Greg O'Connor (politician)


Gregory Eamon O'Connor is a former police officer who served as the President of the New Zealand Police Association, a union representing 11,500 constabulary officers and employees. In the 2017 general election he ran for the Labour Party in the Ōhāriu electorate, and won it with a majority of 1,051.

Early life

O'Connor was born in the Buller District on the West Coast before moving to Wellington. His family were Irish Catholic and O'Connor stated that "growing up there's a fairly healthy disrespect for the law" where he grew up.

Police career

O'Connor served in the New Zealand Police for almost four decades ending his career with the rank of Senior Sergeant.
He was later elected President of the New Zealand Police Association in 1995. His time as President was highly politicized with O'Connor weighing into political debates that concerned the Police force, particularly in regards to arming officers with firearms. O'Connor called for arming the police in New Zealand and also proposed routine arming of front line response police officers. He retired as President in 2016, serving a record 21 years as the Police Association's head and regarded raising the Police Association's credibility as his main achievement during his tenure.
He also spent time serving as the chair of the International Council of Police Representatives Association.

Political career

Upon his retirement from the Police Association, O'Connor was asked whether he was considering a career in politics, but he said he had no plans to do so at that time. However, on 1 February 2017 O'Connor confirmed he was seeking the Labour Party nomination for the seat of in the to challenge incumbent Peter Dunne of United Future. On 12 February it was revealed that O'Connor had won the Labour nomination for Ōhāriu. O'Connor was also ranked 41 on Labour's party list for the election. He won the seat by a margin of 1,051 votes.

Personal life

O'Connor lives in Wellington with his wife Desley. They have three children Isaac, Michael, and Evie. His cousin is Damien O'Connor, MP for West Coast-Tasman.