Damien O'Connor

Damien O'Connor
The Honourable; Damien O'Connor; MP
34th Minister of Agriculture
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 26 October 2017
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by	Vacant (last held by David Carter)
Minister for Biosecurity
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 26 October 2017
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by	Vacant (last held by David Carter)
13th Minister for Trade and Export Growth
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 6 November 2020
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by	David Parker
17th Minister for Land Information
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 6 November 2020
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by	Eugenie Sage
Minister for Rural Communities
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 26 October 2017
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by	Office Created
Minister for Food Safety
	In office; 26 October 2017 – 6 November 2020
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by	David Bennett
Succeeded by	Ayesha Verrall
33rd Minister of Tourism
	In office; 19 October 2005 – 19 November 2008
Prime Minister	Helen Clark
Succeeded by	John Key
Member of the New Zealand Parliament; for West Coast-Tasman
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 26 November 2011
Preceded by	Chris Auchinvole
	In office; 12 October 1996 – 8 November 2008
Preceded by	Seat established
Succeeded by	Chris Auchinvole
Member of the New Zealand Parliament; for Labour Party list
	In office; 5 May 2009 – 26 November 2011
Preceded by	Michael Cullen
Member of the New Zealand Parliament; for West Coast
	In office; 6 November 1993 – 12 October 1996
Preceded by	Margaret Moir
Succeeded by	Seat abolished
Personal details
Born	16 January 1958; Westport, New Zealand
Nationality	New Zealand
Political party	Labour
Relations	Greg O'Connor (cousin)
Alma mater	Lincoln University

Damien Peter O'Connor (born 16 January 1958) is a New Zealand Labour Party politician who currently serves as Minister of Agriculture, Minister for Biosecurity, Minister for Trade and Export Growth, Minister for Land Information and Minister for Rural Communities in the Sixth Labour Government. He previously served as a cabinet minister in the Fifth Labour Government. He has been a member of Parliament since 1993 and currently represents the West Coast-Tasman electorate.

Early years

O'Connor was born in Westport in 1958.[1] He attended primary school in his home town before going on to St Bede's College, Christchurch, a Roman Catholic school, and Lincoln University.[2]

Before becoming an MP, he worked in a variety of jobs in farming and tourism. During a five-year stint in Australia, he worked as a machinery operator and in sales. On his return to New Zealand he established Buller Adventure Tours, an adventure tourism company, which he owned and operated in a partnership.[2]

Member of Parliament

New Zealand Parliament
Years	Term	Electorate	List	Party
1993–1996	44th	West Coast		Labour
1996–1999	45th	West Coast-Tasman	32	Labour
1999–2002	46th	West Coast-Tasman	none	Labour
2002–2005	47th	West Coast-Tasman	none	Labour
2005–2008	48th	West Coast-Tasman	none	Labour

2009–2011	49th	List	37	Labour
2011–2014	50th	West Coast-Tasman	none	Labour
2014–2017	51st	West Coast-Tasman	22	Labour
2017–2020	52nd	West Coast-Tasman	18	Labour
2020–present	53rd	West Coast-Tasman	14	Labour

Fourth National Government, 1993–1999

He was first elected to Parliament in the 1993 election,[2] recapturing the West Coast seat for Labour after the upset victory of National's Margaret Moir in the 1990 election.[2]

When Helen Clark successfully challenged Mike Moore for the party leadership after the election, O'Connor supported Moore. Later, he said in 2018 that this had set his career back.[3] Unlike other MPs who entered Parliament in 1993, O'Connor was not named a minister in Clark's first ministry in 1999. He was, however, appointed as chair of the Primary Production select committee.

He won the reconfigured West Coast-Tasman seat in the 1996 election, and was the MP for the electorate until he lost it to National's Chris Auchinvole during the 2008 election.[3]

Fifth Labour Government, 1999–2008

After the 2002 election he was appointed an associate minister in four portfolios: agriculture, health, racing and rural affairs. He succeeded Annette King as Minister for Racing in a 2003 reshuffle.[4]

After the 2005 election, in what would become the final term of the Fifth Labour Government, O'Connor was promoted to be Minister of Corrections and Minister of Tourism. He lost the Corrections role in 2007, following calls for his resignation over the previous year over the murder of Liam Ashley in a prison van[5] and a scandal where he was found to have brought a suspended prison officer on a parliamentary rugby tour.[6][7]

