Simon O'Connor
O'Connor in 2023
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Tāmaki
In office
30 November 2011 – 14 October 2023
Preceded byAllan Peachey
Succeeded byBrooke Van Velden
Majority15,402 (2020)
Personal details
Born (1976-02-25) 25 February 1976
NationalityNew Zealander
Political partyNational
Spouse
Rachel Trimble
​
(m. 2016)​
RelationsSimon Bridges (brother-in-law)
CommitteesForeign Affairs, Defence, and Trade

Simon David O'Connor (born 25 February 1976) is a New Zealand politician and a former member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the National Party. He represented the Tāmaki electorate from 2011 to 2023.

Early life

O'Connor was raised in Whangārei, the eldest of three children, where he attended St Mary's Primary School and Pompallier College. He was a keen fencer and was president of the Auckland University Fencing Club.

O'Connor completed training to be a Catholic priest, which involved working on the island of Taveuni in Fiji for two years at a vocational training centre, prison chaplaincy at Mount Eden Prison, military chaplaincy at Waiouru Army Base, and spending time with people in hospitals and hospices. He did not seek ordination, deciding instead to study and pursue a career in politics.[1]

O'Connor graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Political Studies (his Political Studies Honours dissertation looked at the works of René Girard), a Bachelor of Theology, and a Master of Arts with First Class Honours (Political Studies). He has also worked as a contracts manager for Southern Cross Insurance.[2]

O'Connor was the chairperson of Monarchy New Zealand between 2010 and 2012 and remains a board member.

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2011–2014 50th Tāmaki 62 National
2014–2017 51st Tāmaki 43 National
2017–2020 52nd Tāmaki 38 National
2020–2023 53rd Tāmaki 35 National

O'Connor has been involved in the National Party since 2005. He was deputy chair of the party's Northern Region before seeking the National nomination for the Maungakiekie electorate in 2008. He lost the selection contest to Sam Lotu-Iiga, who went on to win the seat, but O'Connor was appointed as a list candidate for the 2008 general election, ranked 72nd.[3]

He was selected as the party's candidate in the Tāmaki electorate following the withdrawal of sitting MP Allan Peachey shortly before the 2011 election and was elected to Parliament.[4][5] In his first term, he was a member of the Education and Science committee and the Transport and Industrial Relations committee, and the deputy chair of the Finance and Expenditure committee.[6] O'Connor held his electorate at the 2014 general election. In his second term, he chaired the Health committee.[6] During his tenure as chair, the committee ran an inquiry into euthanasia which did not propose any changes to the law.[7]

O'Connor was re-elected at both the 2017 general election and the 2020 general election.[8][9] National was in opposition after these two elections. O'Connor held various National Party spokesperson roles during this period, including corrections (2017 to 2023), customs (2018 to 2023), arts, culture and heritage (2020 to 2023) and internal affairs (two separate periods in 2021 and 2023).[6] He briefly resigned his portfolios in late 2021 when his brother-in-law, Simon Bridges, was demoted by National leader Judith Collins.[10] He chaired the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade committee from 2017 to 2020 and was a member of the Justice committee from 2021 to 2023.[6][11]

Since 2020, O'Connor was a co-chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), an international group of legislators working towards reform on how democratic countries approach China, and specifically, the Chinese Communist Party.[12] In December 2020, he and fellow IPAC member Louisa Wall urged New Zealand to speak out against China's alleged "coercive diplomacy" and support Australia in the face of diplomatic and economic pressure from China.[13] In August 2022, O'Connor, fellow IPAC member Labour MP Ingrid Leary, and other members from Australia, India and Japan launched a new local Indo-Pacific chapter to focus on increased Chinese militarisation in that region.[14]

Defeat at the 2023 general election

On 30 September 2022, it was reported that three unknown people had launched campaigns to replace O'Connor as the National party's Tāmaki candidate at the 2023 New Zealand general election.[15] On 21 October, O'Connor's challengers were identified as lawyer Andrew Grant and restaurant proprietor Sang Cho. Grant had publicly opposed "tough on crime" rhetoric.[16] Ultimately, the challenge was unsuccessful and O'Connor was confirmed as the National Party candidate for Tāmaki at a party meeting in November 2022.[17]

