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Phil Twyford

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The Honourable
Phil Twyford
MP
Twyford in 2023
10th Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control
In office
6 November 2020 – 1 February 2023
Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern
Chris Hipkins
Preceded byWinston Peters
Succeeded byNanaia Mahuta
8th Minister for Economic Development
In office
27 June 2019 – 6 November 2020
Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern
Preceded byDavid Parker
Succeeded byStuart Nash
1st Minister for Urban Development
In office
27 June 2019 – 6 November 2020
Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern
Preceded byOffice Created
Succeeded byOffice Abolished
27th Minister of Transport
In office
26 October 2017 – 6 November 2020
Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern
Preceded bySimon Bridges
Succeeded byMichael Wood
27th Minister of Housing and Urban Development
In office
26 October 2017 – 27 June 2019
Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern
Preceded byAmy Adams
Succeeded byMegan Woods
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Te Atatū
Incumbent
Assumed office
26 November 2011
Preceded byChris Carter
Majority131
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Labour Party list
In office
8 November 2008 – 26 November 2011
Personal details
Born (1963-05-04) 4 May 1963 (age 61)
Auckland, New Zealand
Political partyLabour
Alma materUniversity of Auckland
Websitetwyford.org.nz

Philip Stoner Twyford (born 4 May 1963) is a politician from New Zealand and a member of the Labour Party. He has been a Member of Parliament since 2008. He is the Labour Party MP for Te Atatū.

Early years

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Twyford was born in 1963[1] in Auckland.[2] His middle name, Stoner, is the maiden name of his mother.[1][3] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Auckland in 1999.[4] Before politics he worked as the founding director of Oxfam New Zealand, as a journalist and a trade union organiser.[5]

Member of Parliament

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Twyford stood for election in the North Shore electorate at the 2005 and 2008 elections. He placed second both times but in 2008 he was elected as a list MP. Prior to entering Parliament, Twyford was a representative on Labour's policy council.[6] After the resignation of Chris Carter, Twyford contested and won the Te Atatū electorate in the 2011 general election and has retained the electorate since.

Opposition, 2008–2017

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Twyford's first nine years as a Member of Parliament were spent in Opposition. He held a range of urban development and foreign affairs portfolios under successive Labour leaders including development assistance, disarmament and arms control (2008–2011), transport or associate transport (2011–2013, 2014–2017), housing (2013–2017) and building and construction (2009–2011, 2015–2017). In his second term, he was ranked 11th in the shadow Cabinet by leader David Shearer and he continued as a senior member of the Opposition under David Cunliffe and, in Twyford's third term, Andrew Little and Jacinda Ardern.

As an Auckland-based member of Parliament Twyford was appointed to the Auckland Governance Committee which examined the National Government's proposals to consolidate Auckland's eight existing local authorities into one "supercity" governed by the Auckland Council. The Labour Party opposed the reforms. In 2009, Twyford promoted the Local Government (Protection of Auckland Assets) Amendment Bill to address concerns that the council amalgamation was partially to allow the sell-off of public assets. The Bill was defeated at first reading.[7][8]

A second member's Bill in Twyford's name, the Depleted Uranium (Prohibition) Bill, was selected for debate in September 2010. It proposed a ban on depleted uranium weapons and armour from New Zealand.[9][10][11] It was debated in June 2012, and failed to advance on a tied vote.[12]

As housing spokesperson in July 2015, Twyford was criticised for alleged racism when he produced statistics claiming that Chinese foreign buyers were disproportionately buying up real estate in Auckland.[13][14]

Sixth Labour Government, 2017–2023

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New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2008–2011 49th List 26 Labour
2011–2014 50th Te Atatū 33 Labour
2014–2017 51st Te Atatū 7 Labour
2017–2020 52nd Te Atatū 5 Labour
2020–2023 53rd Te Atatū 4 Labour
2023–present 54th Te Atatū 49 Labour

Twyford was elected as a Cabinet Minister by the Labour Party caucus following Labour's formation of a coalition government with New Zealand First and the Greens,[15] and appointed as the Minister of Housing and Urban Development and the Minister of Transport.[16] In November 2017, Twyford defended his government's proposed Overseas Investment Amendment Act to ban foreign buyers from buying residential property in order to ease the country's housing shortage.[17][18]

On 24 May 2018, Twyford was dismissed from responsibility for civil aviation (part of the Transport portfolio) after making an unauthorised phone call on a domestic flight as the plane was taking off, a violation of national civil aviation laws. The matter had been raised by Opposition Transport spokesperson Judith Collins. Twyford also offered to resign as Transport Minister but his resignation was turned down by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.[19][20]

Twyford in 2011

On 23 January 2019, Twyford admitted that the Government would not meet its first target of building 1,000 KiwiBuild homes by 1 July 2019, stating that only 300 homes would be built by then.[21][22]

On 27 June 2019, in Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's first major reshuffle of the coalition government, Twyford was replaced as Housing Minister by Megan Woods and succeeded David Parker as Minister of Economic Development. He retained the Urban Development and Transport portfolios.[23]

During the 2020 New Zealand general election, Twyford was the subject of a Facebook attack ad by his National Party opponent Alfred Ngaro alleging that Twyford supported recreational cannabis and unlimited abortion. Though Ngaro subsequently deleted his post, Twyford captured a screenshot and accused his opponent of spreading fake news.[24] In response, National Party leader Judith Collins issued a media statement that Ngaro's comments did not represent the views of the party.[25] Twyford retained his seat in Te Atatū by a final margin of 10,508 votes, defeating Ngaro.[26]

