Clement Rudolph "Clem" Simich or Šimić (born 2 June 1939) is a New Zealand politician for the National Party.

Early life

Simich was born in

Te Kōpuru Te Kōpuru is the largest community on the Pouto Peninsula in Northland Region, Northland, New Zealand. The Wairoa River (Northland), Wairoa River separates the peninsula at this point from the main North Auckland Peninsula to the east. Dargavil ...

, Northland in 1939.

Member of Parliament

He was first elected to Parliament in the 1992 by-election in Tamaki, which followed the retirement of former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Robert Muldoon Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party. Serving as a corporal and sergeant in th ...

. He remained as MP for Tamaki until 2005, when he made way for

Allan Peachey Allan Peachey (18 October 1949 – 6 November 2011) was a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament for Tamaki. School principal Before his election to Parliament, Peachey was employed as the principal of Rangitoto College, the largest ...

in Tamaki, and stood as the National candidate for Mangere instead. He became a

list MP A list MP is a member of parliament (MP) elected from a party list rather than from by a geographical constituency. The place in Parliament is due to the number of votes that the party won, not to votes received by the MP personally. This occurs ...

, having not succeeded in winning the

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 ...

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body (e.g. Congress, Parliament, City Council) which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combinat ...

. In August 1998, he was appointed to

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

, being Minister of Police,

Minister of Racing The Minister for Racing is a minister in the government of New Zealand with responsibility for the regulation of the racing industry and betting services. The minister is also responsible for the New Zealand Racing Board, Racing Industry Trans ...

, and Minister in Charge of the Audit Department. He also became Minister of Corrections in January 1999. He lost his ministerial positions, however, when National lost the 1999 election. Simich served as Assistant

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

between 2002 and 2005. On the retirement of Jonathan Hunt, Simich stood for election as Speaker, but was defeated by Labour's

Margaret Wilson Margaret Anne Wilson (born 20 May 1947) is a New Zealand lawyer, academic and former Labour Party politician. She served as Attorney-General from 1999 to 2005 and Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2005 to 2008, during the Fifth L ...

. Simich became the Deputy Speaker of the House after the

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

election. He retired from parliament in 2008, before that year's general election.Dominion Post 29 April 2008 page A3. Simich is of

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n (in Croatian the surname is ''Šimić'') and also

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

descent.

References

External links

Picture of Hon Clem Simich c1998

Retirement announced
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simich, Clem 1939 births Living people New Zealand National Party MPs Māori MPs Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand New Zealand people of Croatian descent New Zealand list MPs People from Te Kōpuru Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives 21st-century New Zealand politicians