Cameron John Campion (1943 – 16 October 1995) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party.

Member of Parliament

Campion won the seat of

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

from Labour in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

; the seat had been held by

Russell Marshall Cedric Russell Marshall (born 15 February 1936), known as Russell Marshall, is a former New Zealand politician of the Labour Party and diplomat. Biography Early life and career Marshall was born in Nelson in 1936. His father Cedric Marshall ...

, who was retiring. Once in Parliament, Campion quickly became associated with

Michael Laws Michael Laws (born 1957) is a New Zealand politician, broadcaster and writer. Laws was a Member of Parliament for six years, starting in 1990, initially for the National Party. In Parliament he voted against his party on multiple occasions an ...

Hamish MacIntyre Hamish MacIntyre (born 1951) is a former New Zealand politician who at various times represented the National Party, Liberal Party, and the Alliance. Early life MacIntyre was born in Waipukurau in 1951. His father was Duncan MacIntyre, who w ...

and

Gilbert Myles Gilbert Colin Myles (born 18 October 1945) is a former New Zealand politician who entered Parliament for the National Party in 1990, then split from the party in 1991 and sat as an independent, before representing the Liberal Party, the Allianc ...

in objecting to the monetarist policy of

Ruth Richardson Ruth Margaret Richardson (born 13 December 1950) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who served as Minister of Finance from 1990 to 1993. Her 1991 budget, which she dubbed the "Mother of all Budgets", formed the catalyst ...

, known as

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, which the fourth National Government was following. He voted against the 1991 "

Mother of all Budgets The Mother of all Budgets was the nickname given to the 1991 New Zealand budget. It was the first budget delivered by the new National Party Minister of Finance Ruth Richardson and formed the catalyst of her economic reforms known in the media as ...

" and was publicly critical of National's decision to break their election promise to remove the superannuation surcharge. When Myles and MacIntyre founded the breakaway

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

Campion was widely tipped to follow them into the new party. Campion said that he had not yet given up on National and was still "flat out" trying to change National's policy direction. He announced his resignation from the National Party on 3 March 1993, and accused the party of attempting to rig the re-selection process against him also labeling Prime Minister

Jim Bolger James Brendan Bolger ( ; born 31 May 1935) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who was the 35th prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997. Bolger was born to an Irish immigrant family in Ōpunake, Taran ...

as arrogant and intimidating and sick of his style of leadership which ignored opinions in caucus. Bolger said the allegations were a "joke" and inferred Campion lacked integrity. Campion remained an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

for the remainder of his term, up to the 1993 general election in November when he was defeated. Before leaving parliament he drafted a private members bill to legalise voluntary euthanasia. After he exited parliament his draft was taken up by Laws who championed the unsuccessful 'Death with Dignity Bill'. Up until his death Campion campaigned for the bill and was gaining signatures for a petition seeking to put the bill to a referendum.

Death

Campion had suffered from bowel cancer and in early 1995 his case was diagnosed as terminal. He died on 16 October 1995, survived by his wife Margaret and their four children. Margaret was elected to the Wanganui District Council for the term 2001–04. In the

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, she was awarded the

Queen's Service Medal The Queen's Service Medal is a medal awarded by the government of New Zealand to recognise and reward volunteer service to the community and also public service in elected or appointed public office. It was established in 1975 and is related to ...

, for services to the community.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campion, Cam 1943 births 1995 deaths New Zealand National Party MPs People educated at Whanganui Collegiate School Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates Independent MPs of New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 1993 New Zealand general election Euthanasia activists Deaths from cancer in New Zealand