Chris Finlayson
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The Honourable Chris Finlayson QC MP |
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| 32nd Attorney-General of New Zealand | |
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Assumed office 19 November 2008 |
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| Prime Minister |
John Key Bill English |
| Preceded by | Michael Cullen |
| Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations | |
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Assumed office 19 November 2008 |
|
| Prime Minister |
John Key Bill English |
| Preceded by | Michael Cullen |
| Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage | |
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In office 19 November 2008 – 13 October 2014 |
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| Prime Minister | John Key |
| Preceded by | Helen Clark |
| Succeeded by | Maggie Barry |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for National Party List |
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Assumed office 2005 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 1956 (age 60–61) Wellington |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Political party | National Party |
| Relations | Annette King (cousin) |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Christopher Francis "Chris" Finlayson QC (born 1956) is a New Zealand lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament, representing the National Party. He is a Cabinet minister and the Attorney-General of New Zealand. He holds the ministerial portfolios of Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations. On 6 October 2014, Finlayson also assumed responsibility for the ministerial portfolios of Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau and the Minister in Charge of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service, New Zealand's two main intelligence agencies.
Finlayson grew up in the Wellington suburb of Khandallah; he has two brothers. He attended St. Patrick's College. He graduated with a BA in Latin and French and an LLM from Victoria University of Wellington and has practised law in Wellington for a number of years. He has also had a part-time teaching role at Victoria University of Wellington. Finlayson has been heavily involved in the arts community. He chaired Creative New Zealand's Arts Board from 1998 to 2001, and was a former trustee of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
Finlayson was admitted to the Bar as a barrister and solicitor in February 1981. He was a partner in Brandon Brookfield from 1986 to 1990 and then in Bell Gully from 1991 to 2003. He has practised as a barrister sole at the Barristers.Comm chambers since 2003. At Bell Gully he spent years fighting for Ngāi Tahu against the government, pursuing its treaty claims through a series of high-profile court battles. "I used to love going to the office in the morning when we were suing the Crown" Finlayson said in a speech in 2009. "Ngāi Tahu mastered the art of aggressive litigation, whether it was suing the Waitangi Tribunal and [National Treaty negotiations minister] Doug Graham or the Director-General of Conservation. It was take no prisoners and it resulted in a good settlement." The signing of the Treaty deal with Ngāi Tahu in 1997, he said in his maiden speech in parliament, was the highlight of his legal career.
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