Home > Wyatt Creech

Creech was born in Oceanside, California. His mother, a New Zealander, had met his father when he was part of a US Marine deployment passing through New Zealand in World War II. When Creech was a few months old, the family returned to New Zealand, settling in the Wairarapa. Creech was educated in Masterton, Wanganui, and at Massey University, where he obtained an agricultural qualification. He then travelled extensively overseas, visiting India, NepalNepal situated in the Himalayas, is the world's only Hindu kingdom. It is in South Asia, sharing borders with China ( Tibet Autonomous Region) and India. Nepal Adhirajya ( In Detail) (Full size) National motto: "Ja'nani Jan'mabhumis'hchaa Svar'gadapi Gari, PakistanIslami Jamhuria Pakistan ( In Detail) ( In Detail) National motto: Iman, Ittehad, Nazm( Urdu: "Faith, Unity, Discipline" Official Language(s) Urdu, English Capital Islamabad Largest City Karachi President General Pervez Musharraf Prime Minister Shaukat Az, AfghanistanAfghanistan ( Dari/ Pashtu: Afgnistn is a country in Central Asia. It is bordered by Iran in the west, Pakistan in the south and east, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the easternmost part of the country. It is among the, IranIran ( Persian: ) is a Middle Eastern country located in southwestern Asia that until 1935 was referred to in the West as Persia''. It borders Pakistan (909km of border) and Afghanistan (936km) to the east, Turkmenistan (1000km) to the northeast, the Casp, TurkeyTurkey (officially the Republic of Turkey Turkish Turkiye is a country located in Southwest Asia with a small part in southeastern Europe. Until 1922 the country was the center of the Ottoman Empire. The Anatolian peninsula, between the Black Sea and the, the Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR ( Russian: ; tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik (SSSR) also called the Soviet Union ( ; tr. Sovetsky Soyuz , was a state in much of the northern region of Eurasia that existed from 1922 until 1, and Eastern EuropeEastern Europe is, by convention, a region defined geographically as that part of Europe covering the eastern part of the continent. Generally this means that it lies between the Ural and Caucasus mountains and the western border of Russia, or alternative. He then returned to New Zealand and obtained a degree in political sciencePolitical science is the study of politics. It involves the study of structure and process in government or any equivalent system that attempts to assure safety, fairness, and closure across a broad range of risks and access to a broad range of commons fo from Victoria University of Wellington. He subsequently returned to the Wairarapa and established a vineyard.

In the 1987 elections, Creech contested the Wairarapa seat for the National Party. On election night, Creech was defeated by the incumbent Labour Party MP, Reg Boorman , but Creech later challenged that result on the basis that Boorman had violated new laws about election spending. The Electoral Court approved Creech's petition, and he took his seat in 1988 with a majority of 34 votes. He was to remain MP for Wairarapa until the 1999 elections, when he stood aside from electorate politics and became a list MP.

When the National Party won the 1990 elections, Creech was appointed to Cabinet, with his two main roles being Minister of Revenue and Minister of Customs. Later in his career, he held a number of other roles, including Minister of Education, Minister of Health, Minister for State Owned Enterprises, Minister of Employment, and Associate Minister of Finance. In December 1997, he was also elected deputy leader of the National Party.

In August 1998, the coalition between the National Party and New Zealand First broke down, and New Zealand First's Winston Peters was sacked as Deputy Prime Minister. The Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley, appointed Creech to fill the vacancy.

When National lost office, Creech remained the party's deputy leader until October 2001, when Jenny Shipley herself was deposed. He was replaced by Roger Sowry, a supporter of new leader Bill English. Creech did not stand for re-election in the 2002 elections.