1. Matthew McCarten was born on 11 February 1959 and is a New Zealand political organiser and trade unionist, of Ngapuhi descent.
35 Facts About Matt McCarten
1. 2.
Matt McCarten is the youngest child of John and Rehina McCarten.
3.
Matt McCarten had two older brothers named Mike and John and an older sister named Margret.
4.
Matt McCarten was placed into care following his birth and lived at the Catholic Home of Saint Vincent's in Herne Bay, Auckland until the age of two.
5.
Matt McCarten subsequently went into hiding and moved to Dunedin, cutting of all contact with McCarten's father and older siblings.
6.
Until the age of 14, Matt McCarten lived at several orphanages in Wellington, Otaki, and Marton.
7.
At the age of 14, his mother Rehina learned from his older brother John that Matt McCarten had not died at birth.
8.
Matt McCarten subsequently moved to Dunedin to live with her due to the death of his father.
9.
Matt McCarten later worked as a bartender at The Trans, then the biggest hotel in Queenstown.
10.
At the time, Matt McCarten was a member of the Hotel and Hospital Workers' Union, which was affiliated with the Labour Party; making Matt McCarten a member of the Labour Party.
11.
Matt McCarten later moved to Auckland where he worked as a manager, bartender and later helped establish the New Zealand Bartenders' Guild.
12.
Matt McCarten, who had been a member of the Labour Party since he was nineteen, became an organiser within the party's Auckland Workers' Branch during the period of the Fourth Labour Government in the 1980s.
13.
In 1988, Matt McCarten's faction mounted an unsuccessful attempt to with control of Auckland Central Labour party machinery during the annual general meeting, which failed due to opposition from the party's right-wing.
14.
Matt McCarten befriended the left-wing Labour MP Jim Anderton, an outspoken opponent of Rogernomics.
15.
Matt McCarten later became the deputy chair of Anderton's Economic Policy Network, which rallied opposition against Douglas.
16.
In 1989, Anderton broke away from the Labour Party to found NewLabour, and Matt McCarten became the president of the new organisation.
17.
Matt McCarten stood for election himself at the 1992 local elections for the Auckland Regional Council in the Manukau ward and was the highest polling unsuccessful candidate.
18.
Matt McCarten disagreed with what he regarded as the Alliance's undemocratic leadership structure.
19.
Since Lee was unable to cope with the stress of the job, Matt McCarten contacted Anderton's wife Carole and convinced her to encourage Anderton to return as leader, which he did in 1995.
20.
However, Matt McCarten later disagreed with Anderton courting the media to boost his ratings by appearing on the Holmes show.
21.
However, some members of the Alliance, including Matt McCarten, felt their grouping had made too many concessions to the more centrist Labour, and that the Alliance was abandoning its left-wing principles.
22.
Matt McCarten was compelled to resign this position in November 2004 after becoming increasingly involved with campaign work for the new Maori Party.
23.
Matt McCarten believed the Alliance and the Maori Party were compatible, and that they should not regard each other as rivals, but this view was not shared by the members of either group.
24.
Matt McCarten chose to leave the Alliance to focus on the Maori Party.
25.
In early 2005, Matt McCarten ended his association with the Maori Party as well, amid reports that he wanted to found a new working-class based party.
26.
In early 2005, Matt McCarten gained a mandate from the Unite Union to take its leadership as secretary.
27.
On 27 October 2010 Matt McCarten announced he would stand as an independent candidate for Parliament in the Mana by-election caused by Winnie Laban resigning as an MP.
28.
Matt McCarten continued as chief of staff for new Labour leader, Andrew Little until August 2016.
29.
In 2021, Matt McCarten joined the New Zealand Free Speech Union.
30.
Matt McCarten has an interest in New Left and socialist views, calling into question capitalism and the Establishment.
31.
Matt McCarten has expressed strong criticism of the state of Israel and publicly declared that Israel is "a terrorist state".
32.
Matt McCarten is the youngest son of John and Rehina McCarten.
33.
Matt McCarten has two brothers named Mike and John and a sister named Margret.
34.
Matt McCarten has five other half siblings- Lexxie, Terry, Denise, Melissa and Julie-Anne.
35.
Matt McCarten's partner was Cathy Casey, a former Auckland City Councilor who taught at Auckland University of Technology.