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The Honourable  Maurice Williamson  MP
Maurice Williamson at the NZ Open Source Awards
Minister of Customs
Incumbent
Assumed office  19 November 2008
Prime Minister	John Key
Preceded by	Nanaia Mahuta
Minister for Building and Construction
Incumbent
Assumed office  19 November 2008
Prime Minister	John Key
Preceded by	Shane Jones
Minister of Statistics
Incumbent
Assumed office  19 November 2008
Prime Minister	John Key
Preceded by	Darren Hughes
Minister for Small Business
Incumbent
Assumed office  19 November 2008
Prime Minister	John Key
Preceded by	Clayton Cosgrove
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Pakuranga
Incumbent
Assumed office  1987
Preceded by	Neil Morrison
Born	6 March 1951 (1951-03-06) (age 58) Auckland,  New Zealand
Political party	National
Profession	Computer programmer

Maurice Donald Williamson (born 6 March 1951) is a New Zealand politician, representing Pakuranga in the House of Representatives as a member of the National Party. He holds several ministerial portfolios outside the Cabinet: Building and Construction, Customs, Statistics and Small Business.^[1]

Before politics

Williamson was born in Auckland but spent nearly all his school years in Matamata. After graduating with qualifications in computer science and applied mathematics from the University of Auckland, he worked for twelve years developing airline planning software for mainframe computers.

Williamson is married to Raewyn and has three children. He is an Honorary Fellow of the New Zealand Computer Society (HFNZCS).

Member of Parliament

Williamson is a member of the centre-right conservative National Party, and has been MP for Pakuranga since the 1987 elections. He has held a number of ministerial posts, including Minister of Communications, Minister of Broadcasting, Minister of Transport, and Minister Research, Science and Technology, and associate Minister of Health (1990-6). He was a strong supporter of reform of prostitution law.

His 2005 election campaign saw one of the strongest results for National across New Zealand. Williamson is mooted as a potential future Mayor of Manukau City, the territorial local authority (council) that encompasses the electorate of Pakuranga and surrounding electorates.

Suspension

He was suspended from caucus on 22 July 2003, after refusing to curtail his criticism of the National Party leader, Bill English, who he blamed for poor performance in the polls.^[2] After English was replaced by Don Brash, Williamson was reinstated. Since his return after suspension, Williamson has played an active role in National, and was elevated up the ranks to eighth position in the National lineup in 2008.^[3]

Minister

After the 2008 general election, the National Party formed a minority government, and Williamson was given the ministerial roles of Customs, Building and Construction, Statistics and Small Business.

In June 2009, Dr Richard Worth left Parliament after Prime Minister John Key losing confidence in him as a Minister over sexual allegations^[4][5] Williamson was made the acting Minister of Worth's portfolios of Internal Affairs, National Library and Archives New Zealand.

References

External links

• New Zealand Parliament - Williamson, Maurice
• National Party webpage
• New Zealand Government - Maurice Williamson
• They Work for You - Maurice Williamson
• Parliamentary database: Voting record
• Executive Government 1993-6: Maurice Williamson
• Executive Government 1996-9: Maurice Williamson