David Parker born in 1960, is a New Zealand Labour Party politician who currently serves as Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment, Minister of Transport, and Associate Minister of Finance in the Sixth Labour Government.
David Parker previously served as a Cabinet Minister in the Fifth Labour Government, as Deputy Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and Deputy Leader of the Opposition from September 2013 to September 2014, and as interim Leader of the Labour Party from September to November 2014. He represented the Otago electorate at the 47th Parliament and has since served as a list MP.
David Parker was born in Roxburgh and raised in Dunedin. During his teenage years, David Parker attended Otago Boys’ High School. He attended the University of Otago, graduating with a BCom/LLB major in Law and Business Administration. He was also a co-founder of the Dunedin Community Law Center.
Prior to entering politics, David Parker was a litigator for Anderson Lloyd Caldwell. He then pursued a career in agricultural biotechnology at A2 Corporation, Blis Technologies, Botryzen, and Pharmazen. David Parker was first elected to Parliament as a Labor MP in 2002, winning the Otago seat in a surprise victory over Nationalist Gavan Hurley.
In the 2005 general electi on, national candidate Jackie Dean defeated him for the Otago constituency but was reinstated in the House of Commons due to his place on the Labor party list. During the fifth Labor government, David Parker served as Attorney General and Minister for Transport and Energy from 2005 to March 2006.
On March 20, 2006, he resigned as Attorney General after being accused of making false statements to the Companies Department on behalf of the real estate firm Queens Park Muse Limited. On March 21, David Parker also resigned as Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Transportation, and Secretary of Climate Change. An investigation by the Companies Agency acquitted him of filing false tax returns.
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark reappointed David Parker as Chief of Energy, Climate Change, and Land Information on May 2, 2006. (The Attorney General’s portfolio remained with Michael Cullen, and Annette King took over David Parker’s previous shipping portfolio.)
In July 2007, Clark appointed David Parker as Acting Environment Secretary following the resignation of David Benson-Pope. In the 2008 general election, David Parker and Dean both ran for the reinstated Waitaki constituency, with Dean winning by more than 11,000 votes. Nevertheless, he was returned to parliament because of his status on the list.
After Labour’s defeat in the 2008 general election, David Parker became the spokesman for the opposition Conservation Agency, ACC, and shadow Attorney General. On June 15, 2010, opposition leader Phil Goff appointed David Parker as Portfolio Spokesperson for Economic Development, formerly Shane Jones, and transferred the portfolio from conservation to Chris Carter.
In the 2011 general election, David Parker was in the Epsom constituency, finishing third behind ACT New Zealand’s John Banks and National’s Paul Goldsmith but was reinstated as a parliamentary candidate. After the 2011 general election, David Parker ran for the leadership in 2011 but withdrew midway through the campaign to support the candidacy of David Shearer.
David Parker has since become Labor’s Finance Spokesperson and Shadow Attorney General (since February 2013). As of 17 September 2013, David Parker was the Deputy Leader of the Labor Party. He maintained his financial portfolio. David Parker did not stand as a voter in the 2014 election but was second on the Labor list. He was put back on the parliamentary party list.
David Parker was named Labor’s interim leader after the 2014 general election saw the party’s slump and David Cunliffe’s eventual resignation. He then ran for the 2014 Labor leadership election but was unsuccessful, finishing third behind Andrew Little and Grant Robertson in the election. David Parker was seldom offered to continue as financial spokesperson, but he declined. Instead, he was given a variety of positions, including deputy attorney general, trade and export growth, environment and foreign affairs spokesman following the resignations of Goff and former leader Shearer.
David Parker was re-elected to the Labor Party roster in the 2017 general election[. After forming a Labor-led coalition government, he became Attorney General, Economic Development Minister, Environment Minister, and Trade and Export Growth Minister, and also became Deputy Finance Minister. On 8 March 2018, as Secretary of Commerce, David Parker formally signed the comprehensive and progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement on behalf of New Zealand.
On March 2, 2023, in his capacity as environment secretary, David Parker dismissed Rob Campbell from his posts as chairman and director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in response to Campbell’s LinkedIn posting criticizing Nationalist opposition to the government’s Three Water Reform Plan. Campbell’s comments violated the Civil Service Commission’s policy on political impartiality to public officials. Mr. Campbell had previously been sacked as National Health Service Chairman Te Watu Ora (New Zealand Health Authority).
On 26 April 2023, David Parker released the results of an Inland Revenue Service survey, which revealed that New Zealand’s wealthiest families pay less than half the taxes of most other New Zealanders across all income types. David Parker said the “internationally pioneering study” found “a stark difference between what the average New Zealander pays for all their income and the ultra-rich”. On May 18, 2023, David Parker introduced the Tax Principles Reporting Act, which proposes an ongoing reporting framework for tax fairness.
On June 21, 2023, David Parker acquired the transportation portfolio after Michael Wood resigned following several stock controversies. He replaced Kieran McAnulty, who temporarily held the position following an initial dispute over Wood’s stake in Oakland Airport. On 25 July 2023, David Parker stepped down as Treasury Secretary after Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said Labor would not introduce a wealth tax. David Parker has three children and is in a relationship with Barbara Ward.
How much is David Parker Worth?
The New Zealander politician is estimated to have a net worth of $76.6 Million.
How much does David Parker earn per month?
How much David Parker earns at the end of the month as a politician isn’t known
Is David Parker a millionaire?
Yes, David Parker is a millionaire with a net worth of $76.6 million
What Car does David Parker drives?
The type of car David Parker drives isn’t known
Does David Parker own any properties?
David Parker might own some properties but there is no information regarding that on the internet.
How did David Parker make her money?
David Parker is believed to have made his money through his career as a politician and from other businesses or investments he may have ventured into.