Brendon Burns is a former Labour Party Member of Parliament for the

Christchurch Central Christchurch Central is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the South Island city of Christchurch. The electorate was established for the 1946 election and, until 2011 had always been won by the Labour Party. Since 2008, the incumbent wa ...

electorate in the

Parliament of New Zealand The New Zealand Parliament ( mi, Pāremata Aotearoa) is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the King of New Zealand (King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by his ...

Early life

Burns worked for 12 years in the Parliamentary Press Gallery. As editor of ''

The Marlborough Express The ''Marlborough Express'' is a newspaper serving the Marlborough area of New Zealand. Its headquarters are in Blenheim and has been published there since 1866. Ownership The ''Marlborough Express'' was set up by the printer, journalist and ed ...

'' for seven years, he led various community initiatives and won the country's top journalism award – a term at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He twice stood in the Kaikoura seat for

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

. He has an extensive career history in journalism having done political coverage in both print and radio mediums. He has run his own communications business Indaba Communications. In 1999 he won the Qantas Award for best editorial writer.

Member of Parliament

Burns was selected to replace Tim Barnett who retired at the 2008 general election. Burns has had a long history in political campaigning, twice failing (in and ) to capture the Kaikoura electorate from the National Party. In 2008, Burns successfully held Christchurch Central for Labour, with a greatly reduced majority of 935. In 2011, Burns lost the seat to National's

Nicky Wagner Nicola Joanne Wagner (born 23 July 1953) is a New Zealand teacher, businesswoman and politician. She represented the Christchurch Central electorate for the New Zealand National Party in the New Zealand Parliament. Early life and career Born ...

by 47 votes. He was Labour's spokesman for broadcasting, and was a member of the environmental team. In September 2010, Burns' Environment Canterbury (Democracy Restoration) Amendment Bill was drawn from the member's ballot. The bill would reverse the government's replacement of the

Canterbury Regional Council Environment Canterbury, frequently abbreviated to ECan. is the promotional name for the Canterbury Regional Council. It is the regional council for Canterbury, the largest region in the South Island of New Zealand. It is part of New Zealand's str ...

with unelected commissioners and force a special election to be held. The Bill lapsed due to aging and the Government proceeded with a renewal of the terms of the initial Bill.http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Debates/Debates/3/9/9/50HansD_20130213_00000028-Environment-Canterbury-Temporary-Commissioners.htm

References

External links

Official websiteBurns quits politics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Brendon New Zealand Labour Party MPs Living people New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates Unsuccessful candidates in the 2011 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2002 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2005 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand journalists New Zealand editors New Zealand magazine editors 21st-century New Zealand politicians Year of birth missing (living people)