Sir Trevor Colin Mallard (born 17 June 1954) is a New Zealand politician and diplomat. Between February 2023 and August 2025, he served as Ambassador of New Zealand to Ireland. He was a Member of Parliament from 1984 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2022. He served as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2017 until 2022.
Mallard was a Cabinet minister in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand (1999 to 2008). For six years, he was Minister of Education and Minister of State Services and held additional appointments as Minister for the Environment, Minister of Labour, Minister of Broadcasting, Minister for State Owned Enterprises, Minister for Sport and Recreation and Associate Minister of Finance. He has represented the electorates of Hamilton West, Pencarrow and Hutt South, and was a list member of Parliament between 2017 and 2022.
Mallard's five-year term as Speaker completed his parliamentary career. His move into a presiding officer role was likened to "the poacher turned gamekeeper." Mallard had had a reputation as an "attack dog" and "political battler" (he was once convicted of fighting in a public place after punching National MP Tau Henare at Parliament). His speakership was remarked on for its contribution to parliamentary culture change, including promoting a more family-friendly environment and removing the requirement for male MPs to wear ties. However, some of Mallard's comments and actions attracted criticism including in relation to the 2022 Wellington protests.
In February 2023, Mallard took up the role of New Zealand ambassador to Ireland. In mid August 2025, he was recalled as Ambassador by Foreign Minister Winston Peters.
Education and teaching career Mallard was born in Wellington, and attended Onslow College. After gaining a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration degree from Victoria University of Wellington in 1974, he trained as a teacher at the Wellington College of Education, gaining a Diploma in Teaching in 1976. He subsequently held a number of teaching jobs in Wellington and the King Country.
While teaching, Mallard became involved in the Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA), the national secondary school teachers' union. He was secretary of the PPTA's King Country branch from 1979 to 1984. In 1984, he gained a Diploma in Continuing Education from the University of Waikato.
Labour Party activism Mallard joined the Labour Party in 1972, while a university student. In 1977 he was arrested in Parliament's debating chamber during an anti-SIS bill protest, later appearing in court and the Supreme Court, and was banned from Parliament buildings for a time. He was arrested for disorderly behaviour outside the Springbok rugby team's Rotorua hotel during protests against their 1981 tour of New Zealand, but was found not guilty. In 1983 he unsuccessfully contested the Labour nomination for the new Tongariro electorate, losing to Noel Scott.
Election to Parliament
Fourth Labour Government, 1984–1990 He held a number of internal party positions until the election of 1984 when he defeated Mike Minogue to become the member of Parliament for Hamilton West. In his first term of Parliament, the Labour Party formed a new government and Mallard served as a member of the Justice and Law Reform committee and Regulations Review committee.
Mallard was re-elected in the 1987 election and the Labour government won a second term. Mallard was appointed junior government whip from 1987 to 1990, when he became senior whip. He lost his seat in the election of 1990.
Fourth National Government, 1993–1999 After his election loss, Mallard returned to the Wellington area to live and work at parliament as an executive assistant to Mike Moore in the office of the Leader of the Opposition. He set up a new Labour Party branch in Wainuiomata and recruited 70 new members to the party. He then contested the Labour Party nomination in the seat of after Sonja Davies announced her retirement, winning the selection over Eastbourne-based polytechnic lecturer Tricia Thompson. At the he was successful in winning the seat and re-entered parliament. The electorate was renamed Hutt South in 1996, and Mallard retained the seat until 2017 when he opted to become a list MP in a bid to become the Speaker of the House.
As a newly returned member of Parliament, Mallard supported Helen Clark in the 1993 Labour Party leadership contest. He became a senior member of the Labour Party under Clark's leadership and Michael Cullen described him as a member of Clark's inner circle, which also included Pete Hodgson, Steve Maharey, Phil Goff and Annette King. Clark appointed Mallard to spokesperson roles in portfolios for which he would later hold ministerial responsibility, including sport, state services, and education. As an opposition member of Parliament, Mallard was reappointed to the Justice and Law Reform committee (1993–1994) and appointed to the Government Administration committee (1993–1999).
Fifth Labour Government, 1999–2008
When Labour won the 1999 election, Mallard was appointed to Cabinet. He became Minister of Education, Minister of State Services, and Minister for Sport and Recreation. In connection with his Education role, he also became Minister Responsible for the Education Review Office, and in connection with his Sport role, he also became Minister for the America's Cup (New Zealand held the America's Cup at the time). In 2004, Mallard also became Co-ordinating Minister for Race Relations, and Minister of Energy.
In September 2006, Mallard was implicated in the resignation of National Party leader Don Brash after interjecting with an allegation in the House that Brash had engaged in an extramarital affair.
In an October 2007 cabinet reshuffle, he was reassigned to be the Minister for the Environment, the Minister of Labour, the Minister of Broadcasting, the Minister for State Owned Enterprises and the Associate Minister of Finance.
