Joseph Mooney
MP
Mooney in 2023
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Southland
Assumed office
17 October 2020
Preceded byHamish Walker
Personal details
Born1979 (age 44–45)
Political partyNational
SpouseSilvia
Children3
ProfessionLawyer

Joseph Mooney (born 1979) is a New Zealand politician. In 2020 he was elected as a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the National Party in the Southland electorate.[1]

Early life and career

Mooney is originally from Hawke's Bay and grew up in poverty. At the age of 11, he and his younger brother left home and lived on the streets of Wellington for a week.[2] He dropped out of high school without any qualifications and worked in a range of areas including "orchards, forestry, fishing boats, building sites, retail stores, and skifields".[3] However, he later went to university where he obtained an honours degree in law. He became a senior trial lawyer and later a member of the Southland Branch Council of the New Zealand Law Society. In 2017 he was appointed by the Deputy Solicitor-General to the Crown Prosecution Panel for the Invercargill Crown Solicitor. He is also a court-appointed Youth Advocate.[4][5]

Mooney has been a volunteer firefighter and army reservist.[4]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2020–2023 53rd Southland 62 National
2023–present 54th Southland 53 National

First term, 2020-2023

Mooney was selected as the National Party candidate for the new Southland electorate in July 2020, following Hamish Walker's decision to leave Parliament after he admitted that he had leaked private patient information to the media.[5] Mooney won preference over journalist Olivia Caldwell and Dunedin restaurant manager Matthew French.[5] At the 2020 general election, he was elected to the Southland seat by a margin of 5,645 votes over Labour Party candidate Jon Mitchell. Labour, however, won the party vote in the electorate, with 38.7%.[6] Mooney has identified the first issue he intended to deal with as an MP will be to get more seasonal workers "on the ground" to address the fruit-picking "crisis" in Central Otago.[3] Mooney was one of five new National Party MPs in the 53rd Parliament.[7][8]

From November 2020, Mooney served as National Party spokesperson for Treaty of Waitangi negotiations and associate spokesperson for defence.[9] Since December 2021, after Christopher Luxon became the party leader, Mooney has additionally been spokesperson for water and space.[10][11] He served as a member of the Māori Affairs Committee and was also a member of the Regulations Review Committee from December 2021 to August 2022.[12]

In April 2023, National Party leader Christopher Luxon said Mooney had got it wrong after he made comments on social media about Te Tiriti o Waitangi, saying on Twitter that Te Tiriti o Waitangi promised tino rangatiratanga to every person in New Zealand.[13] Dame Claudia Orange, who has written extensively about Te Tiriti o Waitangi, said Mooney appeared to be subscribing to the old politics of former National leader, Don Brash. “That's just kind of one way that Don Brash tended to argue, and it's really got no substance to it, if you looked at why [tino rangatiratanga] was included in the Treaty and the effect that it actually gave Māori in terms of recognising their mana,” she said.[14]

Second term, 2023-present

During the 2023 New Zealand general election, Mooney retained his Southland electorate seat by a margin of 17,211 votes.[15]

Personal life

Mooney and his wife Silvia have three children.[5] He is an enthusiast of skiing and mountain biking.[4] Former Labour MP Bill Fox is his great-great uncle.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Election 2020: The 40 diverse new MPs entering Parliament". Newstalk ZB. 18 October 2020. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020 – via The New Zealand Herald.
  2. 1 2 Houlahan, Mike (3 April 2021). "New National MP tells his rags-to-riches tale". Otago Daily Times.
  3. 1 2 "National's Joseph Mooney is the new electorate MP for Southland". The Southland Times. Stuff. 17 October 2020. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 "Mooney picked as National candidate for Southland". Otago Daily Times. 31 July 2020. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 McKenzie-McLean, Jo (31 July 2020). "Queenstown lawyer Joseph Mooney selected to replace Hamish Walker as Southland electorate candidate". Stuff. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  6. ↑ "Southland – Official Result". Electoral Commission. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  7. ↑ "Election 2020: The 40 diverse new MPs entering Parliament". The New Zealand Herald. 18 October 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2020 – via Newstalk ZB.
  8. ↑ Lynch, Jenna (6 November 2020). "NZ Election 2020: Judith Collins will 'definitely not' stand down as leader despite National's crushing defeat". Newshub. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  9. ↑ "National unveils team to take on Labour Government". New Zealand National Party. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  10. ↑ Small, Zane (6 December 2021). "Judith Collins plunges to #19 in Christopher Luxon's reshuffle as Shane Reti, Chris Bishop keep top roles". Newshub.
  11. ↑ Cooke, Henry (6 December 2021). "Christopher Luxon demotes Judith Collins off front bench in first reshuffle". Stuff.
  12. ↑ "Mooney, Joseph – New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  13. ↑ "Luxon has 'great confidence' in National MP despite Te Tiriti o Waitangi comments". RNZ. 19 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  14. ↑ Doyle, Katie (19 April 2023). "National Party MP under fire for treaty comments". Stuff. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  15. ↑ "Southland - Official Result". Electoral Commission. 3 November 2023. Archived from the original on 23 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
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