David Wilson (parliamentary official)
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = David Wilson
| office = 14th Clerk of the New Zealand House of Representatives
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| image = Clerk of the House of Representatives David Wilson.png
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| caption = Wilson in 2017
| predecessor = Mary Harris{{cite web |title=David Wilson appointed as Clerk of the House |url=https://www.parliament.nz/mi/get-involved/features/david-wilson-appointed-as-clerk-of-the-house/ |publisher=New Zealand Parliament |access-date=5 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250205013911/https://www.parliament.nz/mi/get-involved/features/david-wilson-appointed-as-clerk-of-the-house/ |archive-date=5 February 2025 |date=8 May 2015 |url-status=live}}
| successor =
| office2 = Clerk-Assistant
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 =
| birth_name = David Martin Wilson
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1970}}
| birth_place = Lawrence, New Zealand
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| term_start = 6 July 2015
| term_end =
| term_start2 = February 2008
| term_end2 = July 2015
| office3 =
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}}
David Martin Wilson is the fourteenth and current Clerk of the New Zealand House of Representatives ("Clerk of the House"). His first seven-year term as Clerk of the House began on 6 July 2015, following the retirement of Mary Harris.{{Cite web |title=Appointment of Clerk of the House of Representatives |url=https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2015-vr2742 |access-date=5 February 2025 |date=8 May 2015|publisher=New Zealand Gazette|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615022343/https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2015-vr2742|archive-date=15 June 2024|url-status=live}} In May 2022, he was reappointed for a further seven-year term, beginning on 6 July 2022.{{cite web |title=Reappointment of Clerk of the House of Representatives |url=https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2022-ps1704 |access-date=10 May 2022 |website=New Zealand Gazette}}
Early life and education
David Wilson grew up in Dunedin and was educated at St Pauls High School{{Cn|date=February 2025}} and the University of Otago, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (with Honours, majoring in History) degree in 1991 and a Master of Arts (History) in 1993.{{cite web |title=History: David Wilson |url=https://www.otago.ac.nz/profiles/history-david-wilson |publisher=University of Otago |access-date=5 February 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250205013357/https://www.otago.ac.nz/profiles/history-david-wilson|archive-date=5 February 2025|url-status=live}} While working in Wellington he continued his studies at Massey University, graduating with a Master of Management degree in 2004.{{Cn|date=February 2025}}
In July 2024, Wilson completed a PhD thesis at Victoria University of Wellington entitled "Influences on parliamentary procedure in New Zealand 1935 - 2015," which examined the history of parliamentary procedure in New Zealand.{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Phil |title=Displacement, drift, layering and conversion: The changing parliament |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/the-house/audio/2018945101/displacement-drift-layering-and-conversion-the-changing-parliament |access-date=5 February 2025 |work=Radio New Zealand |date=7 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240714083238/https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/the-house/audio/2018945101/displacement-drift-layering-and-conversion-the-changing-parliament |archive-date=14 July 2024}}{{cite thesis |last=Wilson |first=David |date=5 April 2024|title=Influences on parliamentary procedure in New Zealand 1935 - 2015 |url=https://openaccess.wgtn.ac.nz/articles/thesis/Influences_on_parliamentary_procedure_in_New_Zealand_1935_-_2015/25546657/1?file=45461038 |work= |degree=PhD |location=Wellington |publisher=Victoria University of Wellington |access-date=5 February 2025}}
Public service career
Wilson has also held policy roles in the public sector. He started his parliamentary career in 1994 as a select committee report writer. He was appointed as a Parliamentary Officer with the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives in February 1995.{{Cn|date=February 2025}} He left the Office of the Clerk of the House in July 1999 to become a Senior Policy Analyst with the Department for Courts. In February 2002 he was appointed as a Senior Policy Analyst (Censorship) with the Department of Internal Affairs and in November 2004 he became the Information and Policy manager with the-then Office of Film and Literature Classification.{{cite web |title=David Wilson, The clerk of the House of Representatives |url=https://businessdesk.co.nz/people/david-wilson |website=BusinessDesk |access-date=5 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809100747/https://businessdesk.co.nz/people/david-wilson |archive-date=9 August 2024}}
In February 2008 he re-joined the Office of the Clerk of the House as a Clerk-Assistant, initially with responsibility for provision of services to Select Committees, and from February 2013 with responsibility for the House Services group. From 2012 to 2015, Wilson was the President of the Australia and New Zealand Association of Clerks-at-the-Table.
On 10 December 2024 Wilson, in his capacity as Clerk of the New Zealand House of Representatives, advised Assistant Speaker Barbara Kuriger that the listing of projects under the Fast-track Approvals Bill benefitted specific people and should thus be classified as private legislation and removed from the final version of the Bill. The Sixth National Government disagreed and recalled Speaker Gerry Brownlee who overruled Kuriger and resintated the list.{{cite news |last1=Palmer |first1=Russell |title=Fast-Track projects: Speaker rules no private benefit in list |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/536285/fast-track-projects-speaker-rules-no-private-benefit-in-list |access-date=17 December 2024 |work=RNZ |date=11 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241213125054/https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/536285/fast-track-projects-speaker-rules-no-private-benefit-in-list |archive-date=13 December 2024}} The Fast-track Approval Bill subsequently passed its third reading on 17 December 2024.{{cite news |last1=Ensor |first1=Jamie |title=Fast-track Approvals Bill passes final reading in Parliament |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/fast-track-approvals-bill-passes-final-reading-in-parliament/ROQWYD26IFA2RNGORGFLDDWFJA/ |access-date=21 December 2024 |work=The New Zealand Herald |date=17 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241220022011/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/fast-track-approvals-bill-passes-final-reading-in-parliament/ROQWYD26IFA2RNGORGFLDDWFJA/ |archive-date=20 December 2024}}