Gordon Copeland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Parl. | Electorate | List Pos. | Party |
| 47th | List | 2 | United Future |
| 48th | List | 3 | United Future |
Gordon Copeland is a New Zealand born politician. He is a member of the United Future New Zealand party, having been elected to Parliament as a list MP in the 2002 elections. Previously, he held a number of corporate positions before working as the financial administrator for the Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington.
In New Zealand's September 2005 general election, Copeland narrowly bested a low UFNZ share of the total electorate vote to become United Future's second list MP. Since his re-election, he has drawn the ire of social liberals for his social conservative political views. In early December 2005, he introduced his colleague Larry Baldocks' Marriage Amendment(Gender Clarification) Bill, which was heavily defeated. Emulating similar Australian federal and US federal and state legislation, it sought to ban same-sex marriage in New Zealand. Opponents argued that after New Zealand's Court of Appeal had decided Quilter v Attorney General in the mid-nineties, same-sex marriage was a moot issue in common law, and marriage itself continued to be a heterosexual only institution. They also charged that Copeland's real target was New Zealand's controversial Civil Union Act 2004, given that Copeland's unsuccessful legislation sought to amend the Bill of Rights Act 1990 through removing family and marital status from its anti-discrimination sections. New Zealand's Attorney-General, Michael Cullen, had rejected the Marriage Amendment (Gender Clarification) Bill as on that basis.
More recently, Copeland has protested against the establishment of a hosted website for Australian euthanasia activist Philip Nitschke's Exit International, and approached the New Zealand Ministers of Immigration and Information Technology, as well as New Zealand Police, to frustrate Nitschke's attempts to resettle in that country. Some critics have speculated that Copeland may try to introduce a private members bill equivalent to Australia's controversial federal Criminal Code Amendment (Suicide Related Material Offences) Act 2005,
It has now also emerged that he wants to introduce another private members ballot bill, designed to require women seeking abortion to undergo compulsory counseling covering both proceeding with the pregnancy & abortion prior making a decision. This bill is entitled the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion (Informed Consent) Bill, and appears based on Australian Capital Territory legislation, repealed several years ago. At present, women are not obliged to consult optional counselling services under the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977.Copeland however believes that an "informed" decision is better than an uninformed decision - hence the title to the Bill which has yet to be drawn from the Parliamentary ballot. It is anticipated that the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand will argue that anti-abortionists usually comprehend "informed consent" in a skewed way, relying on questionable attributions about abortion, and ignoring risks from pregnancy and childbirth within this context.
Copeland has also attracted criticism over his stand against Sue Bradford's private members bill, which seeks to outlaw parental corporal punishment of children. Bradford observed that when Copeland obtained a Queen's Counsel opinion against her bill, he didn't disclose that his chosen advocate had previously represented Christian Right organisations like Right to Life New Zealand and the Society for Promotion of Community Standards. [1]
Gordon Copeland is a "liberal" politician in other policy areas. For example he has given strong support to the Working for Families package which delivers targeted tax relief to some 350,000 families with children. He also champions income splitting for families with children. He has introduced a Bill adding private property rights to the NZ Bill of Rights Act and successfully introduced a mortgage diversion component to the KiwiSaver Scheme. He has advocated for lower taxes for both individuals and companies. His present policy responsibilities include a National control strategy for deer, chamois and pigs; water quality; walking access for receationalist; a review of the Prostitution Reform Act 2003 and climate change. Gordon is married to Anne, has a daughter, four sons and eight grandchildren. Prior to entering parliament he had 14years in the Oil Industry ending as the CFO of BP in NZ. He was also a self employed business consultant with corporate & government clients. From 1984 to 2002 he was the Financial Administrator of the Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington. He has been involved in a wide range of ecumenical activities & in 2000 convened "Celebrate Jesus 2000" which saw 28,000 Christians come together at Wellington's Westpac Stadium to celebrate the 2000th birthday of Jesus. He holds a B. Com.degree from Victoria University of Wellington & is a Chartered Accountant.
Gordon Copeland's Roles in Parliament:
- Party Whip, United Future
- Spokesman on:
Economics and Business
Finance; Revenue; Customs; Public Trust; Economic Development; Industry & Regional Development; Industry & Regional Development; Small Business; Commerce; State Owned Enterprise; Labour & Immigration;
Primary Industry
Agriculture; Forestry; Fisheries; Horticulture;
Infrastructure
Energy; Transport; Transport Safety; Land Information; Statistics; Communications;
Outdoors
Tourism; Conservation; Sport and Recreation
- Member of the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee
- Member and Deputy Chair of the Commerce Select Committee
