Simon Upton

Simon David Upton (born 7 February 1958) is a former New Zealand politician and member of Parliament from 1981 to 2001, representing the National Party, and the current Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.

For the Australian swimmer, see Simon Upton (swimmer).

The Right Honourable

Simon Upton
Simon Upton at a sustainable development Forum in Prague, November 2014
4th Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment
Assumed office
16 October 2017
Prime MinisterBill English
Jacinda Ardern
Preceded byJan Wright
30th Minister of Health
In office
2 November 1990 – 27 March 1993
Prime MinisterJim Bolger
Preceded byHelen Clark
Succeeded byBill Birch
2nd Minister for the Environment
In office
2 November 1990 – 10 December 1999
Prime MinisterJim Bolger
Jenny Shipley
Preceded byGeoffrey Palmer
Succeeded byMarian Hobbs
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Waikato
In office
1981 – 1984
Preceded byLance Adams-Schneider
Succeeded byRob Storey
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Raglan
In office
1984 – 1996
Preceded byMarilyn Waring (in 1978)
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for National Party list
In office
1996 – 2001
Personal details
Born (1958-02-07) 7 February 1958
Political partyNational

Early life

Upton was educated at Southwell School, St Paul's Collegiate School and the University of Auckland, where he gained degrees in English literature, music and law, and Wolfson College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar.

Member of Parliament
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
1981–1984 40th Waikato National
1984–1987 41st Raglan National
1987–1990 42nd Raglan National
1990–1993 43rd Raglan National
1993–1996 44th Raglan National
1996–1999 45th List 11 National
1999–2001 46th List 12 National

Having joined the National Party in 1976, he served as Chairman of the New Zealand Young Nationals among other positions and became the then-youngest MP for Waikato in the 1981 election. In the 1984 election, he was elected MP for Raglan, which he held until the 1996 election, when he chose to become a list MP.

Cabinet minister
See also: Fourth National Government of New Zealand

Upton became one of New Zealand's youngest ever Ministers in the Cabinet in 1990, when he became Minister of Health, Minister for the Environment, and Minister of Research, Science and Technology. As Environment minister, Upton promoted the enactment of the Resource Management Act 1991. He was responsible for establishing the Crown Research Institutes. One of Upton's most controversial actions whilst holding the health portfolio was introducing public hospital charges of $50 for overnight stays, this was later abandoned as the 1993 election approached.[1] He also has an interest in sustainable development, and chaired the OECD's Round Table on Sustainable Development and is a founding member of the Board of the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction.[2]

Upton was sworn to the Privy Council in 1999.[3]

Life after politics

He resigned from Parliament in 2001, and moved to France. He took up a full-time post at the OECD as the chair of the Round Table on Sustainable Development which he held until 2005. He was also a part-time consultant at PriceWaterhouseCoopers for several years. In April 2010 he was appointed as the head of the OECD Environment Directorate, in Paris, France.[4]

In April 2017, he was appointed by Parliament to be the next Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. He replaced the previous commissioner, Dr Jan Wright, when her second five-year term ended in October 2017.[5]

Personal life

He has two adult children.

New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by
Lance Adams-Schneider		 Member of Parliament for Waikato
1981–1984		 Succeeded by
Rob Storey
Vacant
Constituency abolished in 1978
Title last held by
Marilyn Waring		 Member of Parliament for Raglan
1984–1996		 Constituency abolished
Political offices
Preceded by
Helen Clark		 Minister of Health
1990–1993		 Succeeded by
Bill Birch
Preceded by
Geoffrey Palmer		 Minister for the Environment
1990–1999		 Succeeded by
Marian Hobbs

Notes
  1. "Linda Bryder, 'Hospitals - Hospital funding and patient entitlement', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  2. Markley, Rick (1 October 2005). "Holcim Hands out Building Prizes". Rock Products. 108 (10): 6.
  3. "Privy Council Members". Privy Council Office. Archived from the original on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  4. "Simon Upton, Director, Environment Directorate". OECD. 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  5. "Upton to be Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment". Radio New Zealand. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
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