# Maurice McTigue

Maurice Patrick McTigue QSO (born 1940) is a former New Zealand politician of the National Party. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Fourth National Government from 1990 to 1993, holding the Employment portfolio, among others. He represented the Timaru electorate in Parliament from 1985, when he won the by-election after the death of Sir Basil Arthur, having stood against him in the 1984 general election. He lost the seat to Jim Sutton in the 1993 general election.
From 1994 to 1997 he was the High Commissioner to Canada. McTigue joined the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in 1997 as a distinguished visiting scholar. McTigue is currently J.M. Bemis Chair in Accountability Studies and Vice President of the Mercatus Center.

## Early life and career

McTigue was born in 1940 in Methven. He worked as a farmer in Temuka. He was also president of the New Zealand Jaycees in 1979, attending Jaycee conferences in Asia and Europe.

## Member of Parliament

At the snap 1984 general election McTigue stood in the Timaru electorate, but was beaten by the incumbent MP Sir Basil Arthur. When Arthur died in 1985 McTigue won the 1985 Timaru by-election. He lost the seat to Labour's Jim Sutton at the 1993 general election. Soon after McTigue entered the New Zealand Parliament in 1985 he was appointed as National's spokesperson for irrigation by party leader Jim McLay. From 1987 to 1990 he served as the National Party's junior whip before becoming spokesperson for transport and works in a February 1990 reshuffle.

### Minister of Employment & Associate Minister of Finance

In 1990, McTigue was appointed Minister of Employment and Associate Minister of Finance, holding primary financial responsibility for student loans, school funding, public transit, occupational licensing, and the restructuring of employment programs.

### Other minister positions & Chairmanship of Expenditure Control Committee

In 1991, McTigue accepted the positions of Minister of State Owned Enterprises, Minister of Railways, and Minister of Works and Development, and assumed Chairmanship of the Cabinet's powerful Expenditure Control Committee.

### Minister of Labour and Minister of Immigration

In 1993, McTigue was appointed Minister of Labour and Minister of Immigration.

## High Commissioner to Canada

In April 1994, he moved to Ottawa after being appointed High Commissioner to Canada. Concurrently, he served as non-resident High Commissioner to Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana. An amateur magician, whilst in Canada he co-founded the Ottawa Magicians Guild. As a political appointee with no previous international diplomatic experience of any note, McTigue was regarded in some quarters as inexperienced and largely inept in his role. He experienced some difficulty with his management of the High Commission as its Head of Mission, arising from his unfamiliarity with the role.
Despite that, in the 1998 Queen's Birthday Honours, McTigue was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services.

## Mercatus Center

McTigue is director of the Government Accountability Project at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. In 2003, he was appointed to the Office of Personnel Management Senior Review Committee, formed to make recommendations for new Human Resources systems at the then newly created Department of Homeland Security.

## Noters

* ↑ "Farmer seeks Timaru seat". The Press. 30 March 1984. p. 4.
* ↑ "Maurice McTigue". The Press. 2 July 1984. p. 30.
* ↑ Norton 1988, p. 363.
* ↑ "Sir Robert Still Out in the Cold". The New Zealand Herald. 9 August 1985. p. 5.
* ↑ "National Party's new parliamentary line-up". The New Zealand Herald. 12 February 1990. p. 5.
* ↑ "Heads of Missions List: C". New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. 8 July 2006. Archived from the original on 30 September 2006.
* ↑ "Queen's Birthday honours list 1998". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 1 June 1998. Retrieved 5 July 2020.