Christopher Joseph Carter (born 4 May 1952) is a former

New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party, also known simply as Labour (), is a Centre-left politics, centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descri ...

and independent Member of the New Zealand Parliament. He was a senior

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

in the

Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand The Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand was the List of New Zealand governments, government of New Zealand from 10 December 1999 to 19 November 2008. New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party leader Helen Clark negotiated a coalition with Jim A ...

, serving lastly as

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

, Minister Responsible for the

Education Review Office The Education Review Office (ERO; ) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with reviewing and publicly reporting on the quality of education and care of students in all New Zealand schools and early childhood services. Leader ...

and Minister of Ethnic Affairs. He was the Member of Parliament for the Te Atatu electorate, where he was first elected in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

. He did not win re-election (to the replacement seat, Waipareira) in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, but won a new and expanded Te Atatu seat in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

. In 2010, he was suspended from the Labour Party

caucus A caucus is a group or meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to ...

following a dispute with party leader Phil Goff, shortly afterwards he became an independent MP. He was expelled by the Labour Party for breaching the Party's constitution in bringing the Party in disrepute, on 11 October 2010. In September 2011 Carter resigned from Parliament following his appointment to a United Nations position in Afghanistan where he served for 4 years. In 2015 he was appointed to head UN operations in Rakhine State in Myanmar where he served for 3 years. In 2018 he rejoined the New Zealand Labour Party and stood for election as a Labour Party representative in the

2019 New Zealand local elections The 2019 New Zealand local elections () were triennial elections held in New Zealand on Saturday 12 October 2019. Election schedule Key dates relating to the local elections were as follows: Results In Auckland, Phil Goff was re-elected ...

. Carter was elected and appointed as Chairperson of the Henderson Massey Local Board with 11,250 votes. He also won election in 2019 as one of the seven elected board members of the Waitemata District Health Board with 14,593 votes. Both positions have three year terms.

Early and personal life

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 St Peter's College () is a Catholic church, Catholic secondary school single-sex education, for boys in the Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice tradition, and dedicated to St Peter. It is located in the Auckland CBD, central Auckland area of Graft ...

and at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

where he received an MA (Hons) in

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

. Before entering politics, Carter had served as a teacher and as a

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

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 in the first civil union for a Cabinet Minister or Member of Parliament since

civil unions in New Zealand Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...

were introduced after legislation was passed in December 2004.

Member of Parliament

At the Carter stood unsuccessfully as the Labour Party candidate in the Albany electorate, losing to National's

Don McKinnon Sir Donald Charles McKinnon (born 27 February 1939) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 12th deputy prime minister of New Zealand and the minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand. He was the fourth secretary-general of the Commonw ...

. In a local-body election in 1988 he stood as a candidate for the Te Atatu ward of the Auckland Regional Authority, but was unsuccessful. He placed third out of six candidates. In the lead up to the he contested the Labour nomination for the seat of Te Atatu. One of six contenders, he emerged one of the two front-runners alongside news service manager Dan McCaffrey. At the selection meeting McCaffrey was successful. At the he stood as the Labour candidate for Te Atatu and won the seat. In 1993 he was appointed Labour's spokesperson for Ethnic Affairs. In 1994, Carter was named by the

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

Peter Tapsell for calling John Banks a hypocrite over his

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...

stance on abortions. The Te Atatu seat was abolished for the and he lost the newly created Waipareira electorate to National's Brian Neeson by just 107 votes, and not having been placed on the Labour list for the election. After losing his seat, Carter started one of the first branches of New Zealand Rainbow Labour for centre-left lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender people (

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

) and others during the 1996–1999 term. At the the Te Atatu seat was recreated and he won the seat once again. From 1999 to 2002 he was Labour's junior

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

. After being re-elected in Carter was elevated to cabinet and was appointed Minister of Conservation, Minister of Local Government and Minister of Ethnic Affairs. In 2004 he was additionally appointed Minister for Building Issues. Carter was the first openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

man ever appointed as a New Zealand Cabinet minister. He had been a strong advocate of gay equality for some time, and continued this role on entering

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. At the , Carter was re-elected to his seat with 59.4% of the vote, a majority of 10,447. Labour lost power in the . Carter was re-elected, but his majority was almost halved to 5,298. On 14 June 2010, 4 days after the release of ministerial credit card records, Carter along with two other MPs

Shane Jones Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician and a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the New Zealand First party. Jones' political career began in 2005 as a list MP for the Labour Party. He b ...

MP and

Mita Ririnui Mita Michael Ririnui is a former New Zealand politician and a member of the Labour Party. He was a member of parliament from 1999 to 2011. Early years Ririnui was born in Tauranga. He obtained his education from Tauranga Boys' College, Bay ...

MP (Lab – Lists) were demoted by Opposition Leader

Phil Goff Philip Bruce Goff (born 22 June 1953) is a New Zealand retired politician and former diplomat. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1981 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2016. He served as Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, le ...

MP () 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 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 ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style ...

and became The Hon. Mr Chris Carter, which is a title granted for the rest of his life. 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 later admitted. On 17 August 2010, Speaker Lockwood Smith announced that Carter was officially an independent MP and no longer a Labour MP. Carter remained an independent MP until his resignation as a Member of Parliament on 30 September 2011. Because Carter's resignation was less than six months prior to the general election on 26 November , no

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

was held to fill the vacancy he created.

United Nations

In early September 2011 Carter was appointed as programme manager of the Governance Unit of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Development Programme (UNDP) in Afghanistan, leading the strengthening of local governance in all 34 Afghan Provinces. He served in that role for 4 years. 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 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". In September 2015 Carter was appointed as the Senior UN Advisor for

Rakhine State Rakhine State ( ; , ; ), formerly known as Arakan State, is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Re ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

after serving for 4 years in Afghanistan. His Myanmar role, which he filled until 2019, was 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.

Local politics

In 2019, Carter retired from the United Nations after seven years' service and returned to New Zealand to live in Te Atatū. He had rejoined the

in 2018. In the

, he was elected a member of

Auckland Council Auckland Council () is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that also has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is a unitary authority, according to t ...

Henderson-Massey Local Board Henderson-Massey Local Board is one of the 21 local boards of the Auckland Council, and is overseen by the council's Waitākere Ward councillors. The board's administrative area includes the suburbs of Glendene, Henderson, Massey, Rānui, ...

and became chairperson. He was re-elected in 2022 and retained the position of chairperson. He was also elected as a member of the Waitemata District Health Board.

References

External links