Nick Smith (New Zealand politician)

Nicolas Rex Smith[1] (born 24 December 1964)[2] is a New Zealand politician serving as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the National Party. Smith is currently a list MP; he represented the Nelson electorate from 1996 to 2020, and was the Member for Tasman before that, from 1990 to 1996.[3]

The Honourable Nick Smith MP
Smith in 2016
13th Minister for the Environment
In office 8 October 2014 – 26 October 2017
Prime Minister	John Key Bill English
Preceded by	Amy Adams
Succeeded by	David Parker
In office 19 November 2008 – 21 March 2012
Prime Minister	John Key
Preceded by	Trevor Mallard
Succeeded by	Amy Adams
1st Minister for Building and Housing
In office 8 October 2014 – 20 December 2016
Prime Minister	John Key Bill English
Preceded by	Himself (as Minister of Housing and Minister of Building & Construction)
Succeeded by	Himself (as Minister for Building & Construction)
12th Minister of Conservation
In office 22 January 2013 – 8 October 2014
Prime Minister	John Key
Preceded by	Kate Wilkinson
Succeeded by	Maggie Barry
Minister of Housing
In office 22 January 2013 – 8 October 2014
Prime Minister	John Key
Preceded by	Phil Heatley
40th Minister of Education
In office 31 January 1999 – 10 December 1999
Prime Minister	Jenny Shipley
Preceded by	Wyatt Creech
Succeeded by	Trevor Mallard
9th Minister for ACC
In office 19 November 2008 – 14 December 2011
Prime Minister	John Key
Preceded by	Maryan Street
Succeeded by	Judith Collins
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for National party list
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 October 2020
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Nelson
In office 12 October 1996 – 17 October 2020
Preceded by	John Blincoe
Succeeded by	Rachel Boyack
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Tasman
In office 27 October 1990 – 12 October 1996
Preceded by	Ken Shirley
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	Nicolas Rex Smith 24 December 1964 Rangiora, New Zealand
Political party	National Party
Occupation	Engineer
Website	nick4nelson.co.nz

Smith is a former Cabinet minister, previously holding the posts of Minister for Building and Housing, Minister for the Environment, Minister for Climate Change Issues, and Minister of Local Government.[3] For a brief time between October and November 2003 he was the deputy leader of the National Party, then in opposition under Don Brash.

Smith became the longest-serving MP in March 2018, having served continuously since the 1990 general election.[4][5][6] This makes Smith the current Father of the House. He had represented an electorate until the 2020 election where he lost his seat of Nelson during a landslide towards the New Zealand Labour party but was ranked high enough to be elected off of the National party list, therefore continuing on as Father of the House.

Education and early career

Smith was born in Rangiora in 1964, the son of John Smith and Anne Smith. His father was born in New South Wales and came to New Zealand to start a contracting business, building drains and bridges. He has seven siblings; three sisters and four brothers. His father and two brothers all own independent construction crane hire businesses.[7]

Smith was educated at Rangiora High School and was an AFS Scholar to the U.S.[8] He studied at the University of Canterbury where he earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree with first-class honours in civil engineering, and a PhD with a thesis titled The Residual Strength of Soils and Landslide Stability.[9]

Before entering parliament, he worked as an engineer for the Rangiora County Council, and as director of his family construction company. He also served on the Rangiora District Council, unsuccessfully standing while still at secondary school in 1983, and successfully standing again in 1986 aged 21.[10]

Member of Parliament

Fourth National Government, 1990–1999

New Zealand Parliament
Years	Term	Electorate	List	Party
1990–1993	43rd	Tasman		National
1993–1996	44th	Tasman		National
1996–1999	45th	Nelson	30	National
1999–2002	46th	Nelson	8	National
2002–2005	47th	Nelson	3	National
2005–2008	48th	Nelson	5	National
2008–2011	49th	Nelson	5	National
2011–2014	50th	Nelson	6	National
2014–2017	51st	Nelson	13	National
2017–2020	52nd	Nelson	15	National
2020–present	53rd	List	18	National

Nick Smith has been involved in the National Party since his university days. He stood in the 1990 election as the party's candidate in the Tasman electorate. For the 1996 election, a large slice of Tasman was merged into the neighbouring Nelson electorate. Smith opted to contest Nelson, and defeated Labour incumbent John Blincoe in the election. He has held Nelson since that time.