Fifth National Government, 2008–2017

At the 2008 general election, the Labour government was defeated by the National Party and O'Connor lost the West-Coast Tasman electorate to National Party list MP Chris Auchinvole by 971 votes.[8] At this election O'Connor also stood as a list candidate for the first time since 1996; however, his position of 37 was too low for him to return to Parliament as a Labour Party list MP immediately. O'Connor eventually returned to Parliament after the retirement of former deputy leader Michael Cullen in May 2009.[9] He retook West-Coast Tasman for Labour in 2011 and has held the seat since, defending challenges from former Westland District Mayor Maureen Pugh in 2014 and 2017.[10]

In Opposition between 2009 to 2017, O'Connor held various spokesperson roles including agriculture, biosecurity, fisheries, food safety, primary industries and rural affairs.[11]

Sixth Labour Government, 2017–present

When the Labour Party formed a coalition government with New Zealand First in 2017, O'Connor was appointed Minister of Agriculture, Minister for Biosecurity, Minister for Food Safety, Minister for Rural Communities and Associate Minister (later Minister of State) for Trade and Export Growth. An early challenge for O'Connor in the Agriculture portfolio was managing the 2017 Mycoplasma bovis outbreak.[12][13]

During the 2020 general election, O'Connor was re-elected in West Coast-Tasman by a final margin of 6,208 votes, defeating National's candidate Maureen Pugh.[14] In early November 2020, O'Connor maintained his Agriculture, Biosecurity, and Rural Communities while become the lead Minister for Trade and Export Growth and assuming the Land Information ministerial portfolio.[15]

Political views

O'Connor is regarded as an "economic dry" on the right of the Labour Party.[2]

In April 2011 O'Connor attracted criticism from Labour Party leader Phil Goff after describing the list MP selection process as being run by "self-serving unionists and a gaggle of gays."[16] In 2012, he was one of four Labour MPs who voted against the Marriage Amendment Bill, which permitted same sex marriage in New Zealand.[17]

In 2014, O'Connor voted with the governing National Party (and against the Labour Party) to support the West Coast Windblown Timber Bill, which allowed the Government to recover storm-blow timber on the West Coast following Cyclone Ita.[18]

O'Connor opposes euthanasia. He voted against Michael Laws' Death with Dignity Bill in 1995,[19] Peter Brown's Death with Dignity Bill in 2003[20] and David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill in 2019.[21] He also opposed the Abortion Legislation Bill in 2020.[22]

Business activities

O'Connor is past president of the Buller Promotion Association, a member of the West Coast Tourism Development Group, a member of the West Coast Business Development Board and a founding director of Buller Community Development Company. He also won West Coast Young Farmer of the Year.[12]

Personal life

O'Connor separated from his wife Vicky after twelve years of marriage in 2004. The couple had four children.[23] He has a daughter with his new partner, Sharon Flood.[3] Labour Party MP for Ōhāriu and former Police Association president Greg O'Connor is his cousin.[24][25]

References

"New Zealand Official Yearbook 1997". Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 1 May 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
"Damien O'Connor - a Coaster through and through". The New Zealand Herald. 30 March 2001. ISSN 1170-0777. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
Vance, Andrea (9 June 2018). "Helen Clark coup set my career back". Stuff. Archived from the original on 31 August 2020.
Scott, Annette (27 October 2017). "O'Connor's 24-year wait is over". Farmers Weekly. Archived from the original on 1 March 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
Berry, Ruth (11 February 2007). "And no time off for good behaviour for Damien O'Connor". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
Jacobson, Julie (8 September 2007). "Minister's rugby trouble". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
"Clark's cabinet reshuffle - big, but not bold". Newshub. 31 October 2007. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
"Official Count Results – West Coast-Tasman". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
"O'Connor to return to Parliament". Radio New Zealand. 13 April 2009. Archived from the original on 14 April 2009.
Mathewson, Nicole; Stylianou, Georgina; Fulton, Tim (21 September 2014). "Election 2014: Canterbury decides". The Press. Stuff. Archived from the original on 27 October 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
"Hon Damien O'Connor". New Zealand Parliament. 16 June 2020. Archived from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
"Coaster and new minister has farming in his blood". Stuff. 25 October 2017. Archived from the original on 9 July 2020.
"West Coast-Tasman - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
"West Coast-Tasman - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
"Ministerial List for Announcement on Monday" (PDF). Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 2 November 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
Basham, Laura (28 November 2011). "Time for action to stop asset sales, says O'Connor". Stuff. Archived from the original on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
"Marriage equality bill: How MPs voted". The New Zealand Herald. 29 August 2012. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
"Coast MPs cross floor on timber bill". Stuff. 26 June 2014. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
New Zealand Parliamentary Debates (16 August 1995). Volume 549
"Death with Dignity Bill — First Reading - New Zealand Parliament". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
"End of Life Choice Bill final reading: How your MP voted". The New Zealand Herald. 13 November 2019. ISSN 1170-0777. Archived from the original on 29 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
Cheng, Derek (19 March 2020). "How MPs voted on abortion law reform". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Archived from the original on 22 June 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
"MP Damien O'Connor and his wife separate". The New Zealand Herald. 28 July 2004. ISSN 1170-0777. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
"Labour approaches former Police Association president Greg O'Connor about running in 2017". Stuff. 16 January 2017. Archived from the original on 14 November 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
McSweeny, Jacob (24 September 2017). "Every little thing got you over the line". Radio New Zealand. Archived from the original on 28 May 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.

