39 Facts About Chris Finlayson

Christopher Francis Finlayson was born on 1956 and is a New Zealand lawyer and former Member of Parliament, representing the National Party.

Chris Finlayson left politics to return to his legal career in January 2019.

Chris Finlayson attended St Benedict's Convent School and St Patrick's College, where he participated in debating and drama and was head prefect in 1974.

Chris Finlayson was an active party member in the Karori and Ohariu electorates, including periods as Karori branch chair in the 1980s.

Chris Finlayson graduated with a BA in Latin and French and an LLM from Victoria University of Wellington.

Chris Finlayson chaired Creative New Zealand's Arts Board from 1998 to 2001, and has twice been appointed to the board of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

Chris Finlayson was admitted to the Bar as a barrister and solicitor in 1981.

Chris Finlayson was a partner in Brandon Brookfield from 1986 to 1990 and then in Bell Gully from 1991 to 2003.

Chris Finlayson practised as a barrister sole at the Barristers.

Chris Finlayson has extensive experience appearing before tribunals and local authorities in New Zealand.

Chris Finlayson taught at the Faculty of Law of Victoria University of Wellington.

Chris Finlayson was a co-author of McGechan on Procedure, a text on the practice and procedure of the Courts of New Zealand, for its editions between1984 and 2008 and was the founding editor of the Procedure Reports of New Zealand.

Chris Finlayson has written papers on many subjects, including intellectual property, litigation and conflicts of interest and has presented New Zealand Law Society seminars on High Court practice, conflicts of interest and limitation.

On 13 December 2012, Chris Finlayson was recommended by Prime Minister John Key for appointment by the Governor-General as Queen's Counsel, based on his role as Attorney-General, before representing New Zealand in the International Court of Justice in a case against Japan's whaling programme.

Chris Finlayson stood as National's candidate for the Mana electorate in the 2005 election, and was ranked twenty-seventh on National's party list, making him the second most highly ranked National candidate who was not already an MP.

Chris Finlayson transferred to the safe Labour seat of Rongotai for the 2008 election, where he was routinely defeated by Annette King.

Chris Finlayson had no desire to be an electorate MP and often remarked that if he won the electorate he would be the first to ask for a recount.

When offered the prospect of a safer seat, like Ohariu, Chris Finlayson responded by convincing the incumbent Peter Dunne not to resign.

Chris Finlayson was appointed as deputy chair of the Justice and Electoral select committee and as a member of the Maori Affairs committee.

Chris Finlayson was National's shadow attorney-general and, under John Key, spokesperson for Treaty of Waitangi negotiations and arts, culture and heritage.

When National formed a new government in 2008, Chris Finlayson became Attorney-General and Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations.

Chris Finlayson was Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Associate Minister of Maori Development and Minister responsible for the NZSIS and GCSB.

Academic Margaret Mutu, who negotiated the Ngati Kahu settlement with Chris Finlayson, described him as the "best qualified" Treaty settlements minister than any before, saying that Chris Finlayson's perspective on the portfolio was one of "a lawyer with a conscience" remedying the honour of the Crown.

Chris Finlayson chaired the Privileges Committee from 2012 to 2017.

Chris Finlayson briefly acted as Minister of Labour when Kate Wilkinson resigned after the Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy reported back.

Chris Finlayson was acting Minister for the Environment when Nick Smith resigned in 2012 and acting Minister of Justice when Judith Collins resigned in 2014.

Chris Finlayson was said to be interested in the role of Minister of Foreign Affairs after Murray McCully retired but missed out to Gerry Brownlee; New Zealand Herald writer Audrey Young described Chris Finlayson as being "too important" in Treaty settlements to promote.

Chris Finlayson supported Simon Bridges as deputy leader of the National Party in 2016 and, after National lost the 2017 election, as leader in 2018, although later expressed regret for not supporting Steven Joyce.

In opposition for the second time, Chris Finlayson was again appointed as the shadow-attorney general and additionally as National's spokesperson for commerce, the NZSIS and the GCSB and Crown-Maori relations and Pike River mine re-entry.

Chris Finlayson was on the intelligence and security committee from 2018 to 2019.

Chris Finlayson left parliament in January 2019 after announcing his intention in November 2018 to return to his legal career.

Chris Finlayson has said the highlights of his political career had been:.

Chris Finlayson criticised the National Party leadership after he left Parliament in 2019 and repeated this criticism in his 2022 memoir, Yes, Minister.

In 2013, Chris Finlayson voted against the Marriage Amendment Bill, a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry in New Zealand.

Chris Finlayson voted against the first reading of the End of Life Choice Bill in 2017.

Chris Finlayson described co-governance as parties with shared interests and shared responsibility jointly setting priorities and managing a resource, although he noted that co-governance does not mean "co-government" and it would be impractical to apply to all government functions.

The Labour Government which succeeded the government Chris Finlayson had been part of promoted further opportunities for co-governance between iwi and the Crown, including in its Water Services Reform Programme.

Chris Finlayson has described himself as being an "odd fish" since he is gay as well as being a Catholic.

Chris Finlayson is a distant cousin on his mother's side of former Labour MP Annette King.