As well as the full ministerial posts mentioned below, Smith has also been an Associate Minister of the Immigration, Social Welfare and Treaty Negotiation portfolios.[11]

Cabinet Minister

In 1996, after serving six years in parliament, Smith was elevated to Cabinet, becoming Minister of Conservation. With this appointment, he replaced the outgoing Minister, Denis Marshall, who had resigned as an eventual consequence of the Cave Creek disaster. In 1997 he gained the additional responsibility of Minister of Corrections. In early 1999, he dropped the Corrections portfolio and became Minister of Education. When National was defeated in the 1999 general election, Smith continued to serve as his party's education spokesperson.[2]

Leadership struggles

Nick Smith was a supporter of Bill English's bid to replace Jenny Shipley as party leader. When English was successful, Smith's position within the party rose. When English was himself challenged by Don Brash, Smith was one of English's strongest defenders, working very hard to win support against Brash. Eventually, however, English was defeated.[12]

Smith was appointed to the position of deputy leader, presumably to placate members of the English camp. He took up this position on 28 October 2003. Soon, however, he was challenged from within the party on the basis of his behaviour after his elevation, which critics described as "irrational" and "paranoid". Smith's defenders said that the claims were exaggerated, and that Smith was merely suffering from stress and exhaustion. Smith returned to Nelson on "stress leave".[13]

When Smith returned to parliament, however, he found himself challenged for the deputy leadership by Gerry Brownlee. Smith and his supporters were angry at this, saying that Brownlee's supporters had taken advantage of Smith's absence to deliberately misrepresent Smith as unstable. Smith was also angry that neither Brownlee or Brash (who appeared now to support Brownlee) had given any indication of the upcoming challenge. Smith was defeated, and lost the deputy leadership on 17 November 2003.[14][15][16]

Contempt of Court

In late March 2004, Smith was found guilty of contempt of court. He had been asked to assist a constituent with a Family Court case and made a number of public comments which broke the court's confidentiality rules and was also found to have pressured a witness in the case. Smith's defence was that he was exercising his responsibility as a constituency MP to aid a constituent and that his public utterances in the matter had served the public interest, but these claims were rejected by the court. The Speaker, Jonathan Hunt, held that contempt of court was insufficient to warrant expulsion from Parliament, as it did not fall within the statutory definition of a crime.[17][18][19][20][21]

Smith considered seeking a renewed public mandate through a by-election, but no by-election was held after leaders of other parties criticised the idea. Smith stood again in the 2005 general election and kept his seat with a greatly increased majority, his personal share of the vote increasing from 46.8% to 54.9% and his overall majority from 4,232 to 10,226.[22][23]

Fifth National Government, 2009–2017

When National and the new leader, John Key, won the 2008 general election, Smith was appointed Minister for the Environment, Minister Responsible for Climate Change Issues, and Minister for the Accident Compensation Corporation, and was ranked sixth in Cabinet.[2]

Defamation case 2010

In April 2010, The New Zealand Herald reported that Smith had his legal fees for two separate defamation cases in 1999 and 2005 paid by the taxpayer. Smith stated that the legal fees for the 2005 case "totalled about $270,000."[24]

In June 2010, the New Zealand Herald reported that preservatives producer Osmose New Zealand was taking a defamation case against Smith in the High Court in Auckland. Osmose New Zealand alleges that Smith's statements made in July 2005 about the timber product, T1.2, destroyed the product's reputation caused the company to lose more than $14 million in estimated profits. [25] On 10 June 2010, Smith settled the case by issuing an apology and making an undisclosed payment. Smith was quoted by the Dominion Post as saying “No public money is involved in the settlement, although I have been very grateful to have received $209,000 of public money from the Parliamentary Service”.[26]

Climate change

Smith has been the National Party's Climate Change spokesman when in opposition, and has held the post of Minister for Climate Change Issues.

