Philip Woollaston

Woollaston was born in Motueka to New Zealand artist Sir Mountford Tosswill Woollaston and Edith Winifred Alexander. He is married with two children.

Woollaston attended Greymouth Main Primary School and Cobden Primary School. While his parents were overseas he attended St Andrew's College in Christchurch (1958–62) as a boarder.St Andrews College 1916–1966, History and School List

He graduated from the University of Canterbury with a Bachelor of Science in physics (1971) and Christchurch Teachers' College with a Diploma in Teaching (1971).

Woollaston taught at Linwood High School (1972–74), lectured at the University of Canterbury (1975), and taught at both Collingwood District High School (1976–77) and Collingwood Area School (1977–80) before embarking on a political career.

In 1974, Woollaston was awarded the Rutherford Trophy for Demonstrations in Physics by the New Zealand Institute of Physics, for his demonstration of linear dynamics.{{cite web |url=http://www.rutherford.org.nz/hrtrophy.htm |title=Awards: The Rutherford Trophy for Demonstrations in Physics |year=2001 |access-date=10 August 2013}}

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Woollaston joined the New Zealand Labour Party in 1975. He was Secretary of the Labour Party Policy Council from 1982 to 1984.

He was a Golden Bay County Councillor and on the Nelson Regional Airport Authority from 1977 to 1980. Woollaston was also on the Nelson Bays United Council and No 11 District Roads Board from 1979 to 1980.

Woollaston stood for the Nelson electorate in 1981, defeating incumbent MP Mel Courtney. In 1983 he was appointed as Labour's spokesperson for Local Government by Labour leader David Lange.{{Cite news |title=Labour leader allocates responsibilities |date=17 March 1983 | work=The Press |page=3 }}

During his time in Parliament he was Associate Minister for the Environment (1987–89), Associate Minister of Justice (1987–90), Minister assisting the Deputy Prime Minister (1988–90), Minister of Conservation (1989–90), and Minister of Local Government (1990). Woollaston was a junior Minister in the controversial Fourth Labour Governments of David Lange & Geoffrey Palmer but never sought at the time (through resignation or public opposition) to distance himself from the Rogernomics policies of that era.

As Associate Minister for the Environment Philip Woollaston helped broker the Montreal Protocol, working through the night in Montreal, Canada, to successfully draw together parties before the looming deadline, when Europe was largely hedging around the deal. The Montreal Protocol was the first global treaty to bring together a majority of nations over global environmental concerns, in this case being the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as refrigerants and discovering that they were destroying the stratospheric ozone layer which prevents harmful ultraviolet light from entering the lower atmosphere.{{cite web |last1=Woods |first1=Darian |last2=Malone |first2=Kenny |last3=Garcia |first3=Cardiff |title=The Other Climate Crisis |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/11/09/933213365/the-other-climate-crisis |website=NPR |access-date=28 February 2021}}

In 1990 Woollaston retired from Parliament and was replaced as MP for Nelson by John Blincoe. On 6 December 1990, he was granted the title "The Honourable" for life, in recognition of his services as a member of the Executive Council.[http://www.dpmc.govt.nz/honours/lists/hon Roll of the Honourables]. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 10 August 2013.

In 1991 he became Policy Advisor to the executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi, Kenya for two years.

Following his return to New Zealand, Woollaston stood for and became Mayor of Nelson in 1992.{{cite news |title=Going tough for ex-MPs |work=The New Zealand Herald |date=12 October 1992 |page=2 }} Re-elected in 1995, he was defeated by Paul Matheson in 1998.

In 1993 Woollaston developed a small vineyard in the Waimea Plains near Nelson with his wife Chan. Originally intended as a retirement hobby, the winery grew into a full-time business when the Woollastons entered into a partnership with American couple, Glenn and (his former wife) Renee Schaeffer, purchasing an apple orchard at Mahana near Nelson.{{cite web |title=Philip Woollaston – New Zealand (Woollaston Winery) |url=https://www.sommelier-jobs.com/2018/05/14/philip-woollaston-new-zealand-woollaston-winery/ |website=Sommelier Jobs |date=14 May 2018 |access-date=2 October 2020}} Originally the winery was called Woollaston Estates but in 2015 it changed its name to Mahana Estates.{{cite web |title=Murren v Schaeffer [2018] NZHC 3176 |url=http://www.nzlii.org/cgi-bin/sinodisp/nz/cases/NZHC/2018/3176.html |website=NZ Legal Information Institute |access-date=2 October 2020}}

Glenn Schaeffer made headlines in 2009 when the US company he co-founded and headed (Fontainebleau Resorts) filed for bankruptcy.{{cite web |title=Fontainebleau Las Vegas Files for Bankruptcy |url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/fontainebleau-las-vegas-files-for-bankruptcy/ |website=New York Times |date=10 June 2009 |access-date=2 October 2020}} It had been developing the US$2.9 billion Fontainebleau Las Vegas, a 68-storey 3889 room hotel, condominium and casino (now The Drew Las Vegas, which remains unfinished as of 2020).{{cite news |last=Segall |first=Eli |title=Drew Las Vegas developer expects to close $2B construction loan soon |url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/casinos-gaming/drew-las-vegas-developer-expects-to-close-2b-construction-loan-soon-1942440/ |access-date=2 October 2020 |work=Las Vegas Review-Journal |date=January 24, 2020}}

Woollaston retired from his position as managing director of the winery in 2009. In July 2018, the Mahana Estates Winery was put up sale and in September it was put into receivership. In December 2018 the High Court of New Zealand found that Schaeffer had made false representations to Las Vegas investors that they were purchasing a share in the winery and vineyard when in fact he had never transferred his interest in the business to the limited partnership and had continued to deal with the assets as if they were his own. Schaeffer was ordered to repay NZ$3.3 million to the investors. In June 2020, Schaeffer's appeal to the Court of Appeal was dismissed.{{cite web |last1=Gee |first1=Samantha |title=Former Kiwi vineyard owner Glenn Schaeffer loses appeal, ordered to pay Las Vegas execs $3.3m |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/121793212/former-kiwi-vineyard-owner-glenn-schaeffer-loses-appeal-ordered-to-pay-las-vegas-execs-33m |website=Stuff.co.nz |date=11 June 2020 |access-date=2 October 2020}}

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• {{cite book |last= Wilson |first= James Oakley |title= New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 |edition= 4th |orig-year=First published in 1913 |year= 1985 |publisher=V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer |location= Wellington |oclc=154283103 }}

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Category:1944 births

Category:New Zealand Labour Party MPs

Category:Living people

Category:Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand

Category:Mayors of Nelson, New Zealand

Category:Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives

Category:New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates

Category:People educated at St Andrew's College, Christchurch

Category:University of Canterbury alumni

Category:People from Motueka

Category:New Zealand schoolteachers