David Cunliffe
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| David Cunliffe | |
 David Cunliffe at the NZ Open Source Awards, 2007, 17 October |
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Minister of Communications
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| Prime Minister | Helen Clark |
| Constituency | New Lynn |
| Majority | 18,087 |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 31 October 2007 |
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| Preceded by | Pete Hodgson |
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| Political party | Labour |
| Profession | Business consultant |
| Religion | Anglican |
| Website | www.cunliffe.org.nz |
David Richard Cunliffe (born 1963) is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the Labour Party, and the sitting member of parliament for New Lynn, West Auckland. He is the current Minister of Health and Minister for Communications and Information Technology.[1]
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[edit] Early life
Cunliffe studied politics at Otago University before working first as a diplomat and then as a business consultant. In 1994 and 1995, he was a Fulbright Scholar and Kennedy Memorial Fellow at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School.
[edit] Member of Parliament
| Parl. | Electorate | List Pos. | Party |
| 46th | Titirangi | 53 | Labour |
| 47th | New Lynn | 37 | Labour |
| 48th | New Lynn | 31 | Labour |
He was first elected to Parliament in the 1999 elections, standing as the Labour candidate for the Titirangi seat. Since the 2002 election he has represented the seat of New Lynn. At the 2005 elections, Cunliffe was returned with 18,087 votes (8,000 more than his nearest opponent) or 55% of the electorate vote [2].
[edit] Cabinet member
Cunliffe is the Minister of Health, and Minister for Communications and Information Technology.
In the 2002-2005 Parliament he held the ICT portfolios and was Associate Minister of Finance and Revenue, after previously serving as Parliamentary Private Secretary for Finance and Commerce.
During his first term (1999-2002) he served as Chair of the Commerce Select Committee, and sat on the Finance and Expenditure and Regulations Review select committees.
In 2006, in his previous role as Immigration Minister, he announced a major review of the Immigration Act 1987.[3] As Minister for Communications and Information Technology he announced local loop unbundling in the telecommunications sector.[4]
[edit] District Health Board controversy
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In February 2008, as the Minister of Health, Cunliffe dismissed the Hawke's Bay District Health Board over political, monetary and conflict of interest troubles.[5] Napier Mayor Barbara Arnott and a number of members of the district voiced opposition to Cunliffe's move as many of the board members were democratically elected, .[6] Following the release of a Health Ministry-commissioned independent report into the matter, Cunliffe referred to the board as "nasty little nest of self-perpetuating provincial elites".[7]
[edit] Political views
Cunliffe is a supporter of New Zealand becoming a republic. During the Address-In-Reply debate on 4 September 2002, Cunliffe said: "A New Zealand where we journey together towards maturity as a nation, and to the Commonwealth republic I personally believe we will become before the Treaty turns 200" [8].
[edit] Further reading
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- ICT leaders election forum 2005 [videorecording: DVD], Wellington, [N.Z.]: InternetNZ, c.2005
- This was a discussion forum about information technology policy - National's Maurice Williamson is also a participant.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ New Zealand Government (31 October 2007). "New Minister of Health". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-11-10.
- ^ Elections NZ: Official Count Results - New Lynn [1]
- ^ "Immigration Act to drop 'Zaoui' law", NZPA, 8th August 2007. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
- ^ New Zealand Government (28 June 2006). "Cunliffe: Vision 2011 – Roadmap to the Top". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
- ^ Martin Kay. "Health Minister fires Hawke's Bay DHB", The Dominion Post, 27 February 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
- ^ "Locals back sacked Health Board", TVNZ, 29 February 2008.
- ^ David Cunliffe. "Hawke’s Bay District Health Board—Conflicts of Interest Report" Debating Chamber of the New Zealand House of Representatives (18 March 2008). Speech video on nzherald.co.nz
- ^ David Cunliffe: Address-In-Reply speech. Retrieved on 2006-08-01.
