Simon David Upton (born 7 February 1958) is a former

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

politician and member of Parliament from 1981 to 2001, representing the National Party, and the current

Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment __NOTOC__ The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (''Te Kaitiaki Taiao a Te Whare Pāremata'' in Māori) is an independent Officer of the New Zealand Parliament appointed by the Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''govern ...

Early life

Upton was educated at Southwell School, St Paul's Collegiate School and the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn ...

, where he gained degrees in English literature, music and law, and Wolfson College, Oxford, as a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

Member of Parliament

Having joined the National Party in 1976, he served as Chairman of the New Zealand Young Nationals among other positions and became the then-youngest MP for

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

in the 1981 election. In the 1984 election, he was elected MP for

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, which he held until the 1996 election, when he chose to become a list MP.

Cabinet minister

Upton became one of New Zealand's youngest ever Ministers in the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

in 1990, when he became Minister of Health,

Minister for the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of an ...

, and Minister of Research, Science and Technology. As Environment minister, Upton promoted the enactment of the Resource Management Act 1991. He was responsible for establishing the Crown Research Institutes. One of Upton's most controversial actions whilst holding the health portfolio was introducing public hospital outpatient charges of $50 per night, this was later abandoned as the 1993 election approached. He also has an interest in sustainable development, and chaired the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate ...

's Round Table on Sustainable Development and is a founding member of the Board of the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction. Upton was sworn to the Privy Council in 1999. After National was defeated at the 1999 election Upton was appointed Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, Superannuation and Culture and Heritage by leader Jenny Shipley.

Life after politics

He resigned from Parliament in 2001, and moved to France. He took up a full-time post at the

as the chair of the Round Table on Sustainable Development which he held until 2005. He was also a part-time consultant at

PriceWaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four account ...

for several years. In April 2010 he was appointed as the head of the

Environment Directorate Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV) is a Directorate-General of the European Commission, responsible for the Environmental policy of the European Union. In 2010 "relevant limate changeactivities in DG Environment" were moved to the new ...

, in Paris, France. In April 2017, he was appointed by Parliament to be the next

. He replaced the previous commissioner, Dr Jan Wright, when her second five-year term ended in October 2017.

Personal life

He has two adult children.

Notes

References

External links

Simon Upton's websiteNZ Vice Chancellors' Committee
(PDF) "1982/Rt Hon Simon David Upton/Auckland/Wolfson " , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Upton, Simon 1958 births Alumni of Wolfson College, Oxford New Zealand Rhodes Scholars Living people Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand New Zealand National Party MPs University of Auckland alumni New Zealand members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom New Zealand list MPs New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives People educated at St Paul's Collegiate School 21st-century New Zealand politicians