Richard Prebble | |
|---|---|
_1993.jpg) Prebble in 1993 | |
| 2ndLeader of ACT New Zealand | |
| In office 26 March 1996 – 13 June 2004 | |
| Preceded by | Roger Douglas |
| Succeeded by | Rodney Hide |
| 28thMinister of Police | |
| In office 10 July 1990 – 2 November 1990 | |
| Prime Minister | Geoffrey Palmer Mike Moore |
| Preceded by | Roger Douglas |
| Succeeded by | John Banks |
| 1stMinister for State Owned Enterprises | |
| In office 9 February 1990 – 2 November 1990 | |
| Prime Minister | Geoffrey Palmer Mike Moore |
| Preceded by | Stan Rodger |
| Succeeded by | Doug Kidd |
| In office 1 August 1987 – 4 November 1988 | |
| Prime Minister | David Lange |
| Succeeded by | David Lange |
| 14thMinister of Transport | |
| In office 26 July 1984 – 24 August 1987 | |
| Prime Minister | David Lange |
| Preceded by | George Gair |
| Succeeded by | Bill Jeffries |
| Member of theNew Zealand Parliament forAuckland Central | |
| In office 29 November 1975 – 6 November 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Norman Douglas |
| Succeeded by | Sandra Lee |
| Member of theNew Zealand Parliament forWellington Central | |
| In office 12 October 1996 – 27 November 1999 | |
| Preceded by | Electorate re-created |
| Succeeded by | Marian Hobbs |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1948-02-07)7 February 1948 (age 77) Kent, England |
| Political party | ACT New Zealand (1996 – 2004) |
| Other political affiliations | Labour (until 1996) |
| Relatives | Tom Prebble (brother) Mark Prebble (brother) Antonia Prebble (niece) |
Richard William PrebbleCBE (born 7 February 1948) is a former member of theNew Zealand Parliament. Initially a member of theLabour Party, he joined the newly formedACT New Zealand party underRoger Douglas in 1996, becoming its leader from 1996 to 2004.
Prebble was born inKent, England, to Kenneth Ralph Prebble and Mary Prebble (née Hoad). In 1948, he moved with his parents and older brothers John andTom Prebble when his father became vicar ofNorthcote parish in Auckland.[1][2] His father was an Anglo-CatholicAnglican priest, and a leader in theCharismatic Renewal as archdeacon atSt. Pauls, on retirement he and Mary were received into theRoman Catholic Church.[3] He was educated atAuckland Grammar School before becoming a barrister and solicitor in 1971.[4] From 1973 to 1974, he worked overseas inFiji where he practised law.[5]
Prebble's older brother, John Prebble KC, is an emeritus professor in law atVictoria University of Wellington. His younger brother,Mark Prebble was the State Services Commissioner and head of New Zealand's public service. John's daughterAntonia Prebble is an actor with a number of television roles.
Prebble has been married three times. His first wife wasNancy Cocks, and his second wasDoreen Kuper, a former Honorary Consul for theSolomon Islands in New Zealand.[6] His current wife is former Press Gallery radio journalistNgahuia Wade.[7] Cocks was a member of the Labour Party's Fijian branch; in 1975, she was elected to Labour's national executive.[8]
| Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975–1978 | 38th | Auckland Central | Labour | ||
| 1978–1981 | 39th | Auckland Central | Labour | ||
| 1981–1984 | 40th | Auckland Central | Labour | ||
| 1984–1987 | 41st | Auckland Central | Labour | ||
| 1987–1990 | 42nd | Auckland Central | Labour | ||
| 1990–1993 | 43rd | Auckland Central | Labour | ||
| 1996–1999 | 45th | Wellington Central | 1 | ACT | |
| 1999–2002 | 46th | List | 1 | ACT | |
| 2002–2005 | 47th | List | 1 | ACT | |
Prebble was originally a member of theLabour Party and in 1965 he became chairman of theAuckland Central Electorate Committee. At the1969 and1972 elections he was a campaign organiser for Auckland Central MPNorman Douglas. When Douglas announced his retirement Prebble was selected, aged 27, to replace him as Labour's candidate in the seat.[9] He was successful in being elected in the Auckland Central electorate at the1975 election.[10]
Soon after his election, owing mainly to Labour's drastic reduction in MPs in their 1975 defeat, he was made Labour's spokesman for race relations and the environment.[11] Following the 1978 election, he was given the more prominent portfolio of justice by Labour leaderBill Rowling.[12] From 1978 until 1980, he was additionally the Labour Party's juniorwhip.[13] In 1979, Rowling decided to create a separate shadow cabinet above the caucus. Prebble was given a seat in the shadow cabinet, but was displeased at the change in portfolio allocations in which he lost justice and was instead given immigration, regional development and the environment. As a result, he refused to join the shadow cabinet to protest his allocation of portfolios he did not want. Colleagues described the move as petulant, with Prebble countering by saying "The difference in opposition to being in a shadow cabinet and being a backbencher is only in name. It's a shadow rather than a substance."[14] He resigned as junior whip as well and returned to the backbench until March 1981 when he rejoined the shadow cabinet as Shadow Minister for Social Welfare and Pacific Island Affairs.[15]