External links

Parliamentary website page

New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Margaret Moir	Member of Parliament for West Coast 1993–1996	Constituency abolished
New constituency	Member of Parliament for West Coast-Tasman 1996–2008 2011–present	Succeeded by Chris Auchinvole
Preceded by Chris Auchinvole		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Mark Gosche	Minister for Racing 2003–2005	Succeeded by Winston Peters
Preceded by Jim Sutton	Minister for Rural Affairs 2004–2008	Ministerial post abolished
Preceded by Paul Swain	Minister of Corrections 2005–2007	Succeeded by Phil Goff
Preceded by Mark Burton	Minister of Tourism 2005–2008	Succeeded by John Key
Preceded by David Bennett	Minister for Food Safety 2017–2020	Succeeded by Ayesha Verrall
In abeyance Title last held by David Carter	Minister of Agriculture 2017–present	Incumbent
In abeyance Title last held by David Carter	Minister for Biosecurity 2017–present
New ministerial post	Minister for Rural Communities 2017–present
Preceded by David Parker	Minister for Trade and Export Growth 2020–present
Preceded by Eugenie Sage	Minister for Land Information 2020–present

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[Yearbook_1997-1] "New Zealand Official Yearbook 1997". Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 1 May 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012.

[:0-2] "Damien O'Connor - a Coaster through and through". The New Zealand Herald. 30 March 2001. ISSN 1170-0777. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.

[:1-3] Vance, Andrea (9 June 2018). "Helen Clark coup set my career back". Stuff. Archived from the original on 31 August 2020.

[4] Scott, Annette (27 October 2017). "O'Connor's 24-year wait is over". Farmers Weekly. Archived from the original on 1 March 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2020.

[5] Berry, Ruth (11 February 2007). "And no time off for good behaviour for Damien O'Connor". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.

[6] Jacobson, Julie (8 September 2007). "Minister's rugby trouble". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.

[7] "Clark's cabinet reshuffle - big, but not bold". Newshub. 31 October 2007. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.

[2008_West_Coast-Tasman-8] "Official Count Results – West Coast-Tasman". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2011.

[9] "O'Connor to return to Parliament". Radio New Zealand. 13 April 2009. Archived from the original on 14 April 2009.

[10] Mathewson, Nicole; Stylianou, Georgina; Fulton, Tim (21 September 2014). "Election 2014: Canterbury decides". The Press. Stuff. Archived from the original on 27 October 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2014.

[Parliament_page-11] "Hon Damien O'Connor". New Zealand Parliament. 16 June 2020. Archived from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.

[:2-12] "Coaster and new minister has farming in his blood". Stuff. 25 October 2017. Archived from the original on 9 July 2020.

[13] "West Coast-Tasman - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.

[14] "West Coast-Tasman - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 November 2020.

[15] "Ministerial List for Announcement on Monday" (PDF). Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 2 November 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.

[Stuff_Time_for_action-16] Basham, Laura (28 November 2011). "Time for action to stop asset sales, says O'Connor". Stuff. Archived from the original on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2014.

[17] "Marriage equality bill: How MPs voted". The New Zealand Herald. 29 August 2012. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2014.

[18] "Coast MPs cross floor on timber bill". Stuff. 26 June 2014. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.

[19] New Zealand Parliamentary Debates (16 August 1995). Volume 549

[20] "Death with Dignity Bill — First Reading - New Zealand Parliament". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.

[21] "End of Life Choice Bill final reading: How your MP voted". The New Zealand Herald. 13 November 2019. ISSN 1170-0777. Archived from the original on 29 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.

[22] Cheng, Derek (19 March 2020). "How MPs voted on abortion law reform". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Archived from the original on 22 June 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.

[23] "MP Damien O'Connor and his wife separate". The New Zealand Herald. 28 July 2004. ISSN 1170-0777. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.

[24] "Labour approaches former Police Association president Greg O'Connor about running in 2017". Stuff. 16 January 2017. Archived from the original on 14 November 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2020.

[25] McSweeny, Jacob (24 September 2017). "Every little thing got you over the line". Radio New Zealand. Archived from the original on 28 May 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.