Paul East

Infobox Officeholder


honorific-prefix =The Rt. Hon.
name =Paul East
honorific-suffix =CNZM QC PC
caption =
imagesize =
birth_date=Birth date and age|1946|8|4|mf=y
party = National
order =32nd Minister of Defence
term_start =1 March 1996
term_end =5 December 1997
primeminister =Jim Bolger
successor= Mark Burton
predecessor= Warren Cooper

Paul Clayton East, CNZM QC PC (born August 4, 1946) is a former New Zealand politician.

Early life

Paul East was educated at King's College and The University of Auckland He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1978 to 1999, representing the National Party.

Prior to becoming an MP, East, was a lawyer and barrister with [http://www.eastbrewster.com/ East Brewster] , a prominent Rotorua-based legal firm. East also enagaged in local politics as a member of the Rotorua City Council which has now been subsumed into the Rotorua District Council.

East is married and has three daughters.

Member of Parliament

East was first elected to Parliament in the 1978 election as MP for Rotorua, and retained that seat until he opted to become a list MP in the 1996 elections.

East served in a number of ministerial roles, including those of Minister of Defence and Attorney-General in the fourth National government. When Jenny Shipley replaced Jim Bolger as leader of the National Party, East was one of the minority who remained aligned with Bolger. In 1999, he resigned from Parliament to take up a position as New Zealand's High Commissioner in London. He was replaced by Alec Neill, the next candidate on National's party list.

Attorney-General

As Attorney-General, Paul East advocated on important international issues including a case brought before the International Court of Justice in 1995 on behalf of New Zealand against France's nuclear testing in the Pacific Ocean. East also headed the development of an advisory opinion to the UN General Assembly on the legality of Nuclear Testing in 1995. East was awarded the status of Queen's Counsel (QC) while Attorney-General.

Outside Parliament

Since 2002 Paul East has been Independent Chairman of the [http://www.cga.org.nz/ Charity Gaming Association (Inc)] which is the industry organisation for charitable trusts which operate electronic gaming machines ("pokies") to raise funds for community purposes. In 2008 the CGA's members operated 75% of non-club gaming machines in New Zealand and generated $250 million worth of grants for worthwhile community purposes.

Education

* Secondary: King's College, Auckland, NZ
* Tertiary: Auckland Law School, Auckland University, NZ
** Graduated LLB, November 1970
* Admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, January 1971
* Awarded Du Pont Fellowship and attended University of Virginia School of Law, 1971-72
** Graduated LLM, 1972

Employment

* 1968 - 1970 Law Clerk. Morpeth Gould & Co, Barristers and Solicitors, Auckland
* 1971 Barrister and Solicitor practising in Auckland
* 1971 - 1972 Graduate Fellow at the University of Virginia School of Law, USA
* 1973 Solicitor, East Brewster, Solicitors, Rotorua
* 1974 - 1979 Partner, East Brewster, Solicitors, Rotorua
* 1979 - 1990 Consultant, East Brewster, Solicitors, Rotorua

Local government involvement

* 1974 - 1979 City Councillor and Deputy Mayor of the City of Rotorua
* 1977 - 1979 Chairman, Rotorua Airport Authority
* 1974 - 1979 Member, Executive of Airport Authorities of New Zealand
* 1977 - 1979 Chairman, Finance Committee, Rotorua City Council

Parliamentary career

* 1978 National Member of Parliament for Rotorua
* 1978 - 1984 Member of Foreign Affairs Select Committee
* 1978 - 1990 Member of Statutes Revision Select Committee, latterly Justice and Law Reform Select Committee
* 1982 Chair, Select Committee on Official Information
* 1984 - 1985 Opposition Spokesman for Commerce and Customs
* 1985 - 1990 Opposition Spokesman on Justice, Attorney-General and Constitutional Affairs
* 1985 - 1987 Elected Member of the National Executive of the New Zealand National Party
* 1986 - 1987 Opposition Spokesman on Health
* November 1990 Cabinet Minister and Member of the Executive Council
* Appointed Attorney-General and Leader of the House
* Appointed Minister responsible for the Serious Fraud Office
* Minister responsible for the Audit Office
* October 1991 Appointed Minister for Crown Health Enterprises
* November 1993 Appointed Minister of State Services
* March 1996 Appointed Minister of Defence
* Appointed Minister of Corrections
* Appointed Minister in charge of War Pensions
* 1982 Leader of the New Zealand Parliamentary Delegation to the International Parliamentary Union Conference, Rome
* 1983 Awarded Australia and New Zealand Foundation Fellowship
* 1985 Member of New Zealand Parliamentary Delegation to the Council of Europe and European Parliament
* 1988 Member of New Zealand Parliamentary Delegation to International Parliamentary Union Conference, Bulgaria
* 1989 Awarded Commonwealth Information Office Fellowship to the United Kingdom