Hamish Richard Walker was born on 1985 and is a New Zealand former politician and former Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the National Party.
18 Facts About Hamish Walker
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At the 2014 general election, Walker stood in Dunedin South, placing second in the seat.
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At the 2017 general election, Hamish Walker stood in the electorate of Clutha-Southland.
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Hamish Walker was selected as a last minute candidate to replace Todd Barclay, who had resigned due to an employment scandal.
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Hamish Walker won Clutha-Southland, defeating Labour candidate Cherie Joy Chapman by a margin of 14,354 votes.
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Hamish Walker was a member of Parliament's primary production select committee and served as the party's associate agriculture spokesperson between 12 March 2018 and 25 May 2020.
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Between 25 May and 7 July 2020, Hamish Walker served as National's spokesperson on forestry and land information, and associate spokesperson on tourism.
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In February 2020, Hamish Walker admitted to misleading the public through posting a fake social media post falsely indicating he had participated in a door knocking campaign in the small Southland town of Mataura.
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On 2 July 2020, Hamish Walker again attracted media attention when he issued a press release criticising the Labour-led coalition government for not consulting residents of Dunedin, Queenstown, and Invercargill about hosting quarantine facilities for 11,000 returnees from India, Pakistan and South Korea.
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Hamish Walker's remarks were criticised as racist by Minister of Housing Megan Woods for singling out returnees from those countries.
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Hamish Walker defended his remarks, asserting that charges of racism were an attempt to deflect from the Government's failings.
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On 7 July 2020 Hamish Walker admitted leaking sensitive medical information to media outlets about COVID-19 patients and was stripped of his portfolios.
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That same day, former National Party president Michelle Boag admitted passing COVID-19 patient details to Hamish Walker and resigned from her position as chief executive of the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust.
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That same day Hamish Walker announced that he would not be standing for re-election in the Southland electorate during the 2020 New Zealand general election.
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On 30 July 2020, a report published by former solicitor general Michael Heron, QC, concluded Hamish Walker was responsible for the unauthorised disclosure of sensitive information, his motivations were political and his actions were not justified or reasonable.
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Hamish Walker later finished working at Harcourts and launched a new real estate company in Queenstown called Premium Real Estate Queenstown, which has since closed down.
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Hamish Walker is of Scottish New Zealand heritage and his family has roots in the South Island town of Balclutha.
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On 1 January 2019, Hamish Walker reportedly saved a distressed man at the Lake Hawea dam.