Cam Calder

Campbell Gordon Calder[1] (born 1952), known as Cam Calder, is a New Zealand doctor and politician who represented the National Party as a member of the House of Representatives from 2009 to 2014.

Cam Calder
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for National Party list
In office
16 June 2009 – 20 September 2014
Preceded byRichard Worth[n 1]
Personal details
Born
Campbell Gordon Calder

1952 (age 70–71)
Political partyNational
OccupationDoctor, dentist and sports administrator

Background

Originally a dentist by trade, Calder was retraining as a doctor when he lost the sight in one eye through an accident.[2] Calder previously served as president of the French New Zealand Business Council and has served on the international governing body for pétanque.[3] He takes credit for being one of the people who "imported" pétanque into New Zealand.[2] He has two children.[2]

Member of Parliament
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2009–2011 49th List 58 National
2011–2014 50th List 50 National

Calder was number 58 on the National Party list in the 2008 election. The provisional results of the election would have made him an MP, but the number of seats allocated to the National Party dropped by one in the final count, preventing Calder from entering Parliament.[3] Calder also contested the Manurewa electorate in the 2008 and 2011 elections, but lost to Labour MPs George Hawkins and to Louisa Wall respectively.

After the resignation of Richard Worth on 12 June 2009, Calder entered Parliament in his place[4] on 17 June 2009.[5]

In caucus, Calder served on the Law and Order and Local Government and Environment Select Committees. As a member of the Blue-Greens Caucus Committee, he believed that the opportunities for New Zealand in Clean-Green Technology are significant and was interested in strategies to promote the decentralised generation of power from renewable sources; Calder authored a discussion paper on the subject.

His background, as a medical practitioner, has convinced him of the importance of personal responsibility in the maintenance of a healthy population. He is an enthusiastic advocate of a campaign to raise awareness of prostate cancer among New Zealand males.

A long-term interest in education led him to canvass caucus support for an addition to Te Whariki, The Early Childhood Education Curriculum, of a requirement to introduce children, four years and older, to the alphabet and basic numeracy.

Calder announced in October 2013 that he was going to retire from Parliament at the 2014 general election.[6] Calder was replaced as Manurewa candidate by Simeon Brown, a local board member from the Manurewa area.

Calder acted as an observer in the 2015 Sri Lankan presidential election.[7]

Notes
  1. Normally, list MPs do not have individual predecessors or successors, but Worth resigned during a sitting parliament and therefore was succeeded by Calder.

References
  1. "New Zealand Hansard - Members Sworn Volume:651;Page:2". New Zealand Parliament.
  2. Trevett, Claire (16 June 2009). "Doctor MP nurses special interest in men's health and 'man-ograms'". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  3. "National Party Welcomes New Member". 12 June 2009.
  4. "John Key statement on Richard Worth". The New Zealand Herald. 12 June 2009.
  5. "Dr Cam Calder". New Zealand Parliament. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  6. Vance, Andrea (25 October 2013). "National MPs to retire". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  7. "Sri Lanka Presidential Election 2015 Observer Arrival Statement". Commonwealth. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
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