36 Facts About Richard Worth

Richard Worth was the Member of Parliament for Epsom from 1999 to 2005 and a list MP from 2005 to 2009.

Richard Worth joined the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserves, rising to captain, and had the role of Chief of Naval Reserves for four years.

Richard Worth worked as consul to Columbia and honorary consul to Monaco.

Richard Worth entered Parliament in 2005, after winning the Epsom electorate.

Richard Worth was in opposition from 2005 to 2008 and in government from 2008 until 2009.

Richard Worth opposed the Civil Union Act 2004, which granted recognition of same-sex couples, proposed the creation of a National Day to replace Waitangi Day, and put forward a private members bill to address miscarriages of justice.

Party leader John Key said that Richard Worth's conduct "[did] not befit a minister and I will not have him in my Cabinet", and said if he had not resigned he would have removed him from his Cabinet positions.

Richard Worth was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1994 New Year Honours for his work in the Naval Volunteer Reserves.

Richard Worth had a career in law and management, including being the executive chairperson of Simpson Grierson, one of New Zealand's larger law firms, from 1986 to 1999.

Richard Worth was the consul for Colombia for six years, and later, the honorary consul for Monaco for eight.

Richard Worth was a director of Prada America's Cup Limited, but would later quit after suggestions it was disloyal for an MP to be linked to a syndicate challenging the New Zealand team.

Richard Worth joined the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserves in 1968, rising to captain, and had the role of Chief of Naval Reserves from July 1990 to July 1994.

Richard Worth was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1994 New Year Honours for his work in the Naval Volunteer Reserves.

Richard Worth has been involved in the Order of St John who, in 2008, made him a Knight of the Order of St John.

Richard Worth entered Parliament when he successfully stood as the National Party's candidate for the Auckland electorate of Epsom in the 1999 election, winning with a majority of 1,908.

Richard Worth was re-elected in the 2002 election with an increased majority of 5,619.

Richard Worth lost his electorate seat in the 2005 election to the ACT New Zealand leader Rodney Hide.

Richard Worth was however elected as a list MP, and National's party vote in Epsom was the highest of any electorate in the country in that election.

When John Key became National Party leader in November 2006, Richard Worth was reassigned to the economic development portfolio.

At the 2008 election, Richard Worth lost Epsom again, this time by nearly 13,000 votes, but was re-elected on the party list.

Richard Worth became Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister for Land Information, Minister Responsible for Archives New Zealand, Minister Responsible for the National Library and Associate Minister of Justice.

Richard Worth was reportedly a contender for Speaker of the House, with the support of the previous speaker Jonathan Hunt, but Lockwood Smith was selected instead.

Richard Worth was a member of the Select Committee hearing submissions about the Civil Union Bill.

Richard Worth was a strong opponent of the bill, which allowed legal recognition of same-sex couples though a second class of relationships besides marriage.

Richard Worth reported that this amendment had about one-third of the votes in the Committee stage and was not included into the bill.

In 2007 Richard Worth proposed a private members bill to address miscarriages of justice.

The bill was ultimately enacted in 2015, after Richard Worth had left Parliament.

Richard Worth did not consider there to be any conflict of interest.

Richard Worth later disengaged from his Indian business interests and stepped down as chair of the New Zealand India Trade Group.

On 3 June 2009 Prime Minister John Key issued a press release announcing Richard Worth had resigned as a Minister.

The press release stated that Richard Worth had "advised me of some private matters in respect of which he felt it appropriate that he should resign as a Minister", and that Key would make no further comment about these matters.

Key confirmed that Richard Worth was the subject of a police investigation.

Key stated that some weeks prior he had received a separate allegation that Richard Worth had "[made] a nuisance of himself towards women", which Key investigated and had received assurances that those allegations were not correct.

Richard Worth alleged that inappropriate and vulgar telephone calls included asking her to buy transparent garments, and that his conduct was unacceptable and unwanted.

Richard Worth resigned from Parliament on 12 June 2009, citing that his role as a Member of Parliament was compromised due to "the avalanche of rumour and innuendo," and he wished to seek a new direction in international trade.

In October 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade announced that Richard Worth had been reappointed honorary consul to Monaco, a role he had held before entering Parliament.