Keith Locke

Keith James Locke (born 1944) is a former New Zealand member of parliament who represented the Green Party, being first elected to parliament in 1999 and retiring from parliament at the 2011 election.

He was the Green Party spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Defence, Ethnic Affairs, Pacific Affairs, Human Rights, Immigration, Police and Auckland Transport.

He served on the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee.

Since retiring from Parliament, Locke has joined the boards of the Auckland Refugee Council and the New Zealand Peace and Conflict Studies Centre Trust.

He writes on political issues for New Zealand newspapers and the Daily Blog.

Locke was born and grew up in Christchurch, to Jack and Elsie Locke, prominent lifelong political activists for a wide variety of causes.

Their four children were brought up in this environment and followed their parents into a life of activism, (as well as Keith, his sister Maire Leadbeater is a well-known activist and former city councillor for Auckland City Council).

His father Jack was under surveillance during the 1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute.

Former Prime Minister Robert Muldoon is said to have described the Lockes as the most "notorious Communist family in New Zealand".

The Lockes lived in the Avon Loop area of the Christchurch Central City and were very active in the community notably organising native tree plantings and clean-ups of the Avon River / Ōtākaro.

They also argued against development of the area in favour of retaining the character of the area.

He attended Christchurch Boys' High School and has a BSc in psychology from the University of Canterbury and then went to Canada for a master's degree in Sociology at the University of Alberta.

He studied towards but never completed a Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Toronto, before returning to New Zealand.

Locke lectured in sociology at Victoria University from 1970 to 1972, but then decided to leave academia to work as a full-time editor of the fortnightly socialist paper, Socialist Action, from 1972 to 1976.

Politically active all his life, he joined the Socialist Action League (SAL) in 1970.

By 1972 he was both the National Secretary of the SAL and chairman of "Socialists for Labour".

From 1978 to 1984 he worked as an active socialist and unionist in a car factory, railway workshops and meatworks in the Wellington region.

In 1985 he moved to Auckland, working in the Auckland City abattoirs, 1985–86.

By 1985 Locke had left the SAL but was still involved in various issue movements.

These included Latin America, the Philippines and East Timor solidarity movements and the anti-nuclear movement.

From 1986 to 1990 Locke worked full-time as the national coordinator of the Philippines Solidarity Network, based in Auckland.

In 1989 Jim Anderton broke away from the Labour Party to form the NewLabour Party (NLP).

Locke as well as several other former SAL members were given roles in the NLP's first National Council.

From 1990 to 1999 he was manager of One World Books, a non-profit bookshop in Auckland specialising in social, environmental and development issues.

Locke was their foreign affairs and defence spokesperson and stood as the NLP candidate for in the 1990 election.

In December 1991 the NLP joined with the Greens, Mana Motuhake and the Democrats to form the Alliance Party.

Locke continued as foreign affairs spokesperson for the Alliance and stood in Eden in the 1993 election and in the 1996 election.

However, by 1997 the Greens had decided to leave the Alliance.

Soon after Locke left the Alliance and joined the Greens where he was made foreign affairs spokesperson.

In the 1999 election he was elected to Parliament at number 7 on the Green Party list.

In 2000, Locke had two member's bills drawn from the ballot.

The first, the Intelligence and Security Committee Act Repeal Bill 2000, attempted to reform oversight of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service and Government Communications Security Bureau.

It was defeated at its first reading.

The second, the International Treaties Bill, attempted to give greater parliamentary oversight of treaty-making.

He was returned to Parliament in the 2002 election again at number 7 on the Green Party list and in the 2005 election at number 5, and in the 2008 election at number 6.

In all four elections he stood in the Epsom electorate.

It was sent to select committee, but ultimately defeated at its second reading in 2003.

In January 2011 Locke announced that he would retire at that year's election.

He delivered his valedictory speech on 28 September 2011.

As a Member of Parliament, Locke established a profile of being an "unofficial civil liberties watchdog".