On 2 September 1983, Prebble was injured in a head-on car collision whilst he was returning to Wellington after addressing the Taxi Proprietors' Association conference. He was taken toDannevirke Hospital and was treated for a concussion and broken pelvis.[16]
Perhaps due to his legal background, Prebble became quickly known for his "tough, aggressive, non-compromising debating style."[5] From 1975 to 1984, Labour was in opposition, andRoss Meurant recalled that "Sir Rob has often said that when he was in government, the most irritating and damaging of his opponents was Richard Prebble. 'Always at it' said Sir Rob, 'Always a bother to us. Even if some thought he was mad the way he carried on, we never knew what he was going to come up with next.'"[17]
When theFourth Labour Government was formed, after the1984 election, Prebble was elected to the cabinet and was appointedMinister of Transport,Minister of Civil Aviation and Meteorological Services,Minister of Railways andMinister of Pacific Island Affairs.[18] He pressed for a Pacific affairs ministerial portfolio to be established, having an interest in the experiences of Pacific Island New Zealanders due to his time working in Fiji and the large concentration of Pacific Islanders living in hisAuckland Central constituency.[5]
During the government Prebble aligned himself withRoger Douglas, the controversialMinister of Finance, and was an associate finance minister. Douglas, Prebble andDavid Caygill were together dubbed "the Treasury Troika",[19] and were responsible for most of the economic reform undertaken by theLabour government. The "Rogernomics" reforms, which were based onfree market economic theory, were unpopular with many traditionalLabour supporters. In August 1988, Prebble spoke at a public meeting inSydenham and was greeted with jeering crowds of Labour supporters who were angry with the reforms and their consequent unemployment. While being interviewed by a television reporter he was hit, mid-sentence, by an egg thrown from the crowd. The egg was thrown by Christopher Owen-Cooper, a former serviceman who served in bothWorld War II and theKorean War, who faced a disorderly behaviour charge. Owen-Cooper was quoted byThe Dominion newspaper as saying "We've all built up frustration, we're sick of what the Government's doing. They [politicians] can't give us any answers so it was time someone gave them the hurry along." He was discharged but paid $50 in costs.[20]
Prebble held more portfolios than any other minister in the government as his post ofMinister for State Owned Enterprises absorbed almost all the portfolios of government owned operations and assets which were scheduled to be privatised (much to the opposition of the public). As such, Prebble became grossly overworked and colleagues noticed he paid little attention to his appearance with unkempt hair and ragged suits.[21] Other ministers also felt his portfolio took up too much time in cabinet meetings. Lange, in tune with the public mood, was opposed to public asset sales and impeded Prebble's efforts in selling them. The disagreement became a very public falling-out when Lange stripped him of the State Owned Enterprises (SOE) portfolio on 4 November 1988.[22] Prebble publicly counterattacked in a television interview that night saying that Lange was acting dictatorially and was in no state to be making decisions.[23] Prebble commented: "He [Lange] said the matter had been eating and gnawing at him and was killing him. I said I didn't think this was a proper basis for making policy. Mr Lange said in that case I should resign."[24] The comments on television by Prebble led to his dismissal from cabinet altogether the following day. Lange stated at a press conference that Prebble had misrepresented the detail and nature of a private conversation between the two.[22]
Prebble returned to the backbenches afterwards. In August 1989, he put himself forward to fill one of two vacant seats in cabinet, but lost a caucus ballot toAnnette King.[25] When Lange's replacement as Prime MinisterGeoffrey Palmer held a complete re-election of cabinet in January 1990, Prebble was elected and returned to the frontbench and cabinet. Palmer gave him the SOE portfolio once again and later appointed himMinister of Police as well.[26]
Prebble retained his Auckland Central seat in the1990 election. In opposition he was appointed Shadow Minister of State Owned Enterprises, Works, Police and Pacific Island Affairs.[27] In the1993 election, Prebble lost his seat toSandra Lee, deputy leader of the new left-wingAlliance party.
