Doug Graham

Early life and family

Graham was born in Auckland, and attended Southwell School and Auckland Grammar School. He obtained an LLB from the University of Auckland and became a lawyer, establishing his own practice in 1968. From 1973 to 1983, he lectured in legal ethics at the University of Auckland.

His great-grandfather Robert Graham was a member of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th New Zealand parliaments, from 1855 to 1868. In 2008, his brother Kennedy Graham was elected to parliament representing the Green Party. His son, Carrick, is a public relations consultant.

Member of Parliament

Graham was elected to Parliament in the 1984 elections as MP for the Auckland electorate of Remuera, replacing the retiring member Allan Highet.

Cabinet minister

When the National Party won the 1990 elections, Graham was appointed to Cabinet, becoming Minister of Justice, Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control, and Minister of Cultural Affairs. In 1991, he became Minister in Charge of Treaty Negotiations, perhaps his most prominent role. He was widely praised by both Pākehā and Māori for his work on numerous Treaty settlements, although opponents of the process have voiced criticisms of his policies. Later, Graham also became Attorney General and Minister for Courts. In the 1996 elections, when the Remuera seat was abolished, Graham became a list MP. He was ranked sixth on National's party list, a relatively high placing.

On 21 May 1998 Graham was appointed to the Privy Council and became the Right Honourable Douglas Graham.

Life after politics

He retired from politics at the 1999 election. In the 1999 New Year Honours List Graham was made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit "for services as a Minister of the Crown and Member of Parliament".

On 24 February 2012 he was convicted, along with fellow former Justice Minister Bill Jeffries and two other men, of breaching the Securities Act by making untrue statements to investors in his capacity as a director of Lombard Finance. Justice Robert Dobson wrote, "I am satisfied that the accused genuinely believed in the accuracy and adequacy of the ... documents", but that the offences were ones of strict liability so there was no need for "any form of mental intent to distribute documents that were false or misleading". Graham was sentenced to 300 hours community service and ordered to pay $100,000 in reparation. The Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal against conviction and increased his sentence to six months home detention and 200 hours community work, but the Supreme Court restored the original sentence. Retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Edmund Thomas described the convictions as a "grievous miscarriage of justice", saying of the crucial piece of evidence that "you would never ever convict a dog on the basis of the schedule". There have been calls for his knighthood to be revoked, but Prime Minister John Key announced on 1 November 2013 that Graham would keep his knighthood.