12 Facts About Barry Coates

Robert Barry Hobson Coates was born on 18 October 1956 and is a New Zealand politician who was a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives as a representative of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Barry Coates has a bachelor of Commerce from the University of Auckland and a Masters in Public and Private Management from the Yale School of Management.

Barry Coates worked at World Wide Fund for Nature WWF-UK from 1991, until 1996.

Barry Coates was an NGO observer on the British government delegation to the Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and was closely involved in sustainable development policy in the UK and internationally.

Barry Coates was Executive Director of the World Development Movement from 1996 until 2003.

Barry Coates was the Executive Director of Oxfam New Zealand from September 2003, and he stepped down on 7 March 2014 to contest the general election for the Green Party in the Mount Roskill electorate.

Barry Coates subsequently developed a programme on sustainability for the University of Auckland Business School, and was Coordinator of "It's Our Future", the campaign against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.

On 5 September 2016, it was announced that Kevin Hague intended to resign from the House of Representatives, and that Barry Coates would replace him as a list MP.

Barry Coates suggested in a July 2017 post on the left-wing "The Daily Blog" that the Green Party might force a second election if the Labour Party formed a coalition with New Zealand First without the Greens.

Barry Coates's comments were challenged by co-leader James Shaw who stated that forcing a hung parliament or second election was "absolutely not" the party's position.

In October 2019, Barry Coates praised the Sustainable Finance Forum's draft report advocating ethical investment particularly the transition towards a low-emissions economy and inclusiveness.

Barry Coates disagreed with Cumin's assertion, saying that Mindful Matters was focusing on companies violating ethical standards and international humanitarian and human rights laws.