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, democr ...

Early life

Robertson was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) 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 second-largest city in New Zealand by m ...

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

industrial engineer Industrial engineering is an engineering profession that is concerned with the optimization of complex processes, systems, or organizations by developing, improving and implementing integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information a ...

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 Central, and 18 kilometres southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe has the unofficial title of Aucklan ...

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 recei ...

. He would hold the seat until the

1996 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1996. * 1995–1996 Azerbaijani parliamentary election * 1996 Beninese presidential election * 1996 Comorian presidential election * 1996 New Zealand general election * 1996 Nicaraguan general electio ...

, when the Papatoetoe seat was abolished. That same year, Robertson was then elected to represent the replacement seat of Manukau East. 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 Moor ...

. In the

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

he was an assistant

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

, 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, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in variou ...

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. Ōtara lies near the head of the Tamaki River (actually an arm of the Hauraki Gulf), which extends south tow ...

. 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. Since the November , he has represented the Māngere electorate. Per ...

Rino Tirikatene Rino Tirikatene (born 1972) is a New Zealand politician and a member of the House of Representatives, representing the Te Tai Tonga electorate since the . He is a member of the Labour Party. He comes from a family with a strong political histor ...

and

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

. 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 Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

, 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 Tamaki East or Orient is one o ...

in the 2013 Auckland elections and was re-elected in 2016 and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

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