Following the 2020 election, Twyford was dropped from Cabinet but remained a Minister outside of Cabinet as Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control, Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth, Associate Minister of Immigration and Associate Minister for the Environment.[27]

In a cabinet reshuffle by new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins on 31 January 2023, Twyford lost all his remaining ministerial portfolios.[28] On 10 February 2023, Twyford was granted retention of the title "The Honourable" for life, in recognition of his term as a member of the Executive Council.[29]

During the 2023 New Zealand general election, Twyford retained the Te Atatū by a narrow margin of 131 votes over the National Party candidate Angee Nicholas.[30]

In early November 2023, Twyford condemned violence by both Hamas and the Israeli Defense Force during the 2023 Israel-Hamas war at a Palestine solidarity rally in Auckland. He was booed off the stage by the crowd. Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick also spoke at the same rally and expressed support for the Palestinians, chanting "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."[31] In response to controversy around Swarbrick's chant, Twyford stated that he "chose not to [use it] because I think it's unhelpful."[32]

Sixth National Government, 2023–present

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Following the formation of the National-led coalition government in late November 2023, Twyford assumed the shadow immigration, disarmament and arms control, and associate foreign affairs portfolios in the Shadow Cabinet of Chris Hipkins.[33]

Political views

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Twyford identifies as a social democrat.[34] In his maiden speech to Parliament, Twyford expressed support for a New Zealand republic.[35]

References

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  1. ^ a b Gower, Patrick (14 January 2009). "New voices: Sam Lotu-Iiga, Phil Twyford and David Garrett". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  2. ^ "Hon Phil Twyford". New Zealand Labour Party website. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  3. ^ "New Zealand Hansard – Members Sworn [Volume:651;Page:2]". New Zealand Parliament.
  4. ^ "Graduation search results". University of Auckland. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  5. ^ "Hon Phil Twyford". New Zealand Labour Party. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  6. ^ "New Zealand Council Members". Archived from the original on 26 October 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. ^ "Local Government (Protection of Auckland Assets) Amendment Bill". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  8. ^ "Labour's Auckland Assets Bill Defeated In Parliament". Guide2.co.nz, with NZPA material. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  9. ^ "Kiwi MP submits Members Bill calling for depleted uranium ban". International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons. 19 November 2009. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  10. ^ Phil Twyford (18 November 2009). "I can smell the (depleted) uranium on your breath". Red Alert. Archived from the original on 19 November 2009. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  11. ^ "Depleted Uranium (Prohibition) Bill". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  12. ^ Kate Shuttleworth (28 June 2012). "Uranium weapons deal rejected after one MP down". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  13. ^ "Twyford's 'racist', 'cynical' Chinese property buyer statistics de-bunked". 1News. 11 July 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  14. ^ Walters, Laura (11 July 2015). "Labour's 'half-baked' property data turns Chinese buyers into 'scapegoats'". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  15. ^ "Who's in? Who's out?". Radio NZ. 20 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  16. ^ "Jacinda Ardern reveals ministers of new government". The New Zealand Herald. 25 October 2017.
  17. ^ "Foreign buyer ban will work, Phil Twyford insists". Newshub. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  18. ^ "Twyford not worried about Chinese real estate promo". Radio New Zealand. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  19. ^ Watkins, Tracy; Moir, Jo (24 May 2018). "Minister Phil Twyford apologises for Civil Aviation breach". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  20. ^ Bennett, Lucy (24 May 2018). "Grounded: Phil Twyford offers to resign, stripped of role after phone call on plane". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  21. ^ Cooke, Henry (23 January 2019). "Phil Twyford says only 300 KiwiBuild homes are due to be finished by July". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  22. ^ Walls, Jason (23 January 2019). "Housing Minister Phil Twyford is 'pretty gutted' KiwiBuild will fall short of its first year's target". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  23. ^ "PM takes housing off Phil Twyford in first major reshuffle". Stuff. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  24. ^ Satherley, Dan (10 October 2020). "NZ Election 2020: National MP Alfred Ngaro accused of spreading 'gross piece of misinformation' on Facebook". Newshub. Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  25. ^ "Collins intervenes after controversial abortion post". Radio New Zealand. 10 October 2020. Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  26. ^ "Te Atatū – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  27. ^ "Ministerial List for Announcement on Monday" (PDF). Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 2 November 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  28. ^ Manch, Thomas (31 January 2023). "The winners and losers in Prime Minister Chris Hipkins' Cabinet reshuffle". Stuff.co.nz.
  29. ^ "Retention of the title "The Honourable"". New Zealand Gazette. 14 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  30. ^ "Te Atatū - Official Result". Electoral Commission. 3 November 2023. Archived from the original on 23 November 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  31. ^ Pearse, Adam (7 November 2023). "Israel-Hamas war: Chlöe Swarbrick's use of 'river to the sea' slogan at pro-Palestine rally deemed divisive and inflammatory by academics". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  32. ^ McConnell, Glenn (7 November 2023). "'A very loaded statement': Chris Hipkins expects Labour MPs to avoid 'river to sea' chant". Stuff. Archived from the original on 24 November 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  33. ^ "Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins reveals new shadow Cabinet". Radio New Zealand. 30 November 2023. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  34. ^ Coughlan, Thomas (25 December 2018). "Twyford on his hopes for 2019". Newsroom. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  35. ^ "Head of State Referenda Bill — First Reading". Hansard. 21 April 2010.
[edit]
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Te Atatū
2011–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Transport
2017–2020 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Housing and Urban Development
2017–2019 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Economic Development
2019–2020 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control
2020–2023 		Succeeded by
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