Mark Burton

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Hon. Mark Burton
Mark Burton

Mark Burton
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Taupo
Incumbent
Assumed office 
6 November 1993
Preceded by None, new seat
Majority 1,285[1]
In office
5 December 1999 – 12 October 2005
Prime Minister Helen Clark
Preceded by Max Bradford
Succeeded by Phil Goff
Born 16 January 1956 (1956-01-16) (age 52)
Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Political party Labour

Richard Mark Burton (known as Mark Burton) (born 16 January 1956) is a New Zealand politician. He was a member of the Labour Party, and until recently, served as Minister of Justice; Minister of Local Government; Minister in Charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations; Deputy Leader of the House; and the Minister Responsible for the Law Commission.

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[edit] Early life

Burton was born in Northampton, England, but was brought to New Zealand by his family when ten years old. He attended high school in Wanganui. He has been involved in a wide range of social and community organisations, including the Red Cross, the Department of Social Welfare, the Central Plateau Rural Education Activities Programme, the Council of Social Services, the Taupo Employment Support Trust, and the Taupo Sexual Abuse Counselling Service. He received a medal for his work in 1990.

[edit] Member of Parliament

Parl. Electorate List Pos. Party
44th Tongariro n/a Labour
45th Taupo 10 Labour
46th Taupo 18 Labour
47th Taupo 16 Labour
48th Taupo 16 Labour

In the 1993 elections, Burton stood as the Labour Party's candidate for Tongariro, an electorate in the central North Island, defeating Ian Peters. This later became the seat of Taupo, which Burton retained.

Due to boundary changes to the Taupo seat for the 2008 general election, including the incorporation of the National-leaning area of Cambridge, his seat is now considered the most marginal in the country.

From 1996 to 1999, he served as his party's Senior Whip.

[edit] Cabinet minister

When the Labour Party won power in the 1999 election, Burton became part of the new Cabinet, assuming the roles of Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister of Defence, Minister for State-Owned Enterprises, Minister of Tourism, and Minister of Veterans' Affairs. In 2002, Internal Affairs and Veterans' Affairs were transferred to George Hawkins. In February 2005 he becomes the Minister of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, and dropped the State-Owned Enterprises portfolio.

In late 2004, with Jonathan Hunt set to retire from politics, Burton was regarded by many as the Labour Party's preferred choice to replace him as Speaker of the House of Representatives. In the end, however, Labour decided to nominate Margaret Wilson for the position.

Burton then went on to introduce the Electoral Finance Bill, which if passed will make it illegal for groups to spend over $500 in supporting or criticising MPs during election year without first registering with the government.[2]

In November of 2007 Mark Burton resigned from his Cabinet positions after Prime Minister Helen Clark's portfolio reshuffle.

[edit] References

  1. ^ 2005 election results - Official Count Results - Taupo. Electoral Commission. Retrieved on 2007-09-02.
  2. ^ Electoral bill no one wants - 11 Aug 2007 - Politics: New Zealand Political News, Analysis and Comment including 2008 election coverage - NZ Herald

[edit] Political offices

Assembly seats
Preceded by
(constituency created)		 Member of Parliament for Taupo
1996 – present		 Incumbent

[edit] Further reading

  • Briefing paper, Wellington, [N.Z.]: Local Government New Zealand, 1999-2000 
  • Greener, Peter (ed.) (2005), Push for peace: commemorating the past, reflecting on the present, resolving conflict in the future, Auckland, [N.Z.]: Auckland University of Technology ; Auckland War Memorial Museum, ISBN 1-877-31445-5 
  • Burton's contribution is a paper entitled: " New Zealand defence: playing our part as a responsible world citizen."
  • Ruru, Jacinta (ed.) (2008), In good faith: symposium proceedings marking the 20th anniversary of the Lands case, Wellington, [N.Z.] ; Dunedin, [N.Z.]: New Zealand Law Foundation ; Faculty of Law, University of Otago, ISBN 0-473-13043-2 
  • Burton's contribution is a paper entitled: "Impact on government: a political perspective."