==Career==
==Career==
David McGee joined the New Zealand parliament in 1974, when he was 27, and he left when in 2007, when he was 61. He worked in the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives for 34 years and filled several roles, including acting as Clerk of Select Committees. He was Clerk of the House for 22 years, from 1985 to 2007.
McGee joined the New Zealand parliament in 1974, when he was 27, and he left when in 2007, when he was 61. He worked in the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives for 34 years and filled several roles, including acting as Clerk of Select Committees. He was Clerk of the House for 22 years, from 1985 to 2007.
He was a collaborator on the Constitution Act 1986. His contribution to the understanding and development of the [[New Zealand]] parliamentary system is generally recognized as extraordinary.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Post |url=https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/350068675/obituary-ten-pound-pom-who-reshaped-nz-parliament |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207214521/https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/350068675/obituary-ten-pound-pom-who-reshaped-nz-parliament |archive-date=2023-12-07 |access-date=2025-09-01 |website=www.thepost.co.nz |language=en}}</ref><ref name=”whos_who_2001″ /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/AboutParl/HowPWorks/Speaker/Speeches/e/6/e/00SpeakSpeech251020071-Speech-to-farewell-David-McGee-CNZM-QC-Clerk.htm |title=Speech to farewell David McGee CNZM QC, Clerk of the House of Representatives |publisher=House of Representatives |accessdate=8 June 2013| date= 25 October 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=New Zealand Gazette | page=1435 | date=15 June 2000 | issue=65}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release | author=Victoria University of Wellington | title= Victoria celebrates its newest graduates| url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED0912/S00028.htm | date=11 December 2009 | accessdate=8 June 2013}}</ref>
He was a collaborator on the Constitution Act 1986. His contribution to the understanding and development of the [[New Zealand]] parliamentary system is generally recognized as extraordinary.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Post |url=https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/350068675/obituary-ten-pound-pom-who-reshaped-nz-parliament |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207214521/https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/350068675/obituary-ten-pound-pom-who-reshaped-nz-parliament |archive-date=2023-12-07 |access-date=2025-09-01 |website=www.thepost.co.nz |language=en}}</ref><ref name=”whos_who_2001″ /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/AboutParl/HowPWorks/Speaker/Speeches/e/6/e/00SpeakSpeech251020071-Speech-to-farewell-David-McGee-CNZM-QC-Clerk.htm |title=Speech to farewell David McGee CNZM QC, Clerk of the House of Representatives |publisher=House of Representatives |accessdate=8 June 2013| date= 25 October 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=New Zealand Gazette | page=1435 | date=15 June 2000 | issue=65}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release | author=Victoria University of Wellington | title= Victoria celebrates its newest graduates| url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED0912/S00028.htm | date=11 December 2009 | accessdate=8 June 2013}}</ref>
==Personal life==
==Personal life==
British-born New Zealand lawyer and public servant (1947–2023)
David Graham McGee CNZM KC (11 December 1947 – 27 August 2023) was a New Zealand lawyer and long-standing New Zealand public servant of 40 years who served as Clerk of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 1985 to 2007[2] and an Ombudsman in New Zealand from 2007 until 31 May 2013.[3][4]
Born in North Shields, Northumberland, England, on 11 December 1947, McGee was born into poverty in the United Kingdom in North Shields, Tynemouth, Northumberland, some 15 km to the east of the city of Newcastle, where he was brought up by his mother. They lived in a very small and run-down upstairs flat just off Saville Street. He went to Western School to the age of 11, when he was one of the first pupils from the school to pass the highly selective 11-plus examination. This took him to Tynemouth High (Grammar) School, where he did not excel academically, but was a popular pupil. He played half back for the school football team. He left school at age 16 with few formal qualifications and worked in a solicitors office and played football. A talented player, McGee trialed for a number of professional clubs, including Brighton, but he was deemed to be not good enough to be offered a professional contract. After 3 or 4 years he decided that his office job was a dead-end. He then enrolled in night-school classes in Wallsend where he passed several GCSE “O” & “A” levels. This enabled him to take a degree in business law from Coventry University that would prove a winner and which helped him start his career.
In search of a new life, McGee decided to leave the UK in 1972. McGee arrived in New Zealand on the SS Brittanis as a Ten Pound Pom in 1972,[2] and became a naturalised New Zealand citizen in 1976.[5]
McGee joined the New Zealand parliament in 1974, when he was 27, and he left when in 2007, when he was 61. He worked in the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives for 34 years and filled several roles, including acting as Clerk of Select Committees. He was Clerk of the House for 22 years, from 1985 to 2007.
He was a collaborator on the Constitution Act 1986. His contribution to the understanding and development of the New Zealand parliamentary system is generally recognized as extraordinary.[6][1][7][8][9]
McGee met Daniele Khoodoo on a New Zealand parliamentary trip to Mauritius in 1976, and they married the following year.[10]
Later life and death
[edit]
McGee retired as ombudsman in May 2013 at the age of 65 and moved into a life of quiet retirement in New Zealand. McGee died in Wellington on 27 August 2023, at the age of 75 after a short illness.[11][12] McGee reshaped parliament in New Zealand with his outstanding contributions to New Zealand parliamentary practices.[10]
In 1977, McGee was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal, and in 1990 he received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.[1] In the 2002 Queen’s Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours, McGee was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Parliament.[13]