In the1995 New Year Honours, Prebble was appointed aCommander of the Order of the British Empire, for public services.[28]
After leaving parliament Prebble worked making consultancy deals and moved toVietnam tendering to build New Zealand's first embassy there. In 1996 he also secured a joint-venture deal to restructure Vietnam's railway system (which was still using steam engines).[4] He also joined Auckland businessman Malcolm McConnell to create the company McConnell International.[29]
New Zealand switched to themixed-member proportional (MMP) representation electoral system in 1993.Roger Douglas established theACT New Zealand party, and was joined by Prebble. Initially he did not take an active role in the party and, though frequently invited to speak at ACT functions, he stated in July 1995 that he had no intention of standing for parliament again.[29] However, in March 1996, Douglas stepped down as the new party's leader, and Prebble took over beating formerFederated Farmers presidentOwen Jennings for the party leadership.[4]
In the1996 election, the first to be held under MMP, ACT won eight seats in Parliament. Prebble won theWellington Central electorate[4] following a campaign that saw National Party leader and Prime MinisterJim Bolger predict Prebble would win rather than National’s candidate. Under New Zealand's MMP rules, a party that falls below the five-percent threshold can still qualify for MMP if it wins at least one electorate seat. Bolger saw ACT as a natural partner either in a coalition or a confidence-and-supply arrangement (a marked turn from Prebble and Douglas's roots in Labour), and wanted to ensure ACT would be in the chamber by helping Prebble win Wellington Central. The events were captured in the documentaryCampaign.[30] In the end, ACT won 6.1 percent of the party vote, enough for it to enter Parliament in any event.
Prebble lost his Wellington Central seat in the1999 election, but remained in Parliament as alist MP and leader of ACT.
Prebble was re-elected as a list MP and leader of ACT in the2002 election.
Prebble was replaced as ACT leader byRodney Hide in 2004, and did not stand in the2005 election.[citation needed]
He became campaign manager for ACT leading up to the2014 election with his stated aim to bring 9 ACT MP's into Parliament; this did not eventuate however as ACT did not gain any new seats, only retaining Epsom.[31]
In late October 2024, theSixth National Government appointed Prebble to theWaitangi Tribunal.[32]Labour Member of ParliamentWillie Jackson opposed Prebble's appointment, citing his alignment with theACT Party's policies towards Māori including the controversialTreaty Principles Bill.[33] In early March 2025, Prebble resigned from the Tribunal, citing disagreements with their interpretation of theTreaty of Waitangi, particularly the narrative thatMāori people never ceded sovereignty to theNew Zealand Crown.[34]
Prebble now lives in Rotorua[35] and he is a columnist withThe New Zealand Herald.[36]
| New Zealand Parliament | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Auckland Central 1975–1993 | Succeeded by |
| Vacant Constituency abolished in 1993 Title last held by Chris Laidlaw | Member of Parliament for Wellington Central 1996–1999 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of Police 1990 | Succeeded by |
| New title | Minister for State Owned Enterprises 1984–1988 1990 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Minister of Railways 1984–1988 1990 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Postmaster-General 1987–1988 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Transport 1984–1987 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of ACT New Zealand 1996–2004 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