In late April 2023, ACT New Zealand confirmed that its deputy leader Brooke van Velden would be contesting O'Connor's Tāmaki electorate in a "two ticks" campaign during the 2023 general election. ACT leader David Seymour cited O'Connor's socially conservative views on abortion and euthanasia as factors in ACT's decision to seriously contest O'Connor's' seat.[18] In August 2023, the National Party announced its party list for the election. O'Connor's position was 54th, down from 35th in 2020.[19] An opinion poll released on 2 October showed van Velden tied with O'Connor.[20] In the final result, van Velden was ahead by 4,158 votes.[21] Due to O'Connor's low list ranking, he was not eligible to return to Parliament.[22]

Political views

O'Connor was one of National's most conservative MPs and a member of a subgroup of evangelical Christian National MPs known as "the Taliban".[15] In conscience votes, O'Connor voted:

O'Connor has received criticism for comments he has made in relation to his conservative views.

On 10 September 2017, two weeks before the general election and on World Suicide Prevention Day, O'Connor posted on Facebook that it was "strange" how Labour leader Jacinda Ardern was "concerned about youth suicide" but was "happy to encourage the suicide of the elderly, disabled, and sick" by way of her support of the End of Life Choice Bill.[27] The post was condemned by some politicians and social media.[27]

In March 2020, he attracted attention for a statement he made as part of his speech in opposition to the third reading of the Abortion Legislation Bill, where he repeated a quotation from the Bible in Latin: "Mihi vindicta: ego retribuam, dicit Dominus," which is translated as "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” The contrast between this and the criticisms of the bill's opponents in the speech given in support of it by Amy Adams was noted by journalist Richard Harman as a public expression of deep divisions on the issue between liberals and conservatives within the National Party caucus.[28]

O'Connor was one of only eight MPs to vote against the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Act 2022. In early February, O'Connor spoke against the Bill during its second reading, claiming during his speech that banning conversion therapy would erase gay and lesbian individuals, who would then be encouraged to live as transgender people. He also claimed that the Bill violated free speech by focusing on "hurt feelings." O'Connor's remarks were described as "transphobic and cringeworthy" by LGBT activist Shaneel Lal, who contended that he underestimated the ability of queer children to have dialogue with their parents. Similar sentiments were echoed by Auckland Councillor Richard Hills and Labour MP Marja Lubeck.[29] The Bill passed its third and final reading on 15 February 2022, becoming law.[26]

In late June 2022, O'Connor published a Facebook post welcoming the United States Supreme Court's overtuning of Roe v. Wade. He subsequently removed the post after National Party leader Christopher Luxon stated that the post was "causing distress" and did not represent the party's position on abortion.[30] In response to the controversy around O'Connor's post, several Tāmaki residents called for O'Connor to resign as their Member of Parliament.[31] By contrast, former National MP Alfred Ngaro defended O'Connor's freedom of expression and accused Luxon of silencing National MPs.[32] On 28 June, O'Connor apologised to his National Party colleagues for the hurt and distress that his Facebook post had caused. He denied that he had been "gagged" by Luxon and explained that he had offered to taken down the post because it had attracted " toxic and unhealthy" comments.[33]

In March 2023, O’Connor apologised after making comments in Parliament that linked the 2023 Nashville school shooting to remarks that Marama Davidson, co-leader of the Greens, had made about white cisgender men.[34]

Personal life

On 10 December 2016, O'Connor married Rachel Trimble, the sister of fellow National MP Simon Bridges,[35][36] and has five stepchildren.

