The Honourable
Paul Swain
QSO
Swain in 2020
50th Minister of Immigration
In office
21 February 2004 – 19 October 2005
Prime MinisterHelen Clark
Preceded byLianne Dalziel
Succeeded byDavid Cunliffe
6th Minister of Corrections
In office
19 May 2003 – 19 October 2005
Prime MinisterHelen Clark
Preceded byMark Gosche
Succeeded byPete Hodgson
20th Minister of Transport
In office
27 July 2002 – 26 February 2004
Prime MinisterHelen Clark
Preceded byMark Gosche
Succeeded byDamien O'Connor
5th Minister of Commerce
In office
10 December 1999 – 15 August 2002
Prime MinisterHelen Clark
Preceded byMax Bradford
Succeeded byLianne Dalziel
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Rimutaka
In office
12 October 1996 – 8 November 2008
Preceded bynew constituency
Succeeded byChris Hipkins
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Eastern Hutt
In office
27 October 1990 – 12 October 1996
Preceded byTrevor Young
Succeeded bydiscontinued constituency
Personal details
Born (1951-12-20) 20 December 1951
Palmerston North, New Zealand
Political partyLabour
SpouseToni Reeves
Children5

Paul Desmond Swain QSO (born 20 December 1951) is a former New Zealand politician. He was a Member of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 1990 until 2008, representing the Labour Party. From 2010 to 2019, he was a councillor on the Greater Wellington Regional Council.

Early life

Swain was born in Palmerston North on 20 December 1951. He attended St. Patrick's College in Wellington. He obtained a BA from Victoria University of Wellington.[1] Swain has two daughters and a son with his wife Toni Reeves-Swain, and two sons from an earlier marriage.[2]

Before entering politics, he worked for the Ministry of Social Development from 1975 to 1976 before becoming a bus driver for the Wellington City Council in 1976. He then changed professions again, working as a teacher from 1978 to 1982. In 1987 he became a research officer for the New Zealand Federation of Labour (later Council of Trade Unions) until 1990 when he was elected to parliament.[2]

He was the employee coordinator for the Wellington YMCA from 1982 to 1986 and was also chairman of the Wellington Regional Employment and ACCESS Council.[2] At the 1986 local elections he stood for the Wellington Regional Council on the Labour Party ticket. He polled well but did not win a seat.[3]

Member of Parliament

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
1990–1993 43rd Eastern Hutt Labour
1993–1996 44th Eastern Hutt Labour
1996–1999 45th Rimutaka none Labour
1999–2002 46th Rimutaka 26 Labour
2002–2005 47th Rimutaka 18 Labour
2005–2008 48th Rimutaka 17 Labour

He was MP for the seat of Eastern Hutt from the 1990 election until the 1996 election, when the electorate boundaries were changed and it became Rimutaka. He won Rimutaka in 1996[4] and held the seat until the 2008 election, which he did not contest, retiring from national politics.[5]

In November 1990 he was appointed as Labour's spokesperson for Forestry by Labour leader Mike Moore.[6] In a December 1991 reshuffle Swain was given the Housing portfolio as well.[7] He supported Helen Clark's successful leadership challenge against Moore in 1993.[8] He retained housing and lost forestry, but later also became spokesperson for accident compensation between 1993 and 1996.[9] From 1996 to 1999 Swain was Shadow Minister of Commerce and State Owned Enterprises.[10] His select committee memberships included postings on the commerce committee; foreign affairs, defence and trade committee; and finance and expenditure committee.[1]

Minister

Swain has held a number of ministerial portfolios, including Associate Minister of Finance, Minister of Commerce, Minister of Communications, Minister of Corrections, Minister of Immigration, Minister for Information Technology, Minister of Labour, Minister of Statistics, Minister for State Owned Enterprises, Minister of Transport, and Associate Minister for Economic Development.[11]

After the 2005 election, Swain decided not to seek a Cabinet post in the new government.[12][13]

Life after politics

In the 2009 New Year Honours, Swain was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order, for services as a Member of Parliament.[14]

In 2009, he was employed by the Crown as their lead negotiator for a settlement of historical grievances with Ngāti Porou.[15]

He was elected to the Greater Wellington Regional Council, in the Upper Hutt constituency, in 2010 and was re-elected in 2013 and 2016. In July 2019, Swain announced he would not seek a fourth term on the council.[16]

In 2016, he became chairman of the New Zealand Fire Service; now Fire and Emergency New Zealand.[17]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paul Swain.
  1. 1 2 "Swain, Paul - New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Who's Who in the New Zealand Parliament 1993. Wellington: Parliamentary Service. 1993. p. 77.
  3. ↑ Bly, Ross (24 October 1986). Declaration of Election Results (Report). Wellington City Council.
  4. ↑ "Electorate Candidate and Party Votes Recorded at Each Polling Place – Rimutaka" (PDF). Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "Paul Swain leaves Parliament with sense of humour intact". New Zealand Press Association. The National Business Review. 25 September 2008. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
  6. ↑ "All Labour's 29 MPs get areas of responsibility". Otago Daily Times. 28 November 1990. p. 4.
  7. ↑ "Labour line-up". The New Zealand Herald. 6 December 1991. p. 5.
  8. ↑ "How they voted in caucus". The New Zealand Herald. 3 December 1993. p. 3.
  9. ↑ "The Labour Shadow Cabinet". The Dominion. 14 December 1993. p. 2.
  10. ↑ Boyd, Sarah (20 December 1996). "'Govt in waiting' announced". The Evening Post. p. 2.
  11. ↑ "Hon Paul Swain – biography". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
  12. ↑ "Swain not seeking Cabinet post". New Zealand Labour Party. 4 October 2005. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
  13. ↑ "Swain quits Cabinet ranks for his family". NZ Herald. 23 November 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  14. ↑ "New Year honours list 2009". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  15. ↑ "Former Labour cabinet minister takes on Treaty role". NZPA. 2 March 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
  16. ↑ "Fourth Wellington regional councillor drops out of local elections". Stuff (Fairfax). 29 July 2019.
  17. ↑ "NZ Fire Service announces new board chair Paul Swain". Stuff (Fairfax). 25 February 2016.
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