Tim Barnett (politician)

Timothy Andrew Barnett is the member of the New Zealand Parliament for Christchurch Central. He has held the seat as a Labour MP since 1996. He was a British immigrant to New Zealand and was New Zealand's second openly gay politician.

Early life

Born in Rugby, UK on 4 August 1958, he moved to New Zealand in 1991 with his then partner Jonathan Kirkpatrick. Educated at the London School of Economics, graduating with a B.Sc. (Honours) in Economics (Government) in 1981. In the UK he had been the inaugural Executive Director of the Stonewall Lobby Group, which was the first professional lobby group set up in that country to work for equal rights for lesbian and gay people.

Member of Parliament

He was elected to Parliament as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Christchurch Central in 1996. He has been active in many community-based organisations in New Zealand, including the lesbian, gay and transgender (LGBT) section of the Labour Party, (Rainbow Labour) which he helped to found in 1997, and is a supporter of UniQ, the Queer Students Association at New Zealand universities. He was the Parliamentary promoter of the Prostitution Law Reform Bill, a Bill in his name, which became law in 2003 and thus made New Zealand the first country in the world to decriminalise prostitution, and an outspoken supporter of the Civil Union Bill, which became law in 2004 and made New Zealand the first country outside Europe to legislate for equal relationship status for lesbian and gay couples. He was appointed Senior Government Whip after the 2005 election. He currently resides with his partner, Ramon Maniapoto, in Christchurch, Canterbury. He is known to be very active in his local electorate chairing a Youth Advisory Committee as well as being a regular contributor to the St Albans Neighbourhood News.

At the 2005 general election, Barnett was re-elected with 52.35% of the vote and a majority of 6,694.

Tim Barnett plans to retire at the 2008 General Election and will be succeeded by Brendon Burns as Labour's Christchurch Central candidate.

Political offices

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Further reading

:*citation |title = Access to justice: rhetoric or reality [Australasian Law Reform Agencies Conference (2004: Wellington, NZ)] |place = Wellington, [N.Z.] |publisher = Law Commission |year = 2004

*"Barnett's contribution is a paper entitled:" "Law reform and politicians."

:*citation |title = Human rights and New Zealand law: proceedings of the Centre for Peace Studies seminar, 18 September 1999 [Occasional paper (University of Auckland. Centre for Peace Studies); no. 8.] |place = Auckland, [N.Z.] |publisher = Centre for Peace Studies, University of Auckland |year = 1999

*"Barnett's contribution is a paper entitled:" "Human rights and New Zealand law."

:*citation |first1 = Tim |last1 = Barnett |title = Aroha poha tikanga: volunteering in Aotearoa/New Zealand: produced for the Community Employment Group of the Department of Labour |place = Christchurch, [N.Z.] |publisher = The Group |year = 1996

:*citation |first1 = Tim |last1 = Barnett |title = Volunteer centres in Aotearoa/New Zealand / produced for the Community Employment Group of the Department of Labour |place = Christchurch, [N.Z.] |publisher = The Group |year = 1996

:*citation |first1 = Tim |last1 = Barnett |title = Report by the New Zealand delegate to the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum held in Valparaiso, Chile 14-19 January 2001 [New Zealand. Delegation (Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (9th: 2001: Valparaíso, Chile)) |place = Wellington, [N.Z.] |publisher = House of Representatives |year = 2001

:*citation |first1 = Tim (chair) |last1 = Barnett |title = Inquiry into matters relating to the visit of the president of China to New Zealand in 1999: report of the Justice and Electoral Committee |place = Wellington, [N.Z.] |publisher = House of Representatives |year = 2000

:*citation |first1 = Tim (chair) |last1 = Barnett |title = Inquiry into the 1999 general election: report of the Justice and Electoral Committee |place = Wellington, [N.Z.] |publisher = House of Representatives |year = 2001

:*citation |first1 = Tim (chair) |last1 = Barnett |title = Transcripts of evidence heard in the course of an inquiry into matters relating to the visit of the president of China to New Zealand in 1999 : special report of the Justice and Electoral Committee |place = Wellington, [N.Z.] |publisher = House of Representatives |year = 2001

:*citation |first1 = Tim (chair) |last1 = Barnett |title = Inquiry into the 2002 general election: report of the Justice and Electoral Committee |place = Wellington, [N.Z.] |publisher = House of Representatives |year = 2004

:*citation |first1 = Tim (chair) |last1 = Barnett |title = Inquiry into the 2004 Local Authority elections: report of the Justice and Electoral Committee |place = Wellington, [N.Z.] |publisher = House of Representatives |year = 2005

:*citation |first1 = Tim (chair) |last1 = Barnett |title = Visit to Australia 22 to 26 May 2005: report of the Justice and Electoral Committee |place = Wellington, [N.Z.] |publisher = House of Representatives |year = 2005

:*citation |first1 = Tim (writer) |last1 = Barnett |first2 = Tony |last2 = Hughes |first3 = Kevin (eds.) |last3 = Hague |title = The case against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in the New Zealand Police Force: a report |place = Auckland, [N.Z.] |publisher = New Zealand AIDS Foundation |year = 1992

:*citation |first1 = Mark |last1 = Derby |first2 = Glen (photographer) |last2 = Howie |title = Good work and no pay: ten years of volunteering in Wellington |place = Wellington, [N.Z.] |publisher = Steele Roberts |year = 2002 |isbn = 1-877-22825-7

*"Barnett is one of" eighteen "people profiled in this volume."

:*citation |first1 = Jacqueline |last1 = Kerr |first2 = Rolf |last2 = Weitkunat |first3 = Manuel (eds.) |last3 = Moretti |title = ABC of behaviour change: a guide to successful disease prevention and health promotion |place = Edinburgh, [Scotland] |publisher = Elsevier Churchill Livingstone |year = 2005 |isbn = 0-443-07428-3

*"Barnett's contribution is a paper entitled:" "Political and legal environments."

External links

* [http://www.timbarnett.org.nz/ Tim Barnett's website]