the United Nations Development Programme, the third-highest UN position. Clark was the 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand for three consecutive terms from 1999 to 2008 and led the Labour Party from 1993 until it lost...
characterised them as "absolutely daft". Smith later stated that the media had presented his comments out of context, and that he had repeated the views of employers whom he had talked to; he expressed regret at any unintended offence taken. The parliamentary leader of the National Party,
John KeyJohn Phillip Key is the 38th and current Prime Minister of New Zealand and leader of the New Zealand National Party.John Key entered the New Zealand House of Representatives in 2002 representing the north-west Auckland constituency of Helensville as a National MP, a seat that he has held since then...
, subsequently referred to this statement as an "apology".
Speaker of the House
Following the National Party's successes in the
2008 electionThe people of New Zealand voted in a general election on 8 November 2008 to determine the composition of the 49th New Zealand Parliament, and thus the makeup of the government of New Zealand for the three years to 2011. The centre-right National Party, headed by its Parliamentary leader John Key,...
, Members of Parliament unanimously elected Smith as
Speaker of the HouseIn New Zealand the Speaker of the House of Representatives is the individual who chairs the country's legislative body, the New Zealand House of Representatives...
.
External links
|-
|-
|-