Ewen McQueen is a New Zealand writer and social commentator who blogs at RenewNZ. From 2008 to 2018 he was involved in the National Party in the Epsom electorate. Prior to that was the leader of Christian Heritage NZ. McQueen has had opinion pieces published in newspapers around New Zealand and on the Stuff website. These include articles on family values issues, the Treaty of Waitangi, and New Zealand's Christian history.

Early years

McQueen was born in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

in 1965, although spent most of his youth in the North Shore (part of the greater

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

area). He attended

Takapuna Grammar School Takapuna Grammar School is a state coeducational secondary school located in the suburb of Belmont on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Established in 1927, the school mainly serves the eponymous suburb of Takapuna and the entire Devo ...

where he played for the first XV and was head prefect in 1983. McQueen graduated from the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

in 1990. His primary field of study at university was

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

, in which he gained a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

with honours in 1990. As part of his post graduate degree he completed a thesis entitled "A Christian Perspective on Neo-Classical Economics." After graduating McQueen worked in the health sector in analyst, planning and management roles. His last role was as Business Manager for the Facilities & Development Group within the Auckland DHB.

Politics

Ewen McQueen was a member of the

New Zealand National Party The New Zealand National Party ( mi, Rōpū Nāhinara o Aotearoa), shortened to National () or the Nats, is a centre-right political party in New Zealand. It is one of two major parties that dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongside ...

from 2007 until his resignation in June 2018 because according to McQueen "family values... leadership is not going to come via the National Party." McQueen was a member of the National party's 2010/11 candidate college and sought selection as the National candidate in the North Shore electorate for the 2011 general election, losing to

Maggie Barry Margaret Mary Barry (born 5 October 1959), generally known as Maggie Barry, is a New Zealand politician and former member of the House of Representatives, first elected in the 2011 general election. She is a member of the National Party, and ...

. He also unsuccessfully sought selection for the

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

seat. Prior to joining the National Party McQueen joined the Christian Heritage Party in 1992, and stood as a Christian Heritage candidate on five occasions. Four of his campaigns were in the Auckland electorates of Eden, Epsom and Mt Roskill, but his most successful election campaign was in the Taranaki-King Country by-election in 1998. In this by-election he polled ahead of both the NZ First and Green candidates. He also served as his party's Deputy Leader and Finance Spokesperson until 1999. McQueen narrowly missed election to Parliament in the 1996 general election. He was ranked 4th on the Christian Coalition party list. The Coalition fell just under the MMP threshold. In August 2003, McQueen was elected as the new leader of Christian Heritage NZ, and replaced the retiring

Graham Capill Graham John Capill (born 1959) is a former New Zealand Christian leader, politician and convicted rapist. He served as the first leader of the now-defunct Christian Heritage Party, stepping down in 2003. In 2005 he was convicted of multiple s ...

. In October 2006, McQueen announced the closure of Christian Heritage NZ, blaming its demise on Graham Capill's criminal convictions, although he hoped to be involved with a new conservative Christian political party . That party did not eventuate and McQueen subsequently joined the National Party.

Social commentary

McQueen has had a number of articles published on economics and social values issues in newspapers across New Zealand including ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'', ''The Christchurch Press'' and ''The Taranaki Daily News'' and ''Otago Daily Times''. McQueen has a blog site 'renewnz.' Ewen McQueen authored a book entitled 'One Sun in the Sky' which argues 19th century Maori did not expect co-governance to result from The

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in the treatment of the M ...

and Te Tiriti validly ceded sovereignty to the Crown.

Early years

Politics

Social commentary

References

Further reading