In May 2005, Smith, while criticising the Labour Government's proposed carbon tax, stated to Parliament that the National Party intended to move to a comprehensive emissions trading permit system.[27]

In November 2005, Smith made several statements criticising the Labour Government's proposed policy of implementing a carbon tax:

• “The madness of the Government’s new carbon tax is that New Zealanders will be the only people in the world paying it. It will drive up the costs of living and undermine the competitiveness of New Zealand business for negligible environmental gain."
• “Labour Ministers may take pride in being toasted at International Climate conferences for being so bold and brave, but there is no justification for New Zealand going out in the cold by itself on this issue."
• “New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions made up only 0.4% of the global total and on a per capita basis our emissions are half those of countries like Australia and the United States. We are the only Southern Hemisphere country with binding legal obligations under Kyoto and giants like China and India have got off scot free.”[28]

From January 2008, Smith was giving speeches as National's Climate Change Spokesman. In one speech, he stating there was no question that the destabilising of the earth's climate, caused by increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, was the “number one environmental issue”.[29]

After the 2008 general election, Smith was appointed Minister for Climate Change Issues. The Nelson Mail described the appointment as the logical choice given Smith's role as the National Party's climate change spokesman and his role in the National 'Blue-Green' group.[30]

In December 2008, Smith announced a review of the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme which had only just been adopted in September via the Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading) Amendment Act 2008.[31]

On 24 September 2009, Smith introduced the Climate Change Response (Moderated Emissions Trading) Amendment Bill for its first reading in Parliament. This bill amended the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme and it received the Royal assent on 7 December 2009.[32]

In November 2009, Smith stated in a speech to Federated Farmers that climate change is a global tragedy of the commons. It has significant consequences and the harm will fall on future generations. Economically, in terms of trade access, and environmentally, New Zealand must do its fair share. As it is a complex diabolical problem with huge economic implications for societies based on fossil fuel use, climate change policies must be substantive and realistic.[33]

In 2010, Smith was reported by the Press as saying the basic science of climate change was sound and that climate sceptics who leapt on errors by the IPCC should subject their "flaky" research to the same level of scrutiny as the IPCC reports.[34]

Resignation

Smith resigned from all his Cabinet portfolios on 21 March 2012, after admitting that he had written on Minister for Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) letterhead to the Chief Executive of the ACC on behalf of a former National Party activist.[35] In accepting the resignation, John Key said "it's quite clear he should have made his conflict of interest also known, he shouldn't have had anything to do with the complainant, he should have delegated that responsibility as other ministers do".[36]

Housing, conservation, and environment

Smith at his swearing-in as a Cabinet minister in January 2013

On 22 January 2013, Smith was returned to the Cabinet[37] and appointed to the Offices of Minister of Conservation and Minister of Housing.[38][39]

Smith was re-elected in Nelson during the 2014 general election, defeating Labour candidate Maryan Street by 7,605 votes.[40] Following the re-election of National, he served as Minister of Building and Housing and Minister of Environment.[2]

Opposition, 2017–present

Nick Smith was re-elected in Nelson during the 2017 general election, defeating Labour candidate Rachel Boyack by 4,283 votes.[41] He became National's Spokesperson for Electoral Reform and State Services (including Open Government) portfolios in the Shadow Cabinet of Simon Bridges.[2] Smith was named as the party's new spokesperson for Crown–Māori Relations in January 2019.[42][43]

Smith, in his capacity as National's electoral reform spokesperson, criticized in March 2019 the Labour members of Parliament's Justice Select Committee for blocking China expert and political scientist Anne-Marie Brady from testifying at a select committee hearing about interference from the Communist Party of China and its local proxies in the 2017 general election. Raymond Huo, the Chair of the Justice Select Committee, had declined Brady's application on procedural grounds that she had submitted her application five months after the deadline in September 2018. Smith criticized the Labour members of the select committee for blocking Brady on the grounds that it ignored Justice Minister Andrew Little's instruction that the committee consider the issue of foreign interference.[44] As a result, the Labour Government reversed its initial decision to exclude Brady.[45][46]

During the 2020 New Zealand general election, Smith lost his seat in Nelson to Labour candidate Rachel Boyack by a final margin of 4,525 votes.[47] However, Smith was re-elected to Parliament on the National Party list.[48]

Political views

In 2003 Smith voted against the Death with Dignity Bill, a bill aiming to legalise euthanasia in New Zealand.[49]

In 2004 Smith voted against the Civil Union Act 2004 and the Relationships (Statutory References) Act.[50] Smith also voted for the Marriage (Gender Clarification) Amendment Bill, which would have amended the Marriage Act to define marriage as only between a man and woman.[51]

In 2012 Smith voted against the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill, a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry in New Zealand.[52]

In 2018, Smith vocalised support for human and civil rights as enshrined in the Bill of Rights 1689, during a debate on the Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill.[53]

