31 Facts About Keith Locke

Keith James Locke was a New Zealand activist and politician.

Keith Locke was a Green Party Member of Parliament from 1999 to 2011.

Keith Locke's parents were Jack and Elsie Locke, prominent lifelong political activists for a wide variety of causes.

Keith Locke attended Christchurch Boys' High School and received a BSc in psychology from the University of Canterbury, where he was active in the New Left Club.

Keith Locke went to Canada for a master's degree in sociology at the University of Alberta.

Keith Locke left academia to work as a full-time editor of the fortnightly socialist paper Socialist Action from 1972 to 1977.

From 1986 to 1990, Keith Locke worked full-time as the national coordinator of the Philippines Solidarity Network, based in Auckland.

Politically active all his life, Keith Locke joined the Socialist Action League in 1970.

Keith Locke was a pacifist and was critical of violent left-wing activism in Quebec and Uruguay as "counterproductive".

Keith Locke was appointed to be NLP foreign affairs and defence spokesperson and stood as the NLP candidate for Eden in the 1990 election, where he finished fourth.

Keith Locke continued as foreign affairs spokesperson for the Alliance and stood in Eden in the 1993 election, finishing third, and Owairaka in the 1996 election, finishing fourth.

Keith Locke was ranked 24 on the Alliance party list in the 1996 election.

Keith Locke was not elected and, after the election, was forced to relinquish his role as foreign affairs spokesman to list MP Matt Robson.

Keith Locke opted to join the Green Party and became its foreign affairs spokesperson.

Keith Locke stood as a Green Party candidate in the 1999 election and was elected as a list MP, ranked seventh on the party list.

Keith Locke was returned to Parliament as a list MP in the 2002,2005 and 2008 elections.

Keith Locke was a Green Party spokesperson for state services, police, security, human rights, and Auckland transport.

In 2000, Keith Locke had two member's bills drawn from the ballot.

Keith Locke was involved in campaigns against the New Zealand Police being armed with Taser guns, and repeal of the law of sedition.

Keith Locke advocated for refugee rights, most prominently in the drawn-out case of Ahmed Zaoui, an Algerian asylum seeker initially deemed by the New Zealand government to be a security risk, but later allowed to settle in New Zealand with his family.

Keith Locke opposed New Zealand's commitment of special forces to the war in Afghanistan.

Long a critic of New Zealand's intelligence services, in 2008, Keith Locke received, under the Privacy Act, a copy of the file the Security Intelligence Service had kept on him from 1955, when he had been 11 years old, to 2006.

In January 2011, Keith Locke announced that he would retire at that year's election.

Keith Locke delivered his valedictory speech on 28 September 2011.

Keith Locke received the New Zealand Republic's Colonel Allen Bell Award in 2011; the New Zealand Amnesty International's Human Rights Defender Award in 2012; and the Federation of Islamic Associations for New Zealand's Harmony Award in 2013.

Keith Locke claimed his initial support for the Khmer Rouge was because "many people thought the Khmer Rouge were an adjunct of the Vietnamese communist forces" and that he thought they "would be better than the regimes they replaced".

Keith Locke responded that he renounced his support after hearing of their atrocities, while the New Zealand Government of the time continued to express support for the regime.

Keith Locke explained that his previous support for the Soviet invasion was the position of the Socialist Action League, that he was wrong to have supported it, that he was incorrect in believing it would protect human rights in Afghanistan, and that he now believed it encouraged Islamic extremist groups.

On Sunday 25 September 2005 Keith Locke walked near-naked down Broadway wearing shoes, socks, a G-string, and body paint.

Keith Locke wrote on political issues for New Zealand newspapers and the Daily Blog.

Keith Locke died in Auckland on 21 June 2024, at the age of 80.