Bob Harvey (mayor)
Sir Bob Harvey Mike Williams | |
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Personal details | |
Born | 24 November 1940 |
Political party | Labour |
Spouse | Barbara Harvey |
Children | 5 |
Sir Robert Anster Harvey
Early life and family
Harvey was adopted when he was six months old, although he did not learn this until he was 50.[1] He married Barbara, a midwife, in 1970.[2] The couple has five adult children.
A keen swimmer and surf life-saver, Harvey won the bronze medal at the New Zealand national championships in 1972 and the 1995 life saving world championships. He swam the Dardanelles in 1979 and was the first to attempt the notorious mouth of the Manukau Harbour, the Manukau Heads in 1987.
Harvey was associated with the establishment of the Westpac Rescue Helicopter service, which was a world pioneer in civilian helicopter rescue services. He has been a member of the Karekare Beach Surf Lifesaving Patrol and is also a life member of the New Zealand Lifesaving Association and the Auckland Lifesaving Association (Northern).
Harvey was an instigator of the great walking trail of New Zealand, Te Araroa, in 1994 with journalist and keen walker Geoff Chapple. He served as chair and deputy chair of the Te Araroa Trust. Harvey was also chair of the Park and Wilderness Trust (ARC 1986) to save Auckland's endangered Hamlin's Hill from motorway encroachment and other environmental at risks areas.
Career
Harvey's first career was in advertising. He was a founder of one of New Zealand's larger advertising agencies, MacHarman Ayer (formerly MacHarman Advertising), for whom he worked from 1962 to 1992. During this time he was heavily involved in election campaigns for the New Zealand Labour Party between 1969 and 1984. He is credited by many for the physical and political transformation of former New Zealand prime ministers Norman Kirk and David Lange.[citation needed] He also worked as election strategist to Auckland mayors Sir Dove-Myer Robinson, Dame Catherine Tizard, and Colin Kay.
Harvey was also involved in the environmental campaign objecting to the building of a
Prior to becoming mayor, Harvey served as deputy chairman of the New Zealand Film Commission from 1986 to 1992.[3] He returned to the Film Commission as a board member from 2001 to 2006. From 1988 to 1990 he was chairman of the 1990 Commonwealth Games Arts Festival.
Harvey was chair of the board of directors for Waterfront Auckland,[4][5] chairman of the Health Sponsorship Council in 1993–94, and was a board member of the Tourist Hotel Corporation from 1995 to 1998. He was a member of the Te Papa board from 2006 until 2009.[6] He is a member of the USA Eisenhower Fellowship Nomination Committee and President of the New Zealand Peace Foundation.
A life member of the New Zealand Labour Party, Harvey served as president from 1999 to 2000, stepping in after the death of Michael Hirschfeld.[7] While he was president, Labour apologised to a West Auckland family after Harvey lowered his shorts and yelled an obscenity during an argument in public with a long-time adversary in 1999.[8]
Mayor of Waitakere City
Harvey was elected Mayor of Waitakere City in October 1992.[9] He served six consecutive terms with Waitakere City Council until 2010 when reforms led to seven territorial authority councils, including Waitakere City Council, being replaced by the new Auckland Council.[10]
He was elected on an environmental platform to manage growth in the Waitākere Ranges and to make Waitakere City the first
Harvey in 1997 led a local government delegation to Tahiti against French nuclear testing in the Pacific. In 1998 he joined the working party of the Mayor's Ascia Pacific Environment Summit and the following year was an executive member of that summit. Havey was a keynote speaker at Pathways to Growth at the invitation of British Prime Minister John Major in Manchester in 1993, at ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) HABITAT 11 conference in Istanbal in 1995, at the Silicon Valley Environmental Conference in 2000 and at the American Water Works Association Conference in Hawaii in 2001. In 2002 Harvey was the Local Government representative at the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio+10) in Johannesburg. In 2007 he became a member of the Australasian Mayors for Climate Change and in 2008 was the keynote speaker at the Eco City Summit in Washington.
After the creation of Auckland Council in 2010, Harvey was appointed as chair of Waterfront Auckland. He held that role until 2015, when he became "Champion for Auckland – overseas investment" to promote Auckland internationally and facilitate international investment opportunities.[13][14]
Publications
Harvey is a published author and historian, with several books to his name, starting with Hey Dad in 1983. Others include Rolling Thunder the history of Karekare which won the Montana Books Award's environmental category, Untamed Coast which was a
Awards and honours
Harvey received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal in 1990. In the 1991 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services.[15] He was awarded the United Nations Mayors for Peace Award in 1998 and honorary citizenship of Waitakere Sister City Ningbo, People's Republic of China in 2005.
After retiring from local government in 2010, he was knighted as a
Bibliography
- Hey Dad! (1983), St John Publishing
- Untamed Coast: Auckland's Waitakere Ranges and West Coast Beaches (1998) (Montana Book Awardsfinalist 2000, Exisle Publishing
- Rolling Thunder: the Spirit of Karekare (2001) (2002 Montana Book Awards Environment Category winner), Exisle Publishing
- Westies: Up Front, Out There (2004), Exisle Publishing.
- Wild Beast: the Art of Dean Buchanan (2007), Exisle Publishing
- The Iron Bound Coast: Karekare in the Early Years (2009), Oratia Media. Wallace Badham (author); Bob Harvey (editor)
- Spirit of the West: West of Auckland Through the Lens (2009), Heritage Publishing. Ted Scott (photographs); Bob Harvey (text)
- Wild Westie: The Incredible Life of Bob Harvey (2014), Penguin Publishing.
References
- ^ Greco, Shelley (24 July 2014). "Sir Bob spills the beans". Stuff. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
- ^ GRECO, SHELLEY (24 July 2014). "Sir Bob spills the beans". Stuff. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
- ^ "Proposed controls on film-makers 'crazy' – Mayor". Stuff. New Zealand. 7 August 2007. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
- ^ "Sir Bob Harvey the champion".
- ^ "Waterfront Auckland Board of Directors". Waterfront Auckland. 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
- ^ "Te Papa Tongarewa Board appointments announced". The Beehive. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
- ^ Bingham, Eugene (15 June 2000). "Harvey leaves Labour presidency to muted praise". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
- ^ "Labour apology for Harvey's down-trou". The New Zealand Herald. 30 November 1999. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
- ^ a b "Harvey wins eco honour". The New Zealand Herald. 12 November 2008. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
- ^ "Background to Auckland's local government changes". Auckland Council. 2011. Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
- ^ "Greenprint" (PDF). Waitakere City Council. February 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
- ^ "http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/western-leader/2715495/Mayoral-peace", Mayoral peace, stuff.co.nz
- ^ "Sir Bob Harvey the champion". NZ Herald. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
- ^ "Party time for Auckland council". NZ Herald. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
- ^ "No. 52383". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 31 December 1990. p. 30.
- ^ Westie made Sir Bob Harvey stuff.co.nz, 31 December 2012
External links
- Waitakere City Council Resume – Mayor Bob Harvey
- Bob Harvey interview with David Slack for the Cultural Icons project. Audio and video.