Mark James Gosche (born 2 December 1955) is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the Labour Party. He was born in

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 ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

n parents, and has been active in New Zealand's

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

community.

Biography

Early life and career

Gosche was born in 1955 to German-Samoan parents. He was raised and educated in

South Auckland South Auckland is an imprecisely defined urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, with a young population, a relatively large Polynesian and Māori demographic, and lower incomes than other parts of Auckland. The name ''South Auckland'', though not ...

. He was a full-time official with the Hotel, Hospital & Restaurant Workers Union later the

Service & Food Workers Union The Service & Food Workers Union Nga Ringa Tota (SFWU) was a trade union in New Zealand. It was affiliated with the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and the New Zealand Labour Party. The SFWU was organised into five industry sectors: *Age Ca ...

− or SFWU) for 15 years. He was later a union secretary with the SFWU for 7 years. This led him to join the Labour Party in 1981. Gosche founded the Union Health Centres (four low cost medical centres for union members, doctors and nurses) and was the original director of the organisation. He was a trustee of the Union Law Centre and a member of the national executive of the

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU or CTU; mi, Te Kauae Kaimahi) is a national trade union centre in New Zealand. The NZCTU represents 360,000 workers, and is the largest democratic organisation in New Zealand. History It was form ...

(NZCTU). He was also on several boards including the Trade Union Authority and New Zealand Tourism Council.

Member of Parliament

He was first elected to Parliament as 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 ...

in the 1996 election, and was seen as a key bridge builder between Labour and the

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

. He was later MP for the

seat of Maungakiekie following the 1999 election. He held a number of

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 ...

posts, including

Minister of Corrections The Minister of Corrections in New Zealand is the cabinet member appointed by the Prime Minister to be in charge of the Department of Corrections. The current Minister of Corrections is Kelvin Davis. Responsibilities The Minister of Correcti ...

, Minister of Housing,

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government agen ...

, and Minister of Pacific Island Affairs. In May 2003, however, he resigned all his ministerial roles due to the serious illness of his wife, who had suffered a

brain haemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

. At the 2008 election, Gosche retired from politics to spend more time with his family.

Post-parliamentary career

In 2009 he was nominated as a director on the

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

board, being confirmed on 27 June. On 31 May 2011 Gosche was elected the Chairman of the Asia Pacific Rugby League Confederation. Gosche's term on the NZRL board ended in 2012 after he decided not reapply for the position. Gosche is the Chief Executive of Vaka Tautua, a role he took up in July 2014 after five years on the governance board. Vaka Tautua is a not-for-profit ‘for Pacific by Pacific’ community health and social service provider working in the areas of disability, mental health, older people, family violence and financial capability – with offices in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The governance board and staff of Vaka Tautua are almost all of Pacific Island heritage and all operational staff are bilingual. Since leaving politics he has held a large number of governance roles including being Chief Advisor Strategic Relationships at the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs in Auckland, TYLA Trust, COMET Auckland, Vaka Tautua, Brain Injury Association, Talklink Trust and Fonua Ola. He currently serves on the board of Lifewise and was recently elected to the Mt. Wellington Licensing Trust which owns and operates hotel and conference centres – the profits of which are returned to the community via a charitable trust. Gosche's experience is also informed by his wife Carol whom he is a caregiver for. Carol, had a severe brain haemorrhage in 2002. He and his wife had four children. Gosche is currently employed by the

Manukau Institute of Technology Established in 1970, Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) ( mi, Te Whare Takiura o Manukau) is a large Category One institute of technology in Auckland, New Zealand. Category One is the highest possible educational rating as evaluated by the ...

as External Relations Manager for MIT's Pasifika Development office. At the 2016 Auckland elections, Gosche was elected to the Mt Wellington Licensing Trust. In April 2018 Gosche was appointed chair of the

Counties Manukau District Health Board The Counties Manukau District Health Board (CM Health) was a district health board which focused on providing healthcare to the Counties Manukau area in southern Auckland, New Zealand. As of 2016, it ws responsible for 534,750 residents; or 11% ...

, effective 3 May 2018. In June 2018 Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford announced Gosche as deputy chair of the Housing New Zealand board.

Honours

In April 2007 he was bestowed with the Samoan '' matai'' title Vui at his grandmother's village of Lano in Samoa.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gosche, Mark 1955 births Living people New Zealand Labour Party MPs Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Ministers of Housing (New Zealand) New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand people of German descent Samoan chiefs New Zealand rugby league administrators New Zealand list MPs New Zealand Rugby League board members Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates 21st-century New Zealand politicians Members of district health boards in New Zealand