Paul Desmond Swain (born 20 December 1951) is a New Zealand former politician. He is a member of the Labour Party.

Early life

Swain 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 ...

on 20 December 1951. He attended St. Patrick's College 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 ...

. He has obtained a BA from

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 ...

. Swain has two daughters and a son with his wife Toni Reeves-Swain, and two sons from an earlier marriage. Before entering politics, he worked for the Ministry of Social Development from 1975 to 1976 before becoming a

bus driver A bus driver, bus operator, or bus captain is a person who drives buses for a living. Description Bus drivers must have a special license above and beyond a regular driver's licence. Bus drivers typically drive their vehicles between bus sta ...

for the Wellington City Council in 1976. He then changed professions again working as a teacher from 1978 to 1982. In 1987 he became a research officer for the New Zealand Federation of Labour (later Council of Trade Unions) until 1990 when he was elected to parliament. He was the employee coordinator for the Wellington

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

from 1982 to 1986 and was also chairman of the Wellington Regional Employment and ACCESS Council. At the 1986 local elections he stood for the Wellington Regional Council on the Labour Party ticket. He polled well but did not win a seat.

Member of Parliament

He was MP for the seat of

Eastern Hutt Eastern Hutt is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate from 1978 to 1996. It was represented by two Labour MPs. Population centres The 1977 electoral redistribution was the most overtly political since the Representation Commission had b ...

from the 1990 election until the 1996 election, when the electorate boundaries were changed and it became

Rimutaka The Remutaka Range (spelled Rimutaka Range before 2017) is the southernmost range of a mountain chain in the lower North Island of New Zealand. The chain continues north into the Tararua, then Ruahine Ranges, running parallel with the east co ...

. He won Rimutaka in 1996 and held the seat until the

2008 election This electoral calendar 2008 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2008 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, even though they are not elections. By-elections are no ...

, which he did not contest, retiring from national politics. In November 1990 he was appointed as Labour's spokesperson for Forestry by Labour leader

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 ...

. In a December 1991 reshuffle Swain was given the Housing portfolio as well. He supported

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

's successful leadership challenge against Moore in 1993. He retained housing and lost forestry, but later also became spokesperson for accident compensation between 1993 and 1996. From 1996 to 1999 Swain was Shadow Minister of Commerce and State Owned Enterprises.

Minister

Swain has held a number of ministerial portfolios, including Associate

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

, Minister of Commerce, Minister of Communications, Minister of Corrections, Minister of Immigration, Minister for Information Technology, Minister of Labour, Minister of Statistics,

Minister for State Owned Enterprises The Minister of State Owned Enterprises is the government minister in New Zealand responsible for trading enterprises owned by the New Zealand Government (see State-owned enterprises of New Zealand), usually in conjunction with the minister r ...

, Minister of Transport, and Associate Minister for Economic Development. After the 2005 election, Swain decided not to seek a Cabinet post in the new government.

Life after politics

In the

2009 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2009 were announced on 31 December 2008 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Christopher and Nevis,Saint Christopher. to ...

, Swain 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 services as a Member of Parliament. In 2009, he was employed by the Crown as their lead negotiator for a settlement of historical grievances with

Ngāti Porou Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Porou is affiliated with the 28th Maori Battalion and has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi in New Zealand ...

. In 2016, he became chairman of the New Zealand Fire Service; now Fire and Emergency New Zealand. In July

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Swain announced that he would not be standing for re-election to the Wellington Regional Council, on which he has been a councillor since 2010.

References

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Swain, Paul Desmond 1951 births Living people Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand New Zealand MPs for Hutt Valley electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand Labour Party MPs People from Palmerston North People educated at St. Patrick's College, Wellington Victoria University of Wellington alumni Companions of the Queen's Service Order Wellington regional councillors 21st-century New Zealand politicians