Parliamentary misconduct

As of 8 May 2019, Smith is the most recent member of the New Zealand Parliament to be named by the Speaker of the House when, on 8 May 2019, he was named by the Speaker, Trevor Mallard, for misconduct in the house.[54] No Member had been named by the Speaker since 2006,[55] when Smith was named by Assistant Speaker Ann Hartley.[56][57] Smith has also been named on two earlier occasions: in 2001 by Chairperson of the Committee of the Whole House Geoff Braybrooke,[58] and in 2003 by Speaker Jonathan Hunt.[59]

On 25 June 2020, Smith was escorted out of the House of Representatives by the Serjeant-at-Arms for refusing to leave when asked to by the Assistant Speaker, Adrian Rurawhe, who was enforcing the earlier ejection of Smith because he was arguing with the Speaker of the House, Trevor Mallard.[60] As he was leaving, Smith shouted, "what sort of a Nazi establishment is running the place, seriously."[61] Smith is the first person to be escorted out of the House by the Serjeant-at-Arms since the late 1980s, when Robert Muldoon was escorted out.[62]

References

1. "Members Sworn". New Zealand Parliamentary Debates. 8 December 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
2. "Hon Dr Nick Smith". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
3. "Smith, Nick – New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
4. "Back to reality: Ardern has a daunting list to check off". Noted. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
5. "Members of Parliament – Longest, shortest, oldest, youngest". New Zealand Parliamentary Service. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
6. Sivignon, Cherie (5 January 2019). "Perennial politician Nick Smith 'highly likely' to be back in 2020". Stuff. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
7. Wood, Alan (4 January 2014). "Smith's cranes give country a lift". The Press. p. B20. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
8. "About Nick". Nick Smith MP Nelson. 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
9. "The residual strength of soils and landslide stability". University of Canterbury. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
10. "The Rise and Fall of Nick Smith". Stuff. Fairfax. 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
11. "Biography". Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
12. "Don Brash is the new leader of the National Party". 28 October 2003. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
13. "Brash's deputy on stress leave". 31 October 2003. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
14. "Smith resigns after losing confidence of National party leader". 17 November 2003. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
15. "McCully at centre of Nats whisper row". 17 November 2003. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
16. "National's History". NZ National Party. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
17. "National MP Nick Smith found in contempt of court". 24 March 2004. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
18. "MP Nick Smith convicted of contempt of court". 24 March 2004. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
19. "Hunt, Jonathan: Speaker's Rulings — Contempt Finding—Hon Dr Nick Smith – New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
20. "Nick Smith likely to delay decision on byelection". 28 March 2004. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
21. "Nick Smith's political ups and downs". Stuff. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
22. "Official Count Results – Nelson". www.electionresults.govt.nz. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
23. "Official Count Results – Nelson". www.electionresults.govt.nz. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
24. Trevett, Claire (7 April 2010). "We're paying for MPs' legal bills, but it's a secret". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
25. NZPA (7 June 2010). "$15m court case against MP deferred". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
26. Forbes, Michael (10 June 2010). "Minister pays and apologises". The Dominion Post. Fairfax Media NZ Ltd. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
27. Hon Dr Nick Smith (10 May 2005). "Climate Change Response Amendment Bill – First Reading". Hansard Volume: 625; Page:20394. New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 20 June 2012. National's view is that we must treat all of those equally, we must move to a comprehensive emissions trading permit system—or none at all. We say that it is either all or none. Picking only some will cause all sorts of distortions. The Government's Kyoto policies are in a mess. This bill will not work. It will only create more problems. The correct thing for the Government to have done was to hold back, wait until Kyoto becomes truly international, and then move all players into a tradable emissions permit system.
28. Nick Smith (25 November 2005). "Nelson Marlborough Farming December column". nick4nelson.co.nz. Archived from the original on 5 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
29. Nick Smith (24 January 2008). "A Sustainable Government". 13th Annual Nelson Rotary Speech – ‘A Sustainable Government’ (Press release). New Zealand National Party. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
30. Editorial (19 November 2008). "Bold new lineup". The Nelson Mail. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
31. Smith, Nick (9 December 2008). "Climate change select committee established". New Zealand Government Media Release. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
32. "Climate Change Response (Moderated Emissions Trading) Amendment Bill". New Zealand Parliament. 7 December 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
33. Smith, Nick (19 November 2009). "Taking agriculture forward with the Emissions Trading Scheme". Speech to Federated Farmers National Council Meeting, Westpac Stadium, Wellington. National Party Bluegreens. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
