Russell Fairbrother

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New Zealand Parliament
Russell Fairbrother
KC
Russell Fairbrother.jpg
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Napier
In office
27 July 2002 5 October 2005
YearsTermElectorateListParty
2002 2005 47th Napier none Labour
2005 2008 48th List 38 Labour

Fairbrother was first elected to Parliament in the 2002 election, replacing long-serving Labour MP Geoff Braybrooke in the Napier seat. In the 2005 general election he was defeated by National's Chris Tremain but was elected as a list MP.

In his first term he was elected chair of the special select committee of the House of Parliament created to examine and report on the Maori Fisheries Act 2004, the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 and the Guardians of Fiordland legislation. He was also one of three government appointments to the special select committee set up to report to Parliament on New Zealand's constitutional arrangements. He was also elected chair of the Labour back bench committee and appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Attorney General.

In his second term he was elected chair of the special sub-committee established to examine and report on the Evidence Act 2006. He was selected by the Prime Minister to travel to and observe East Timor's first domestic democratic election.

After defeating Stuart Nash in a battle to stand in the Napier electorate for Labour, Fairbrother did not stand on Labour's list in the 2008 election. [2] He was unable to win the electorate off Chris Tremain in the 2008 election and, since he was not successful in regaining his seat, he was not returned to parliament.

After politics

After leaving Parliament, Fairbrother returned to the law. Including acting for Chris Comesky. [3] He successfully secured acquittals in the high-profile murder cases of Zion King, [4] and Wilson Apatu, who had shot a man four times in front of his family, killing him, before carjacking a couple at knifepoint. [5] [6] He was the defence lawyer for ex-Dunedin dean Jonathan Kirkpatrick after his NZ$600,000 fraud at the Auckland University of Technology. [7]

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References

  1. "Queen's Counsel appointments since 1907 as at July 2013" (PDF). Crown Law Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  2. Battle for Napier Archived 19 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine Newstalk ZB, 3 December 2007
  3. Ian Steward. "Lawyer Chris Comeskey suspended". Stuff.
  4. "Family waiting for justice after suspect freed". One News . 12 May 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  5. "Local, latest and breaking news from the Hawkes Bay region". Hawkes Bay Today. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  6. "Defence lawyer hails jury in murder trial". Radio New Zealand . 23 September 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  7. "Ex-St Paul's dean quits AUT job over missing cash". Otago Daily Times . 30 July 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Napier
2002–2005
Succeeded by