David John Butcher (born 19 September 1948) is a former New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He was a

Cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

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 ...

Early life and family

Butcher was born in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, England, on 19 September 1948, the son of Dorothy May Butcher (née Guppy) and Frank George Butcher. The family migrated to New Zealand in 1963, and he attended

Karamu High School Karamu High School is a co-educational state high school in Hastings, New Zealand for students in Years 9 to 13. The school is the main co-ed secondary school within Hastings City itself. The school’s campus is located to the easternmost end o ...

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

with broadcaster Paul Holmes, and

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

. While at Victoria, he was president of the Victoria University Labour Club. He graduated with an economics degree and became a member of the New Zealand Association of Economists. From 1972 to 1974, he worked as an economist in the Labour Department, Wellington. During 1974–75 he travelled overseas in Asia and Europe. From 1976 until 1978, he was a field officer for the Wellington Clerical Workers' Union and the New Zealand Labourers' Union in Hawke's Bay. He was a member of the Hawkes Bay Trade Council and its nominee on the council of the Hawkes Bay Community College. Butcher became a naturalised New Zealand citizen in 1975, and in 1980, Butcher married Mary Georgina Hall.

Political career

Butcher stood unsuccessfully for the seat of three times, in the , and , before becoming an MP for the seat of in the . Prior to entering parliament he was a member of the New Zealand Council of Labour Party. In 1983 he was appointed as Labour's spokesperson for State Insurance and the Government Life Office by Labour leader

David Lange David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. Lange was born and brought up in Otahuhu, the son of a medical doctor. He became ...

. In 1986 he represented the New Zealand government at an agricultural ministers conference in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

. During the Fourth Labour Government, Butcher served as a Cabinet minister, with posts including

Minister of Commerce A Commerce minister (sometimes business minister, industry minister, trade minister or international trade minister) is a position in many governments that is responsible for regulating external trade and promoting economic growth (commercial polic ...

, Minister of Energy,

Minister of Trade and Industry A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...

and

Postmaster-General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a Ministry (government department), ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having ...

. As Minister of Energy, Butcher had responsibility for ensuring that privatised utilities operated in a competitive environment, or were subjected to appropriate regulation. He was also associate Minister of Finance and mostly a supporter of the

Rogernomics In February 1985, journalists at the ''New Zealand Listener'' coined the term Rogernomics, a portmanteau of "Roger" and "economics" (by analogy with "Reaganomics"), to describe the neoliberal economic policies followed by Roger Douglas. Douglas ...

agenda of finance minister

Roger Douglas Sir Roger Owen Douglas (born 5 December 1937) is a retired New Zealand politician who served as a minister in two Labour governments. He became arguably best known for his prominent role in New Zealand's radical economic restructuring in the 198 ...

. As Minister of Energy he sold the government-owned Petrocorp for $801 million to Rossport Investments Ltd on 31 March 1988. He represented the Hastings electorate in Parliament until

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 ...

, when he was defeated by National's Jeff Whittaker, one of a number of losses contributing to the fall of the

. His defeat was not expected with most expecting him to be re-elected with a reduced majority. In 1990, Butcher was awarded the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to approximately 3,000 people. Background The New Zea ...

Life after politics

Since 1990, Butcher has been the manager of David Butcher and Associates (DBA), and has worked on assignments in several countries. He worked in a business consultancy deal with the

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field office ...

. In 2000, he was fined $10,000 plus reparations, for fraudulently claiming expenses on airline tickets under a travel rebate scheme for former MPs.

Notes

References

* * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Butcher, David 1948 births Living people Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand New Zealand Labour Party MPs People from Hastings, New Zealand People educated at Karamu High School Unsuccessful candidates in the 1969 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1972 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1975 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1990 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates People from Brighton English emigrants to New Zealand Naturalised citizens of New Zealand Victoria University of Wellington alumni New Zealand trade unionists