References

  1. ↑ Nats choose stalwart for Tamaki stronghold New Zealand Herald, 27 October 2011
  2. ↑ The Aucklander, 1 December 2011
  3. ↑ "Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties". Electoral Commission. 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  4. ↑ "National Selects Simon O'Connor as Tamaki Candidate". scoop. 27 October 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  5. ↑ "Official Count Results – Tāmaki". Electoral Commission. 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "O'Connor, Simon – New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  7. ↑ "Euthanasia inquiry does not recommend law change". NZ Herald. 2 November 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  8. ↑ "Tāmaki – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 16 January 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  9. ↑ "Tāmaki – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  10. ↑ "Live: Simon Bridges demoted by National Party leader Judith Collins over allegation of misconduct – all the latest updates". Radio NZ. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  11. ↑ Young, Audrey (12 February 2018). "Defence Minister switches view and expresses support for NZ deployment in Iraq". New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  12. ↑ @ipacglobal (25 June 2020). "New Zealand joins #IPAC with Co-Chairs Simon O'Connor MP and Louisa Wall MP" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ↑ Manch, Thomas; Malpass, Luke (3 December 2020). "Two MPs criticise China's 'coercive diplomacy' amid widening Australia stoush". Stuff. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  14. ↑ Coughlan, Thomas (22 August 2022). "Fearing China's militarisation of Pacific, NZ MPs set up anti-China group, open door to Taiwan". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 22 August 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  15. 1 2 Harman, Richard (30 September 2022). ""Taliban" National MP to face selection challenge". Politik. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  16. ↑ Neilson, Michael (21 October 2022). "National Party unveils Tāmaki seat challengers to Simon O'Connor". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  17. ↑ "National MP Simon O'Connor has beaten a challenge for the party's candidacy in the Tamaki electorate". NZCity. 6 November 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  18. ↑ Trevett, Claire (29 April 2023). "Act targets National's Simon O'Connor in bid for Tāmaki seat". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 13 May 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  19. ↑ McConnell, Glenn (19 August 2023). "National Party announces election list, minus Michael Woodhouse". Stuff. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  20. ↑ "Will Act win a second electorate? Poll shows Brooke van Velden closing gap in Tāmaki". NZ Herald. 2 November 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  21. ↑ "Tāmaki – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 10 December 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  22. ↑ "Out of the blue: Act wins Tamaki electorate". Radio New Zealand. 16 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  23. ↑ "Gay marriage: How MPs voted". The New Zealand Herald. 18 April 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  24. ↑ "National MP rejects flag change". Stuff.co.nz. 14 August 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  25. 1 2 First, Family. "Value Your Vote – 2017 General Election" (PDF). Valueyourvote.org.nz. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  26. 1 2 "Politicians react as bill to ban conversion therapy passes". Radio New Zealand. 15 February 2022. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  27. 1 2 "Jacinda Ardern wants old, disabled to commit suicide, National MP claims". Newshub. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  28. ↑ Harman, Richard (19 March 2020). "Vengeance is mine saith the Lord". Politik. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  29. ↑ Small, Zane (9 February 2022). "National MP Simon O'Connor receives backlash for voting against conversion therapy ban but activists fear law needs urgent changes". Newshub. Archived from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  30. ↑ "National MP removes post following Roe v Wade decision". Radio New Zealand. 26 June 2022. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  31. ↑ Armah, Mildred (28 June 2022). "Roe v Wade: Constituents call for Simon O'Connor to resign after social media post". Stuff. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  32. ↑ Neilson, Michael (27 June 2022). "Roe v Wade abortion decision: Former National MP Alfred Ngaro criticises Christopher Luxon's gagging order". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  33. ↑ Palmer, Russell (28 June 2022). "Simon O'Connor apologises to fellow National MPs over abortion post". Radio New Zealand. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  34. ↑ "National MP apologises over Nashville shooting comments". NZ Herald. 30 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  35. ↑ Moir, Jo (10 December 2016). "Paula Bennett has won the battle for deputy Prime Minister and will team up with Bill English". Stuff. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  36. ↑ Jones, Nicholas (12 February 2016). "National MP Simon O'Connor to marry Minister Simon Bridges' sister". Bay of Plenty Times. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
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