Denis William Anson Marshall (born 23 September 1943) is a former New Zealand politician. He was an MP from 1984 to 1999, representing the
National Party, and a Government Minister until 1996. His Ministerial career ended when he resigned about six months after the release of the Commission of Inquiry report into the
Cave Creek Disaster
The Cave Creek disaster occurred on 28 April 1995 when a scenic viewing platform in Paparoa National Park, New Zealand, collapsed, resulting in the deaths of 14 people. The victims, 13 of whom were Tai Poutini Polytechnic students, fell onto roc ...
, and a year after the accident itself in which 14 people died and a further four were seriously injured, and during which time he was Minister of Conservation. He had been under pressure to resign since the report's release.
Early life
Born in
Marton on 23 September 1943,
Marshall was educated at Norwood School, Gisborne, Hereworth School, Havelock North,
Christ's College, Christchurch
Christ's College, Canterbury is an independent Anglican secondary day and boarding school for boys, located in the city centre of Christchurch, New Zealand.
Founded in 1850 by Reverend Henry Jacobs in Lyttelton as a school for early settlers, ...
and
Lincoln College as part of the Kellogg New Zealand Rural Leadership Programme and was a Nuffield Farming Scholar to the United Kingdom 1983.
In 1965, he married Mary Annette Kilmister, and the couple went on to have three children.
Member of Parliament
Marshall was a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 1984 to 1999. Having joined the National Party in the 1970s, he was first elected to Parliament for
Rangitikei in the
1984 election, defeating
Social Credit Party leader
Bruce Beetham
Bruce Craig Beetham (16 February 1936 – 3 May 1997) was an academic and politician from New Zealand, whose career spanned the 1970s and early 1980s.
A lecturer at Hamilton's University of Waikato and at the Hamilton Teachers' Training Colle ...
. He held the seat against Beetham in the
1987 election, and retained it until his retirement at the
1999 election.
Cabinet minister
Marshall served in a number of Ministerial roles, beginning in 1993 and ending in 1996. He was
Minister of Lands
The Minister of Lands in New Zealand was a cabinet position appointed by the Prime Minister to be in charge of the Department of Lands and Survey.
List of ministers
The following ministers held the office of Minister of Lands.
;Key
Ta ...
, Valuation, Department of Survey Land & Information from 1993 to 1996, and Minister of Forestry in 1996. Other notable positions between 1997 and 1999 include Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Transport and Environment Committee, Chairman of Special Select Committee on Dairy Industry Restructuring, and Producer Boarder Reform.
Minister of Conservation
Denis Marshall's best known post was as Minister of Conservation from 1990 to 1996 during which he also acted as Associate Minister of Agriculture and Associate Minister of Employment. He resigned from his role as a minister in May 1996, roughly a year following the April 1995
Cave Creek disaster
The Cave Creek disaster occurred on 28 April 1995 when a scenic viewing platform in Paparoa National Park, New Zealand, collapsed, resulting in the deaths of 14 people. The victims, 13 of whom were Tai Poutini Polytechnic students, fell onto roc ...
in which 14 people died. A commission of inquiry
found that whilst many individual mistakes contributed to the accident, a root cause was that the
Department of Conservation
An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...
had been under-funded and under-resourced for the role it was expected to achieve, and from the time of its creation in 1987 it had remained disorganised internally with few consistently used project and safety management systems, or formally qualified staff for much of the required work. Intense scrutiny of the Minister followed, as well as scrutiny of the government's funding priorities.
He did not resign immediately following the release of the report, claiming that his resignation would not remedy the situation, and citing a quotation of
Sir Geoffrey Palmer
Sir Geoffrey Winston Russell Palmer (born 21 April 1942) is a New Zealand lawyer, legal academic, and former politician, who was a member of Parliament from 1979 to 1990. He served as the 33rd prime minister of New Zealand for a little over a ...
which stated that ministers weren't personally responsible for everything done in their name, as they could not be expected to know or authorise everything that occurred.
[Parliamentary Debate—Denis Marshall (Minister of Conservation), Wednesday, 22 November 1995](_blank)
/ref> Criticism that he had been the Minister of Conservation for five years during which time it had remained in a disorganised state, however, eventually ended with his resignation about six months later.
Life after politics
Marshall retired from Parliament in 1999, and moved to London. He took up a full-time post as Secretary-General at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association
The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), previously known as the Empire Parliamentary Association, is an organisation which works to support good governance, democracy and human rights.
In 1989 the patron of the CPA was the Head of ...
(CPA) from January 2002 to December 2006.
He has been consulting to the UNDP and the WBI over the past four years.
He now lives in Queenstown, Central Otago, New Zealand where he is a vigneron of his own vineyard Hawkshead Wine and producer of pinot noir, pinot gris, riesling and sauvignon blanc.
Community
In 2000 he founded the NZ National Parks and Conservation Foundation following his strong belief that there needed to be an opportunity for the private sector and corporate world to contribute more to conservation in New Zealand. He was the foundation's inaugural chairman from 2000 to 2001.
He was the chairman of the New Zealand Rural Communities Trust from 2000 to 2001.
He is a member in numerous community organisations in NZ such NZ Historic Places Trust and Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society.
Honours
In 1990, Marshall 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 ...
. In the 2000 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 2000 for the United Kingdom and New Zealand were announced on 31 December 1999, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2000. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various or ...
, he was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order
The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...
for public services.
References
External links
Denis Marshall's website
National Parks and Conservation Foundation
Dawn Chorus
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association
NZ Herald Article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Denis
1943 births
Living people
People from Marton, New Zealand
Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
New Zealand farmers
New Zealand National Party MPs
People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
Companions of the Queen's Service Order
New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates
Lincoln University (New Zealand) alumni
21st-century New Zealand politicians