The Honourable Trevor de Cleene OBE |
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Under-Secretary of Finance | |
In office 1984–1987 |
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Prime Minister | David Lange |
Minister of Revenue and Customs | |
In office 1987–1988 |
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Prime Minister | David Lange |
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Palmerston North |
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In office 1981–1990 |
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Preceded by | Joe Walding |
Succeeded by | Steve Maharey |
Personal details | |
Born | 24 March 1933 Palmerston North, New Zealand |
Died | 22 April 2001 Tauranga |
(aged 68)
Political party |
Labour Party ACT New Zealand National Party |
Profession | Lawyer |
Trevor Albert de Cleene, OBE (24 March 1933 – 22 April 2001) was a New Zealand politician and lawyer. After gaining experience as a councillor with Palmerston North City Council, he was elected to Parliament for the Labour Party in 1981. He was a strong supporter of Rogernomics and was a minister outside cabinet. He resigned his ministerial portfolios in 1988 when Roger Douglas was sacked by David Lange. For his remaining parliamentary career, he was a backbencher known as one of the Three Musketeers. Later, he was a founding member of ACT New Zealand and some years later joined the National Party to help oppose Winston Peters in Tauranga.
De Cleene was born in Palmerston North on 24 March 1933; the first Palmerston North MP who was actually born in the city. His parents were poor and he was born during the Great Depression. The family moved frequently until they finally obtained state housing. He attended Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School, then Palmerston North Boys' High School and left school in 1951. He studied law at the University of Canterbury before changing to the Faculty of Law of Victoria University. There, he won the Law Moot Prize in 1954 and graduated LLB in 1955, having achieved Senior Law Scholar in his final year. He financed his degree by working several seasons at the freezing works in Feilding.