34. "Basic climate change science 'sound' despite IPCC error". The Press. Fairfax NZ Limited. 10 February 2010. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
35. "Smith resigns portfolios over ACC letter". Radio New Zealand. 21 March 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
36. Romanos, Amelia (21 March 2012). "Nick Smith resigns over ACC fiasco". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
37. "Members of Executive Council Appointed" (7 February 2013) 13 New Zealand Gazette 409 at 438
38. "Appointment of Ministers" (7 February 2013 13 New Zealand Gazette 409 at 438
39. "PM announces changes to Cabinet line-up" (Press release). New Zealand Government. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
40. "Official Count Results – Nelson 2014". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
41. "Nelson – Official Result 2017". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
42. "Bennett named drug reform spokesperson in shadow cabinet reshuffle". Radio New Zealand. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
43. Coughlan, Thomas (22 January 2019). "Bridges begins year with a reshuffle". Newsroom. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
44. Garrick, Gia (8 March 2019). "National Party targets justice committee refusal to hear Anne-Marie Brady". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
45. Sachdeva, Sam (8 March 2019). "Govt set to U-turn on Brady block". Newsroom. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
46. Walls, Jason (8 March 2019). "Justice select committee chairman Raymond Huo opens invitation to Anne-Marie Brady to speak to MPs". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
47. "Nelson - Preliminary Count". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
48. "2020 General Election and Referendums - Official Result Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
49. "Death With Dignity Bill – New Zealand Parliamentary Conscience Votes Database". Votes.wotfun.com. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
50. "Relationships (Statutory References) Act – New Zealand Parliamentary Conscience Votes Database". Votes.wotfun.com. Archived from the original on 28 April 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
51. "Marriage (Gender Clarification) Amendment Bill – New Zealand Parliamentary Conscience Votes Database". Votes.wotfun.com. 7 December 2005. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
52. "Two Canty MPs vote against gay marriage bill". The Press. 30 August 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
53. "Smith, Nick". Hansard. New Zealand Parliament. 7 August 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2019. He said the 1688 Bill of Rights was just a business of persecuting Catholics. If that is the case—and this is the Minister of Justice who said that—I ask this: if it was only about constraining the rights of Catholics, why is it that every member of this House walks in, each day, past that beautiful painting of 1689, when the Bill of Rights was there? If it was just a minor little thing, why do we have that painting there? Well, I'd love to hear an answer from members opposite, if the Bill of Rights, to this Government, is so insignificant. Then I ask the members opposite: if the Bill of Rights, as the Minister in the chair says, is so insignificant, why is it that it is the only Act of Parliament that is still alive and relevant and interpreted by the courts that's more than a hundred years old—and it is 330 years old. I'll tell you why: because of fundamental things in the Bill of Rights like freedom of thought, freedom of conscience, freedom of speech, and the right to sit in this House. Again, I say to the Minister of Justice: if the Bill of Rights is so insignificant in the contribution that he's made on this part, why is it that our Speaker made such a big deal of it when this 52nd Parliament—I'm sure my new MPs will remember that historic moment when Parliament took the time to send the Speaker to Government House. And what did we send the Speaker to Government House for? To re-establish the freedoms of this House to speak freely, and the Minister in the chair says, "Oh, the Bill of Rights is not important."
54. "National MP Nick Smith named in Parliament and suspended". RNZ. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
55. Smith, Audrey (8 May 2019). "Nick Smith suspension: What 'naming' means for the booted MP". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 8 May 2019. The Office of Clerk does not keep a record of them but Clerk David Wilson believes the last time an MP was named was in 2006 – and it was Nick Smith again. Smith says the only person who has been named more often than him is New Zealand First's Winston Peters. He has been named at least four times.
56. "Naming of Member – New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
57. "National MP Nick Smith has been suspended from the House". Stuff. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
58. Hansard. 597. New Zealand Parliament. 2001. p. 461.
59. "Volume 608, Week 24 – Wednesday, 14 May 2003 – Hansard (debates)". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
60. "Serjeant-at-Arms called to boot National MP Nick Smith out of the House". Stuff. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
61. "National MP Nick Smith booted from the House, calls govt 'Nazi establishment'". RNZ. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
62. Walls, Jason (25 June 2020). "National MP Nick Smith's 'Nazi' outburst after historic ejection from House of Representatives". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 25 June 2020.

External links

• Nick Smith MP official site
• Profile at National party
• Profile at New Zealand Parliament
• Releases and speeches at Beehive.govt.nz