About Stuart

Early Life
Stuart’s roots are firmly in Hawke’s Bay, the son of a local lawyer. He was the fifth generation to attend Napier’s Central School, finishing his schooling at Napier Boys High. At school he played rugby, cricket and representative tennis. He completed a BA in History at Victoria University before moving to Canterbury University. There he gained a Post-Graduate Diploma in Forestry and then a Masters in Forestry Science.

Career
After completing his Masters degree he moved to Shizouka, Japan to work in forestry and agriculture for a year. Back in New Zealand, after a brief period consulting to the Ministry of Forestry, he undertook a six month stint at the Taranaki Regional Council writing forestry plans for farmers. He then moved to Rotorua with Fletcher Challenge Forests where he worked on IT, marketing and strategic projects and later in resource planning.

Stuart's next move was to Auckland to work for Carter Holt Harvey’s forestry division in sales and marketing. During this time he completed a second post-graduate diploma and Masters Degree both in Business Management from Auckland University.

After CHH he joined a privately owned Australasian-based company specialising in importing petrochemicals, industrial chemicals and food additives. He was the General Manager Marketing and a business unit manager responsible for international market development and negotiating, importing and trading high volume low-margin petrochemical derivatives; mainly from Asia, the Middle East and United States.

After seven years he left to become Director of Strategic Development at the Auckland University of Technology where he is currently studying for a Master of Philosophy degree researching the relationship between tertiary education and economic transformation (expected completion April 2009).

Stuart moved back to Hawke’s Bay with his family in 2007 and became Chief Executive of the Art Deco Trust. “This was a wonderful opportunity to be part of the vibrancy of Napier that is epitomised by our Art Deco heritage,” he says.

Political Life
Stuart is the great-grandson of the acclaimed Labour Prime Minister Sir Walter Nash - so his interest in politics from a young age is not surprising … “To me, being in politics is all about being able to fight for the ‘right’ thing for Kiwis. It is the duty of every Government to ensure that they do not forget the people for whom they are working,” says Stuart.

Stuart first entered the political arena by contesting the seat of Epsom in 2005. “In the education sector I saw many things that needed to be different. If you feel passionately about creating change you have to get involved.”

The 2008 General Election saw Stuart enter Parliament as a Labour List MP. He is Spokesperson for Inland Revenue, Associate for Forestry and Trade, on the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee and began and Chairs the Regional Group that looks at initiatives to enhance regional growth.