George Hawkins (politician)

Early life

Hawkins was born on 15 May 1946 in the Auckland suburb of Mt Eden. He attended Dominion Road Primary School, Mount Albert Grammar School (1960–1963) and then Auckland Teachers' College.

Papakura

Hawkins was a councillor for Papakura City 1980–1983. He was elector Mayor of Papakura in 1983, and held that position until 1992. He was succeeded by his brother David Hawkins. In 1989, Papakura City became Papakura District as part of the local government reforms.

Member of Parliament

Hawkins has served as MP for Manurewa since he was first elected to Parliament in the 1990 elections. He served as Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister of Police, Minister of Civil Defence, and Minister of Veterans' Affairs in the 2002-2005 parliamentary term. He has previously held office as mayor of Papakura. Before entering politics, he was a teacher.

Disappointed at being ranked 25th on the 2005 Labour Party list, he withdrew his name from the list, and won the Manurewa seat with a comfortable margin of over 12,000 votes (a similar majority to his 2002 election win). Although Hawkins was criticised over his handling of police issues, in particular 111 calls, he remained a Minister until he made the decision not to seek a new position in Cabinet after the 2005 election.

In the 2008 general election he again chose not to be placed on the party list, and again won his Manurewa seat. However his majority was cut by more than half.

In the 2013 New Year Honours, Hawkins was made a Companion of the Queen's Service Order, for services as a Member of Parliament.

Return to local body politics

After stepping down from Parliament in 2011, Hawkins was subsequently elected to a local board under the Manurewa Action Team ticket. He was elected to the Papakura Local Board at the 2016 Auckland elections, as part of the Papakura Action Team.