Clive Denby Matthewson (born 1944) is a New Zealand civil engineer and former politician.

Biography

Early life and career

Matthewson was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

in 1944. He was educated at

Waitaki Boys' High School Waitaki Boys' High School is a secondary school for boys located in the northern part of the town of Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand, with day and boarding facilities, and was founded in 1883. , it has a school roll of approximately 400 students. The ...

and

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 ...

. He has a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in Civil Engineering which he completed in 1970. The title of his PhD thesis was: "The

elastic Elastic is a word often used to describe or identify certain types of elastomer, elastic used in garments or stretchable fabrics. Elastic may also refer to: Alternative name * Rubber band, ring-shaped band of rubber used to hold objects togeth ...

behaviour of a laterally loaded pile". He worked as a civil engineer until he was elected to parliament in 1984.

Political career

He was chairman of the electorate for the Labour Party and also a member of Labour's governing body the New Zealand Council. In 1977, he sought the Labour nomination for the

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

electorate of , but was beaten by former MP

Mike Moore Michael Moore is an American filmmaker and author. Michael Moore may also refer to: Academia * Michael G. Moore (fl. 1970s–2020s), professor of education * Michael S. Moore (academic) (fl. 1960s–2020s), American law professor * Michael Moore ...

. Two years later he stood for the Labour candidacy for the seat in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

, but was again unsuccessful. Matthewson then unsuccessfully contested the electorate in the for the Labour Party. In the 1983 electoral redistribution, the number of Dunedin electorates was reduced from three to two.

Brian MacDonell Brian Peter MacDonell (born 19 May 1935) is a former New Zealand Member of Parliament for Dunedin Central in the South Island. Early life and career He was born in Dunedin on 19 May 1935, the son of Roderick MacDonell. He received his educati ...

, who had since represented , was supposed to represent the new Dunedin West electorate. However, Labour's president,

Jim Anderton James Patrick Anderton (born Byrne; 21 January 1938 – 7 January 2018) was a New Zealand politician who led a succession of left-wing parties after leaving the Labour Party in 1989. Anderton's political career began when he was elected to th ...

, presided over MacDonell's de-selection and installed his personal friend Matthewson instead. Matthewson was elected to Dunedin West in . Matthewson was considered one of the most effective backbenchers in the

Fourth Labour Government The Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand governed New Zealand from 26 July 1984 to 2 November 1990. It was the first Labour government to win a second consecutive term since the First Labour Government of 1935 to 1949. The policy agenda o ...

. In August 1989, he was appointed by Prime Minister

Geoffrey Palmer Geoffrey Palmer may refer to: Politicians *Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 1st Baronet (1598–1670), English lawyer and politician *Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 3rd Baronet (1655–1732), English politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicestershire *Geoffrey Pal ...

Under-Secretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is al ...

to the Minister of Health and Labour. In February 1990, he was elected to cabinet and was appointed by Palmer as Minister of State Services, Minister of Science, Minister in charge of the Audit Department and Associate Minister of State Owned Enterprises, Energy, Commerce and Labour. After the government was defeated he was appointed Shadow Minister of Social Security and State Services by Labour leader

in 1991. He left Labour in 1995 to jointly establish the

United New Zealand United New Zealand was a centrist political party in New Zealand founded in 1995. It merged with the Christian-based Future New Zealand party to form the United Future New Zealand party in 2000. History Formation United was founded on 28 June 1 ...

party with six other sitting MPs. Matthewson became United's leader, and when the party formed a coalition with the governing National Party in 1996 he was made a Cabinet Minister. In the 1996 election,

Peter Dunne Peter Francis Dunne (born 17 March 1954) is a retired New Zealand politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ōhāriu. He held the seat and its predecessors from 1984 to 2017—representing the Labour Party in Parliament from 1984 ...

was the only United politician to keep his seat, and Matthewson, who had contested the new electorate, did not return to Parliament. In the

1998 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1998 for the United Kingdom, Barbados, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Christopher and Nevis were announced on 30 December 1997, ...

, he was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for public services as a Member of Parliament. At the 1998 local-body elections Matthewson ran for the position of

Mayor of Dunedin The Mayor of Dunedin is the head of the local government, the city council of Dunedin, New Zealand. The Mayor's role is "to provide leadership to the other elected members of the territorial authority, be a leader in the community and perform c ...

, but was defeated by incumbent

Sukhi Turner Dame Sukhinder Kaur Gill Turner (born Sukhinder Kaur Gill, 13 April 1952), commonly known as Sukhi Turner, is an Indian-born-New Zealand politician who served as the Mayor of Dunedin, New Zealand, from 1995 until her retirement from the positio ...

Post-politics

He was the Director of Development and Alumni Relations at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

from 2002 to 2008, and between 23 July 2004 and 30 September 2008 was on the board of directors for the

New Zealand Railways Corporation New Zealand Railways Corporation (NZRC) is the state-owned enterprise that owns the land beneath KiwiRail's Rail transport in New Zealand, railway network on behalf of the Crown. The Corporation has existed under a number of guises since 1982, wh ...

Personal life

Matthewson is married with five children.

Katherine Rich Katherine Rich (née Allison, born 16 December 1967) served as a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the National Party from 1999 to 2008. She has been chief executive of the New Zealand Food & Grocery Council, an industry ...

, a former National Party MP, is his niece.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Matthewson, Clive 1944 births Living people People educated at Waitaki Boys' High School Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand Labour Party MPs Leaders of political parties in New Zealand Engineers from Dunedin United New Zealand MPs University of Canterbury alumni New Zealand MPs for Dunedin electorates Unsuccessful candidates in the 1981 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1996 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand civil engineers University of Otago faculty