Chris Carter (politician)

The Honourable Chris Carter MP
Minister of Conservation
In office 15 August 2002 – 5 November 2007
Prime Minister	Helen Clark
Preceded by	Sandra Lee
Succeeded by	Stephanie Chadwick
Minister of Ethnic Affairs
In office 15 August 2002 – 19 November 2008
Prime Minister	Helen Clark
Preceded by	George Warren Hawkins
Succeeded by	Pansy Wong
Minister of Local Government
In office 15 August 2002 – 19 October 2005
Prime Minister	Helen Clark
Succeeded by	Nanaia Mahuta
Minister of Housing
In office 19 October 2005 – 5 November 2007
Prime Minister	Helen Clark
Succeeded by	Maryan Street
Minister for Building Issues
In office 21 December 2004 – 19 October 2005
Prime Minister	Helen Clark
43rd Minister of Education
In office 5 November 2007 – 19 October 2008
Prime Minister	Helen Clark
Preceded by	Steve Maharey
Succeeded by	Anne Tolley
Minister Responsible for the Education Review Office
In office 5 November 2007 – 19 October 2008
Prime Minister	Helen Clark
Succeeded by	Anne Tolley
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Te Atatu
In office 27 November 1999 – 26 November 2011
In office 6 November 1993 – 12 October 1996
Preceded by	Brian Neeson
Succeeded by	Phil Twyford
Personal details
Born	(1952-05-04) 4 May 1952 Auckland, New Zealand
Nationality	New Zealand
Political party	Independent
Domestic partner	Peter Kaiser[1]
Occupation	Former secondary school teacher
Cabinet	N/A
Committees	N/A

Christopher Joseph Carter^[2] (born 4 May 1952) was an independent Member of Parliament in New Zealand, and a former member of the New Zealand Labour Party until his expulsion. Carter was a senior Cabinet Minister in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand, serving lastly as Minister of Education, Minister Responsible for the Education Review Office and Minister of Ethnic Affairs.^[3] He was the Member of Parliament for the Te Atatu electorate, where he was first elected in 1993. He did not win re-election (to Waipareira) in 1996, but won a new and expanded Te Atatu seat in 1999. In 2010 he was suspended from the Labour Party caucus following a dispute with party leader Phil Goff, shortly afterwards he became an independent MP.^[4][5] He was expelled by the Labour Party for breaching the Party's constitution in bringing the Party in disrepute, on 11 October 2010.^[6] In September 2011 Carter resigned from Parliament following his appointment to a United Nations position in Afghanistan.

Early and personal life

Chris Carter was born on 4 May 1952, and brought up in the Auckland suburb of Panmure. He was educated at St Peter's College, Auckland and at the University of Auckland where he received an MA(Hons) in history.

Before entering politics, Carter had served as a teacher and as a poultry farmer. His partner is Peter Kaiser, a headmaster, and they have been together for over 40 years. On 10 February 2007, Carter and Kaiser were joined^[7] in the first civil union for a Cabinet Minister or Member of Parliament since civil unions in New Zealand were introduced after legislation was passed in December 2004.

Member of Parliament

Carter was the first openly gay man ever appointed as a New Zealand Cabinet minister. He has been a strong advocate of gay equality for some time, and has continued this role since entering Parliament. He also started one of the first branches of New Zealand Rainbow Labour for centre-left lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender people (LGBT) and others during the 1996–1999 term, after having lost the newly created Waipareira electorate to National's Brian Neeson by just 107 votes,^[8] and not having been placed on the Labour list for the election.^[9]

At the 2005 election, Carter was re-elected to his seat with 59.4% of the vote, a majority of 10,447.

Labour lost power in the 2008 election. Carter was re-elected, but his majority was almost halved to 5,298.^[10]

On 14 June 2010, 4 days after the release of ministerial credit card records, Carter along with two other MPs Shane Jones MP and Mita Ririnui MP (Lab - Lists) were demoted by Opposition Leader Phil Goff MP (Mount Roskill) for misuse of such credit cards. In the case of Carter, he was accused of purchasing personal items with the card, which was outside the rules for Ministerial expenditure as a minister under the former Clark government over a six-year period. Carter has since repaid the money in full, a total of $26 ($NZ). His main dispute with Phil Goff was over allegations by Goff that Carter had travelled too much as a Cabinet Minister. All of Carter's travel as a minister was official travel and approved by Cabinet (of which Goff was a member). Carter's demotion included removal from the front bench, and loss of the shadow portfolio of Foreign Affairs. Carter subsequently speculated publicly about whether he would continue as a Member of Parliament.

As a cabinet minister, Carter was entitled to the title of The Honourable and became The Hon. Mr Chris Carter,^[11] which is a title granted for the rest of his life.^[12]

Removal from caucus

On 29 July 2010 Carter was suspended from the Labour Party caucus for allegedly being behind an anonymous letter sent around the Press Gallery claiming there was a leadership challenge against Phil Goff; a charge he has since admitted.^[4] On 17 August 2010, Speaker Lockwood Smith announced that Chris Carter was officially an independent MP.^[5]

Post-parliamentary career

In early September 2011 Carter was appointed as director of the Governance Unit of the United Nations mission in Kabul, Afghanistan, with responsibility in assisting the Afghan government in fighting corruption.^[13] His parliamentary seat remained vacant until the 26 November 2011 election as there is no requirement to hold a by-election when there is less than six months to a general election.

On 18 October 2013, Carter was waiting for a colleague to leave his compound in Kabul when a suicide bomber attacked a passing military convoy on the street some 25 metres (82 ft) away; he was separated from the blast by a glass wall. If his Australian colleague had not been late, they could have been the victims of the attack themselves. Carter considered it a "close shave".^[14] In September 2015 Chris Carter was appointed as the Senior UN Advisor for Rakhine State in Myanmar after serving for 4 years as a senior UNDP manager in Afghanistan. His new role is to lead and coordinate development by UN Agencies operating in Rakhine State, a region of Myanmar marked by serious religious and ethnic conflict between Buddhist and Muslim communities.

References

Further reading

• Allan, James (ed.) (1996). Growing up gay: New Zealand men tell their stories. Auckland, [N.Z.]: Godwit. ISBN 0-908877-84-6. 
• For some more biographical details: List of alumni of St Peter's College, Auckland

External links

• Parliamentary website page