John Hayes (New Zealand politician)

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John Hayes
ONZM
John Hayes in 2013
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Wairarapa
In office
17 September 2005 – 14 August 2014
Preceded byGeorgina Beyer
Succeeded byAlastair Scott
Personal details
Born
John Bernard Hayes[1]

(1948-03-15) 15 March 1948 (age 76)
Political partyNational

John Bernard Hayes ONZM (born 15 March 1948) is a former New Zealand politician and diplomat. A member of the National Party, he was a Member of the New Zealand House of Representatives in the Wairarapa electorate from 2005 to 2014.

Early life and family[edit]

Hayes received his secondary education at Rongotai College and holds a bachelor's degree in agricultural science from Lincoln College.[2][3][4] He took part in student politics and was president of the Lincoln College Students' Association in 1970.[5]

Hayes and his wife Helen have two adult children.[6][7]

Diplomatic career[edit]

After a period working as an economist, Hayes joined the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He held several overseas postings, including in Singapore, India, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia (as chargé d'affaires). He was the principal private secretary to trade minister Mike Moore in the 1980s before being appointed New Zealand's high commissioner to Papua New Guinea from 1989 to 1993 and ambassador to Iran from 1993 to 1995. Later, he headed the South Pacific division of the ministry.[8][9]

Hayes took an active role alongside the then Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Don McKinnon, during the Bougainville conflict in the 1990s. In 1997, he returned to Port Moresby to negotiate peace talks between the Papua New Guinea government and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (the BRA). One such meeting saw the BRA shooting down Hayes' helicopter.[10][11][12] In the 1999 Queen's Birthday Honours, Hayes was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the Bougainville peace process.[13]

He retired from the foreign ministry in November 2003 and settled in Greytown, where he maintained an apple orchard and worked as a property developer.[7][14][15]

Political career[edit]

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2005–2008 48th Wairarapa 50 National
2008–2011 49th Wairarapa 50 National
2011–2014 50th Wairarapa 51 National

In October 2004, Hayes was selected as the new National Party candidate in the Waiarapa electorate for the 2005 general election.[7] He was placed at 50 on the National Party's list and won the electorate with a 2,752-vote majority over Labour candidate Denise McKenzie.[16] Hayes won re-election in Wairarapa at the 2008 and 2011 general elections.

Hayes had a focus on foreign affairs during his tenure as a member of Parliament. From 2006 to 2008 he was an associate spokesperson for the National Party on foreign affairs. He was chairperson of the foreign affairs, defence and trade committee from 2008 to 2014 and a parliamentary private secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Murray McCully, from 2011 to 2014.[2]

Hayes was critical of New Zealand foreign policy, including its spending on foreign aid. In his maiden statement, given on 17 November 2005, Hayes criticised staff growth in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and aid given to Niue.[17] He was an observer at the Solomon Islands general election in 2006, which resulted in protests, and criticised the government's programme in the Solomons for failing to predict violence.[18] He opposed self-government in Tokelau, Niue and the Cook Islands and called for a "rethink" in New Zealand's constitutional relationship with those nations in a speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs in 2009.[19][20][21] In 2010, as chair of the foreign affairs committee, he revitalised calls for a "Pacific parliament," which had been a foreign policy proposal from the 1970s; this led to the first Pacific Parliamentary and Political Leaders Forum with 19 participating nations being held in 2013.[22][23][24]

On social issues, Hayes was a conservative. He supported corporal punishment,[25] opposed microchipping of dogs,[26] opposed cannabis reform,[27] supported raising the drinking age to 20,[28] stated that he was "not inclined to agree [that] there is a scientific consensus on climate change" in 2006,[29] and voted against same-sex marriage legislation in 2013.[30]

Hayes retired at the 2014 election after being challenged for the Wairarapa candidacy by Alastair Scott.[31] In August 2016 he announced he would contest the mayoralty in the South Wairarapa district;[32] he placed third in the October 2016 election.[33]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "New Zealand Hansard - Members Sworn Volume:651;Page:2". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013.
  2. ^ a b "John Hayes". New Zealand Parliament. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  3. ^ "The Chariot". Rongotai College Old Boys' Association. Archived from the original on 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Lincoln University Notable Alumni John Hayes". Lincoln University Living Heritage: Tikaka Tuku Iho. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Lincoln Ex-President under Fire from Caclin". Salient. 22 April 1970. Archived from the original on 24 July 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  6. ^ Thompson, Ainsley (23 September 2005). "New MPs: John Hayes". NZ Herald. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  7. ^ a b c "Hayes pledges hell of a fight". Wairarapa Times-Age. 22 October 2004. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  8. ^ Field, Michael (4 March 2015). "Diplomat: GCSB must have a really boring job". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  9. ^ Dearnaley, Michael (30 June 2000). "NZ gets flak over soldiers". NZ Herald. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  10. ^ New Zealand International Review, May–June 1998 v23
  11. ^ Roughan, John (4 July 2003). "Our people pretty good at making or keeping peace". NZ Herald. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  12. ^ "A risky assignment". New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. 18 July 1997. Archived from the original on 17 January 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Queen's Birthday honours list 1999 (including Niue)". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 7 June 1999. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  14. ^ Times-Age, Wairarapa (18 October 2004). "D-Day for Labour hopefuls". NZ Herald. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  15. ^ Katterns, Tanya (25 October 2004). "Nats pick ex-diplomat to contest Wairarapa". The Dominion Post. p. A9.
  16. ^ "Official Count Results -- Wairarapa". Chief Electoral Office. 1 October 2005. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  17. ^ "Hayes, John: Address in Reply". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 17 November 2005. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  18. ^ "Questions for NZ after Solomons violence". NZ Herald. 20 April 2006. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  19. ^ Beyond an 'Independent' Foreign Policy (Speech). Scoop News. 21 October 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  20. ^ "NZ politician Hayes urges rethink of links with Niue, Cooks and Tokelau". RNZ. 23 October 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  21. ^ "NZ MP John Hayes Discusses Aid Funds". Scoop News. 29 October 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  22. ^ Field, Michael (13 December 2010). "Pacific parliament idea floated". Stuff. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  23. ^ "Debate On Pacific Issues". New Zealand Parliament. 18 April 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  24. ^ "Pacific Parliamentary and Political Leaders Forum". New Zealand Parliament. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  25. ^ Times-Age, Wairarapa (6 October 2006). "Hayes blasts ?PC police". NZ Herald. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  26. ^ Ditchfield, Marlene (3 May 2006). "MP leads dog law protest". NZ Herald. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  27. ^ Times-Age, Wairarapa (19 July 2005). "Candidate alarmed by drugs rumour". NZ Herald. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  28. ^ "Alcohol Reform Bill — In Committee - New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  29. ^ "Hide outs John Key and the Sceptical Seven". Scoop News. 1 October 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  30. ^ "Gay marriage: How MPs voted". NZ Herald. 17 April 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  31. ^ Small, Vernon (18 January 2014). "Wairarapa MP Hayes calls time". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  32. ^ Ireland, Emily (9 August 2016). "Former MP to run for Mayor". Wairarapa Times-Age. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  33. ^ "2016 triennial elections – Preliminary results" (PDF). South Wairarapa District Council. Retrieved 10 October 2016.

External links[edit]

New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Wairarapa
2005–2014 		Succeeded by
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