Russell Fairbrother

Russell Fairbrother QC
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Napier
In office 27 July 2002 – 5 October 2005
Preceded by	Geoff Braybrooke
Succeeded by	Chris Tremain
Personal details
Born	Carterton, New Zealand
Political party	Labour
Profession	lawyer

Elwin "Russell" Fairbrother QC is a lawyer and former New Zealand politician. He was a Labour Party Member of Parliament from 2002 to 2008.

Fairbrother, who is commonly known by his middle name, was born into a truck driving family and raised in the Wairarapa town of Carterton.

Before entering politics, Fairbrother was a lawyer for twenty-three years, having obtained an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington. At Victoria, he was a member of the Victoria University of Wellington Debating Society. In 1969 he won the Plunket Medal for Oratory and in 1971 he won the Joynt Scroll for inter university debating. He debated for NZ Universities against a touring Australian University team. He served as president of the Wellington Speaking Union.

He was also president of the Napier branch of Grey Power, a lobby group for the elderly and a past president and then patron of HB Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation Society.

As a lawyer, he has led the defence in over 100 murder trials and has appeared before the Privy Council in London. In 1994 he successfully defended a murder accused in what has come to be regarded as the world's first Post Traumatic Stress Disorder defence; this case has since formed the basis of a novel by celebrated author Sir James McNeish – "The Crime of Huey Dunstan" published in 2010.

Fairbrother was first elected to Parliament in the 2002 election, replacing long-serving Labour MP Geoff Braybrooke in the Napier seat. In the 2005 general election he was defeated by National's Chris Tremain but was elected as a list MP.

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