David Bennett (New Zealand politician)
David Allister Bennett (born 28 October 1970) is a New Zealand politician. He has been a Member of Parliament since 2005, representing the Hamilton East electorate for the National Party. Early years. Bennett was born on 28 October 1970 in Hamilton. He attended St John's College, Hamilton before gaining an LLB and a BCA from Victoria University of Wellington. Bennett owns two dairy farms near Te Awamutu, and has also worked as an accountant for KPMG, in Auckland. Member of Parliament. Fifth Labour Government, 2005–2008. In the 2005 election, Bennett stood as the National  Party's candidate for the Hamilton East seat. He was successful, defeating the incumbent MP, Dianne Yates of the Labour Party. He retained his position as the Member for Hamilton East until his electoral defeat during the 2020 New Zealand general election. In 2005, Bennett voted for the Marriage (Gender Clarification) Amendment Bill 2005, which would have amended the Marriage Act to define marriage as only between a man and a woman. Fifth National Government, 2008–2017. During the 2008 general election, Bennett retained Hamilton East by a margin of 8,820 votes, defeating Labour candidate Sue Moroney. During the Fifth National  Government, Bennett served as the Chair of the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee, and a member of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee. In 2009, Bennett voted against the Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill, a bill aimed at amending the Misuse of Drugs Act so that cannabis could be used for medical purposes. During the 2011 general election, Bennett retained Hamilton East by a margin of 8,275 votes. During the 2014 general election, Bennett retained Hamilton East by a margin of 10,199 seats. He was appointed Minister for Food Safety and Minister for Veterans' Affairs outside  Cabinet after Bill English became Prime Minister in 2016, and was additionally appointed Minister of Racing in 2017. Sixth Labour Government, 2017–2020. During the 2017 general election, Bennett retained Hamilton East by 5,810 votes. The National Party was in opposition from October 2017. Bennett held various spokesperson roles for the party, including food safety and racing under the leadership of Bill English, corrections and land information under Simon Bridges, and agriculture under Todd Muller and Judith Collins. During the 2020 general election, Bennett was defeated by Labour candidate Jamie Strange by a margin of 2,973 votes. Despite this loss, he  was re-elected to Parliament on the National Party list. Personal life. Bennett was in a long-distance relationship with Australian senator Bridget McKenzie and both are members of their respective countries' National Parties with Senator McKenzie having served as her party's deputy leader between 2017 and 2020.