William Robson Storey (16 July 1936 – 2 August 2019), generally known as Rob Storey, was a New Zealand farmer and politician. He served as president of

Federated Farmers Federated Farmers of New Zealand is a lobby and advocacy group for farmers and rural communities. It has a network of 24 regional organisations and six industry groups. Federated Farmers lobbies on farming issues both nationally and within eac ...

between 1981 and 1984, and was a

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Member of Parliament for 12 years from 1984.

Early life and career

Before entering politics, Storey was a

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

at Waiterimu in the

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

, and was the president of

from 1981 to 1984. He was educated at

Wesley College, Auckland Wesley College is a secondary school in Paerata, at the northern edge of Pukekohe, Auckland Region, New Zealand. The school provides education from year 9 to 13. The school was founded by members of the Methodist Church in 1844, making it one ...

Member of Parliament

Storey was elected MP for

in the 1984 election, representing the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

. He retained that seat until his retirement at the 1996 election. Storey was appointed a minister in the first term of the Fourth National Government. Between 1990 and 1993, he held office principally as

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

and also served as Minister of Statistics (until October 1991), Minister for the Environment (from October 1991),

Minister of Lands The Minister of Lands in New Zealand was a cabinet position appointed by the Prime Minister to be in charge of the Department of Lands and Survey The Department of Lands and Survey was a government department in New Zealand that managed the ad ...

, Minister of Survey and Land Information and Minister in Charge of the Valuation Department. He was not reappointed a minister after the 1993 election and retired three years later. One of his achievements as Minister of Transport was overseeing the merger of the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

's traffic enforcement fleet into the New Zealand Police in 1993. Under Storey, compulsory bicycle helmet wearing legislation was introduced on 1 January 1994.

Honours

In 1990, Storey received the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to 3,632 people. Background The New Zealand 1990 Com ...

. In the

2007 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2007 were appointments made by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year cele ...

, he was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The King's Service Order () established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant of Queen regnant, Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to t ...

for public services. His wife, Lorraine, had received the same honour, for community service, in the

1997 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1997 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

Death

Storey died in

Te Awamutu Te Awamutu is a town in the Waikato, Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the council seat of the Waipā District and serves as a service town for the farming communities which surround it. Te Awamutu is located some south ...

on 2 August 2019, after 59 years of marriage. His wife, Lorraine, died in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

on 6 January 2024.

References

''The First 50 Years: A History of the New Zealand National Party'' by Barry Gustafson (1986, Reed Methuen, Auckland) {{DEFAULTSORT:Storey, Rob 1936 births 2019 deaths Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand farmers New Zealand National Party MPs People educated at Wesley College, Auckland New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Companions of the Queen's Service Order Environment ministers of New Zealand