David Parker (politician)

For other people of the same name, see David Parker (disambiguation).

The Honourable David Parker MP
31st Attorney-General
In office 19 October 2005 – 20 March 2006
Prime Minister	Helen Clark
Preceded by	Dr Michael Cullen
Succeeded by	Dr Michael Cullen
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Labour Party list
Incumbent
Assumed office 2005
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Otago
In office 2002 – 2005
Preceded by	Gavan Herlihy
Succeeded by	Jacqui Dean
Majority	684 (2.18%)
Personal details
Born	1960 (age 51–52)
Nationality	New Zealand
Political party	Labour
Occupation	Lawyer

David William Parker (born 1960), a New Zealand politician, served as Minister of State Services, Minister of Energy, Minister for Land Information and Minister Responsible for Climate Change Issues in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand.

Before politics

Previously, Parker worked as a litigation partner in the law firm Anderson Lloyd Caudwell, and later as a businessman. Parker joined the Labour Party.

Member of Parliament

Parliament of New Zealand
Years	Term	Electorate	List	Party
2002–2005	47th	Otago	47	Labour
2005–2008	48th	List	37	Labour
2008–2011	49th	List	17	Labour
2011–present	50th	List	4	Labour

Parker first gained election to Parliament as a Labour member in the 2002 elections, winning an upset victory over National's Gavan Herlihy in the Otago seat. In the 2005 elections the National candidate Jacqui Dean defeated him in his Otago electorate seat, but he returned to the House due to his position on the Labour list. In the 2008 general election Parker and Dean both stood in the resurrected Waitaki electorate, with Dean winning by over 11,000 votes. Nevertheless, due to his list position he was still returned to parliament.

Attorney-General and Minister

He served as Attorney-General and Minister of Transport and Energy from 2005 until March 2006.

He resigned his position as Attorney-General on 20 March 2006 after an allegation that he had filed an incorrect declaration with the Companies Office on behalf of the property company Queens Park Mews Limited. On 21 March Parker also resigned from his place in Cabinet as Minister of Energy, Minister of Transport, and Minister Responsible for Climate Change Issues. An inquiry by the Companies Office cleared him of the charge of filing false returns.

Helen Clark, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, re-appointed Parker to the Energy and Climate Change portfolios and to the Land Information portfolio on 2 May 2006. (The Attorney-General portfolio remained with Dr Michael Cullen, and Annette King took over Parker's former Transport portfolio.)

In July 2007 Clark appointed Parker as the acting Minister for the Environment following the resignation of David Benson-Pope.

Opposition

Following Labour's defeat in the 2008 general election, Parker became the Opposition spokesperson on Conservation, ACC and Shadow Attorney-General. On 15 June 2010, Opposition Leader Phil Goff appointed Parker to be Portfolio Spokesperson for Economic Development, a position formerly held by Shane Jones, and shifted the portfolio of Conservation to Chris Carter.

Parker ran for the party leadership in 2011, but withdrew part-way through the contest to support David Shearer's bid.

External links

• MP biographies

Political offices
Preceded by Dr Michael Cullen	Attorney-General 2005–2006	Succeeded by Dr Michael Cullen
Parliament of New Zealand
Preceded by Gavan Herlihy	Member of Parliament for Otago 2002–2005	Succeeded by Jacqui Dean