In October 2007, Mallard punched National Party MP Tau Henare in a scuffle that took place outside the debating chambers. It is speculated that this was a result of comments Henare made regarding a new relationship Mallard had formed. Mallard quickly apologised for his part in the altercation. He also publicly revealed that the woman with whom he had entered a new relationship was former world champion rower Brenda Lawson. Police declined to investigate but Graham McCready launched a private prosecution. Mallard pleaded guilty to fighting in a public place and agreed to pay $500 to the Salvation Army's Bridge drug and alcohol programme.
In May 2008, Mallard was warned by New Zealand's Chief Electoral Officer Robert Peden that signage on his electorate vehicle breached provisions of the controversial Electoral Finance Act and ordered him to update the signage to include an authorisation from party officials. However, the Chief Electoral Officer did not refer the matter to the New Zealand Police to prosecute as the matter was considered inconsequential.
Minister of Education Mallard's handling of the education portfolio was strongly criticised by teachers' unions, including the PPTA. In his first term as minister, he was strongly criticised by teachers during a long-running strike action over salaries.
In his second term, he was criticised for a programme of school closures, that involved almost 90 schools across the country. The programme was eventually stopped after it faced heavy criticism from parents and teachers.
Minister of Sport and Recreation In April 2002, Mallard made crude comments about inserting beer bottles into "uncomfortable places" of International Rugby Board chairman Vernon Pugh and Australian Rugby boss John O'Neill during a radio interview following the withdrawal of co-hosting rights for the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He later apologised saying he mixed up his passion for rugby with his role as Minister of Sport.
Minister of State Owned Enterprises In 2006, Mallard announced that the government would introduce a policy that encouraged state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to expand into new business areas and diversify in order to build wealth for the country.
In 2007, Mallard said that the government was likely to be more stringent on state-owned enterprises in relation to social responsibility. Mallard explained that social responsibility is one of the core functions of SOEs but not enough was being done. The announcement was made following a number of incidents by SOEs, including a power disconnection by Mercury Energy that resulted in the death of Folole Muliaga, an individual who relied on an oxygen machine.
Minister of Labour In 2008, Mallard implemented a new tool to help small businesses manage hazards. The goal of the project was to improve workplace health and safety.
Minister of Broadcasting In July 2008, Mallard was critical of a TVNZ report into an assault by sports broadcaster Tony Veitch, saying that the report lacked key details, such as not mentioning that an assault took place.
Opposition, 2008–2017 Returning to opposition after the ascent of the Fifth National Government led by John Key in 2008, Mallard was Labour spokesperson for a range of portfolios including animal welfare (2014–2017), internal affairs (2013–2015) and education and labour (2008–2011). He was shadow leader of the House from 2011 to 2013 and was elected an assistant Speaker of the House in 2014.
In February 2012, Mallard was accused of ticket scalping on Trade Me when he sold four tickets to the Homegrown music festival for a $246 profit. As Minister of Economic Development in 2006, Mallard had initiated legislation, the Major Events Management Act 2007, prohibiting ticket scalping for major events (although Homegrown wasn't classified as a "major event" so wasn't covered). He later offered to refund the money he received for the tickets.
In May 2012, Mallard and fellow Labour MP Andrew Little were sued by National MP and Minister for the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) Judith Collins for defamation over comments they made on the public broadcaster Radio New Zealand linking her to the leak of an e-mail from Michelle Boag about an ACC privacy breach. After spending weeks avoiding Collins' legal team, Mallard received Collins' legal papers from a woman posing as a constituent. The case was settled by the parties involved following a High Court hearing in November 2012.
In December 2019, former Auditor-General Martin Matthews claimed that Mallard and other members of the Officers of Parliament committee, including then-Speaker David Carter, had pressured him to resign prior to the release of a critical report by Sir Martin Wevers into Matthews' handling of a NZ$725,000 fraud perpetrated by Ministry of Transport employee Joanne Harrison. At the time, Matthews had served as the head of the Ministry of Transport. Wevers' report ruled that Matthews was unsuitable for the position of Auditor-General since he had failed to detect Harrison's fraud earlier. Matthews disputed the report, alleging that it was full of errors and did not meet the threshold for removing Officers of Parliament. Matthews claimed that Mallard and his fellow MPs had denied him natural justice by not allowing him to respond to alleged inaccuracies in Wevers' report.
Speaker of the House, 2017–2022
Following the formation of a Labour-led coalition government with New Zealand First and the Green parties in October 2017, Mallard was elected as Speaker of the House on 7 November following some contention from the opposition National Party over whether several of the new MPs had been sworn in. He also served as Chairperson of several committees including the Business and Officers of Parliament select committees, and the Parliamentary Services Commission.