Ross Meurant
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Alan Ross Meurant (born 26 August 1947) is a New Zealand public figure, now Honorary Consul for Morocco, who has at various times gained public attention as a police officer, businessman, politician, and political lobbyist.
Meurant was born on 26 August 1947 at Te Kōpuru, the son of Rae-Ola Dalice Meurant (née Olsen) and Edward Alan Meurant.[1] He was educated at Dargaville High School. In 1973, he married Patricia Ann Lewis, and the couple had two children before separating.[1]
Police
Meurant served in the New Zealand Police between 1966 and 1987.[2] In 1975 he was promoted to Sergeant at Takapuna on the North Shore, married Patricia and purchased a home. He had his first pangs to be a Member of Parliament, and as he decided he needed more education to enter political life he enrolled for a BA degree intending to major in political studies. After 2½ years he went back to Auckland Central as Senior Sergeant. He spent eight years at the University of Auckland, finishing a BA in 1982, and starting a law degree, though he then left to pursue business interests in his last years in the police.[3]
He was a detective in the CIB between 1970 and 1975, having worked on the famous case of the murders of Harvey and Jeannette Crewe, helping in the search for cartridge cases,[4] and a member of the Armed Offenders Squad. During the controversial 1981 South Africa rugby union tour of New Zealand, he was second-in-command of one of the riot units, Red Squad. He subsequently wrote a book about the experience of Red Squad: The Red Squad Story.[5] The book was a bestseller in both New Zealand and South Africa.[citation needed]
When Meurant was transferred to night shift work in 1982 after (he says) offending some senior officers he had criticised in his book The Red Squad Story, he studied at night to complete his BA degree and start a law degree. He also started dabbling in business opportunities by running a private security firm from the watchhouse, with his wife as principal partner, and employing up to 70 people.[6] After being commissioned in 1985, he served in various roles including Inspector in charge of the Auckland police criminal intelligence unit. In 1989 he published an autobiography: The Beat to the Beehive.[7]
In 1980, Meurant received the New Zealand Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.[1]
Member of Parliament
| Years | Term | Electorate | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987–1990 | 42nd | Hobson | National | ||
| 1990–1993 | 43rd | Hobson | National | ||
| 1993–1994 | 44th | Hobson | National | ||
| 1994–1996 | Changed allegiance to: | Conservatives | |||
| 1996 | Changed allegiance to: | Independent | |||
Meurant stood as the National Party candidate for Hobson in the 1987 election. He was successful and went on to serve 3 parliamentary terms. In 1996, his electorate was abolished when the introduction of the MMP proportional voting replaced the FPTP system. Faced with being a list MP, Meurant chose instead to form a new political party and had the distinction of being the first person to register a political party under the new regime.
In 1990, Meurant was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.[1]
Conservative Party
After quitting the National Party, Meurant established a new party known as Right of Centre (later rebranded as the New Zealand Conservative Party). This party was based on his right-wing economic philosophy: selling government assets and reducing government involvement in business. On 7 September 1994, Meurant entered into a formal agreement with Prime Minister Jim Bolger. At that time, Meurant was a member of the executive: the Undersecretary of Agriculture and Forestry. After forming his own party, Meurant retained his executive office and continued to be a member of the Cabinet Committees for Commerce, Industry and Environment and Treaty Issues. Support of government on confidence and supply was central to Meurant's continuation as a member of The Executive.[8]
In August 1995, Meurant refused to comply with a directive from the Prime Minister to relinquish a position that he had as a director of a Russian-owned bank (PROK) domiciled in Vanuatu and was subsequently dismissed from the Executive. Meurant nevertheless continued as a coalition partner of the government as his support at the time was critical to its survival.[9]
Meurant completed a Master of Public Policy at Victoria University of Wellington during his third term in parliament. Contrary to the public perception of him being conservative, while an MP, he voted for gay rights and abortion on demand and also voted against the death penalty. He was also very liberal in regard to drug policy. In his autobiography he wrote: "Perhaps we may liken drug prohibition to the era of liquor prohibition in America ... which created an underworld whose legacy lingers today. If drug use was legal in this country would there be any significant increase in drug use? I think not. Perhaps 50 percent of all crime in New Zealand is drug related. Think of the police resources we would save if we didn’t have to contend with all this drug-related crime. If it was legal to obtain and use drugs in this country, perhaps we could spend the money saved in policing expenditure, running educative programmes and medical clinics to assist those who lack the strength to resist temptation. If drugs such as cannabis and heroin were available through government dispensing stores, perhaps the black market trade which stimulates all this drug-relate trade would recede."[10]
