Aaron Wayne Gilmore (born 26 August 1973) is a New Zealand former politician and member of the
New Zealand National Party
The New Zealand National Party ( mi, Rōpū Nāhinara o Aotearoa), shortened to National () or the Nats, is a centre-right political party in New Zealand. It is one of two major parties that dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongside ...
. He was a list MP from the
2008 election until the 2011 election and again from February to May 2013.
Early years
Gilmore was born in Christchurch to shopkeeper parents and attended Parkview Primary School, in the Christchurch suburb of
Parklands. He attended
Shirley Boys' High School
Shirley Boys' High School (known as SBHS) is a single sex state (public) secondary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was originally situated on a 6 hectare site in the suburb of Shirley, but in April 2019 moved, along with Avonside ...
, before attending the
University of Canterbury
The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...
where he gained a Master of Commerce degree in Economics in 1995.
Gilmore began his career working as an analyst with the Ministry of Transport in Wellington in 1995.
The following year he began working at the Department of Treasury at the Crown Companies Monitoring Advisory Unit as an advisor on state owned enterprise privatisation. In 1997 Gilmore worked on secondment to SOE Minister
Tony Ryall
Anthony Boyd Williams Ryall (born 19 November 1964) is a former New Zealand politician. He represented the National Party in the New Zealand Parliament from 1990 to 2014. Between 2008 and 2014 he served as a cabinet minister, holding the post ...
, where he advised on the sale of state owned enterprises.
Gilmore left the public service in 1999 to join
Ernst and Young
Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...
, where he worked on international projects advising utility companies. In 2001 he joined
Cameron and Partners in a similar role before returning to Ernst and Young in Christchurch as a senior manager in 2004. In 2005 Gilmore worked as Corporate Development Manager at
General Cable
General Cable is an American multinational cable manufacturing company based in Highland Heights, Kentucky, with sales offices and manufacturing facilities in several countries. General Cable manufactures and distributes copper, aluminum, and o ...
, until selection as a National Party candidate.
Member of Parliament
First period in Parliament, 2008–2011
Gilmore was selected by the National Party Christchurch East local electorate as its candidate in the safe Labour seat of
Christchurch East
Christchurch East, originally called Christchurch City East, is a current New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It was first created for the and was abolished for two period, from 1875–1905 and again from 1946–1996. It was last created for ...
at the end of 2007. In August 2008 the National Party announced that he would be placed at number 56 on the National Party list. Gilmore came second in the electorate race, losing to the incumbent,
Lianne Dalziel
Lianne Audrey Dalziel (; born 7 June 1960) is a New Zealand politician and former Mayor of Christchurch. Prior to this position, she was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for 23 years, serving as Minister of Immigration, Commerce, Minister ...
, by 5,765 votes, but achieved a record for National in the area of over 12,000 party and personal votes.
Gilmore's curriculum vitae posted on the Parliament web page until 2010 listed him as a member of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute, a position he never had, although he had been a provisional member. He attributed the error to the Parliamentary Service, but a spokesman said "biographical information about MPs published on its website was supplied by them and approved by them as correct". The same online CV by Parliamentary Services contained other inaccuracies, including that Gilmore was married at the time.
In the , he again contested Christchurch East and was 53rd on the
party list
An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...
. He again placed second in the electorate behind Dalziel, and on election night results was set to be returned to parliament via the list, the last-placed candidate to be returned. However, with the counting of special votes and the release of official results, National lost a seat to the Green Party so Gilmore was not returned.
Second period in Parliament, 2013
In 2013,
Lockwood Smith
Sir Alexander Lockwood Smith (born 13 November 1948) is a New Zealand politician and diplomat who was High Commissioner of New Zealand to the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2017, and Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2008 to 2013.
S ...
was appointed as
High Commissioner of New Zealand to the United Kingdom and resigned from Parliament. Gilmore was the highest person on National's party list not already in Parliament, and so he replaced Smith and became an MP again.
Emails were released under the
Official Information Act in May 2013 from his time as a contractor to the
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE; mi, Hīkina Whakatutuki) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with "delivering policy, services, advice and regulation" which contribute to New Zealand's economic p ...
(MBIE) in November 2012, just prior to his return to Parliament in 2013. The emails contained comments to a Treasury Manager during an argument in which Gilmore said, after noting he may be returning to Parliament as a government member, "I am sure this sort of thing will come back to haunt you if you want your career to reach its full potential." The emails were described as "inappropriate" by the Ministry and the Ministry. TV3 had asked Gilmore specifically, in a previously broadcast segment, whether there had been any complaints about his time at MBIE, and Gilmore had replied on camera that there was nothing that had been brought to his attention.
Departure from Parliament
Gilmore announced his resignation from Parliament on 12 May 2013, following a public scandal involving a restaurant in
Hanmer Springs
Hanmer Springs is a small town in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand. The Māori name for Hanmer Springs is Te Whakatakanga o te Ngārahu o te ahi a Tamatea, which means “where the ashes of Tamate’s (sic) fire lay� ...
, in which it is "alleged Gilmore asked the barman (who had declined to sell him more alcohol) 'Do you know who I am?' and threatened to have Prime Minister John Key intervene to have him sacked." Gilmore's resignation followed pressure from senior Ministers and the revelation that he had misled the Prime Minister. He gave his valedictory speech two days later. His membership of Parliament ceased on 27 May, and his committee memberships (Maori Affairs, and Local Government and Environment) a day later.
He was replaced by
Claudette Hauiti
Claudette Hauiti (born 8 May 1961) is a New Zealand journalist, broadcaster and political commentator. She was the producer of the award winning programme ''Children of the Revolution.'' Hauiti was a New Zealand politician and member of the Hous ...
.
After Parliament
Gilmore runs a private property investment company, The Mighty Rocket Group, later renamed St Pauls Asset Management. Amanda High, a former employee of The Mighty Rocket Group, took the company to the Employment Relations Authority in 2018 to enforce payment of a settlement agreed in an employment dispute. Gilmore had disputed High's complaint.
In December 2021 Gilmore was ordered to pay NZ$11,000 in costs after a failed attempt to enforce a statutory demand against Mighty Rocket's landlord over the termination of its lease. In March 2022, he was taken to court by his parents over an unpaid loan worth more than $250,000.
In July 2022 Gilmore ran for the
Wellington City Council
Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...
in the Eastern Ward at the
2022 local government elections. After announcing his candidacy, Gilmore's parents commented that he needed to "pay his bills" before he seeks a seat on
Wellington City Council
Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...
, in reference to his unpaid debts that he owes them. According to preliminary results, he came ninth out of ten candidates and did not win a place on the council.
Notes
References
External links
*
Aaron Gilmore's website
The Mighty Rocket Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilmore, Aaron
1973 births
Living people
New Zealand National Party MPs
University of Canterbury alumni
New Zealand list MPs
Unsuccessful candidates in the 2011 New Zealand general election
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
21st-century New Zealand politicians
People from Christchurch
People educated at Shirley Boys' High School