Harold Valentine Ross Robertson (born 22 May 1949), known as Ross Robertson, is a New Zealand politician for the Labour Party. He was a Member of Parliament from until his retirement in 2014. He also served as president of

Parliamentarians for Global Action Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) is a non-profit, non-partisan international network of committed legislators, that informs and mobilizes parliamentarians in all regions of the world to advocate for human rights and the rule of law, de ...

Early life

Robertson was born in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

on 22 May 1949. Before entering politics, he was an

industrial engineer Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

Political career

Member of Parliament

Robertson was first elected to Parliament in the 1987 election, representing

Papatoetoe Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau, Manukau Central, and southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe was traditionally an important area fo ...

replacing the retiring

Eddie Isbey Edward Emanuel Isbey (3 August 1917 – 25 July 1995) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. Biography Early life and career Isbey was born in London in 1917, the son of Alec Isbey a tailor who immigrated from Lithuania. He receiv ...

. He would hold the seat until the 1996 elections, when the Papatoetoe seat was abolished. That same year, Robertson was then elected to represent the replacement seat of

Manukau East Manukau East was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate that returned one member of parliament to the House of Representatives. It was first formed for the . Between the and the 2020 electorate adjustment it was held by Jenny Salesa, a member ...

. In November 1990 he was appointed as Labour's spokesperson for Energy and Statistics by Labour leader

Mike Moore Michael Moore is an American filmmaker and author. Michael Moore may also refer to: Academia * Michael G. Moore (fl. 1970s–2020s), professor of education * Michael S. Moore (academic) (fl. 1960s–2020s), American law professor * Michael Mo ...

. 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 ...

he was an assistant

speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

, able to preside when any of the other presiding officers are unavailable. In 2006 Robertson reported to the New Zealand Police that a

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

dealer Dealer may refer to: Film and TV * ''Dealers'' (film), a 1989 British film * ''Dealers'' (TV series), a reality television series where five art and antique dealers bid on items * ''The Dealer'' (film), filmed in 2008 and released in 2010 * ...

was operating next to his electorate office in

Ōtara Ōtara is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand (formerly Manukau City), situated 18 kilometres to the southeast of the Auckland CBD, Auckland City Centre. Ōtara lies near the head of the Tāmaki River. The area is traditionally part of t ...

. In 2013, Robertson voted against the Marriage Amendment Bill, which aimed to permit same-sex marriage in New Zealand, with fellow Labour MPs

William Sio Aupito Tofae Su'a William Sio (born 1960) is a politician who became a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives on 1 April 2008 for the Labour Party as a list MP. From the November to 2023, he represented the Māngere electorate. Pe ...

Rino Tirikatene Rino Tirikatene (born 1972) is a New Zealand Labour Party politician and a former member of the House of Representatives. He comes from a family with a strong political history. Tirikatene represented the Te Tai Tonga Māori electorate from th ...

and

Damien O'Connor Damien Peter O'Connor (born 16 January 1958) is a New Zealand Labour Party politician who served as Minister of Agriculture, Minister for Biosecurity, Minister for Trade and Export Growth, Minister for Land Information and Minister for Rural ...

. On 6 June 2013, Robertson announced that he would retire from Parliament in order to pursue a career in local-body politics. Robertson 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 services as a Member of Parliament, in the

2015 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2015 were appointments 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 celebrati ...

Local-body politics

Robertson was elected to the

Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board The Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board is one of the 21 local boards of the Auckland Council. It is overseen by the Manukau ward councillors. The local board area includes the suburbs of Ōtara, Papatoetoe, East Tāmaki, Puhinui and central Manuk ...

in the 2013 Auckland elections and was re-elected in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Ross 1949 births Living people New Zealand Labour Party MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates Companions of the Queen's Service Order 21st-century New Zealand politicians Local politicians in New Zealand New Zealand justices of the peace