Russell Marshall

Cedric Russell Marshall (15 February 1936 – 18 January 2025) was a New Zealand Labour Party politician and diplomat.

Biography Early life and career Marshall was born in Nelson in 1936. His father Cedric Marshall served as secretary of the Nelson Labour Party, then as its president, and was president of the Nelson Trades Council. Russell is the older brother of Kerry Marshall, a former mayor of both Nelson and Tasman District. He attended Nelson College from 1949 to 1952. He trained as a primary school teacher at Christchurch Teachers' College (1953–54), taught in the Nelson Education Board district in 1955–56, and at Wanganui High School in 1972. He was a Methodist minister from 1960 to 1972, serving in Spreydon and Halswell, Christchurch (1960–67) and in Masterton (1967–71).

During his time as a Methodist minister Marshall became known as the "Red Reverend" after becoming known for leading protests against the Vietnam War in the 1960s. National Prime Minister Robert Muldoon resurrected the title when Marshall entered politics, frequently referring to him as such in debating exchanges.

Member of Parliament

He represented the Wanganui electorate from 1972 to 1990, when he retired. In his first term in parliament he was on the education select committee where he supported the educational reforms of Phil Amos, the Minister of Education. After the surprise defeat of the Labour government in 1975 Marshall was appointed by leader Bill Rowling as Shadow Minister of Education, a significant promotion for an MP of only three years. He was also Senior Opposition Whip from 1978 to 1980. When Rowling retired in 1983 Marshall stood to replace him as party leader, but was beaten by David Lange.

Marshall was a Cabinet Minister from 1984 to 1990 during the Fourth Labour Government. He was Minister of Education, Minister for the Environment, Minister of Conservation and Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control during the government's first term (1984–87).

As Minister for the Environment Marshall inherited a campaign promise from Labour's previous environment spokesperson Michael Cullen for the wholesale reorganisation of environmental administration. He merged parts of the Department of Lands and Survey, the Forest Service and Wildlife Service into the new Department of Conservation and additionally established the Ministry for the Environment. As Minister of Education he was involved in reforming the public education system leading to the Tomorrow's Schools report. He also tackled the problem of class sizes setting a goal of recruiting 2,500 new teachers to reduce classes to a maximum of 20 students.

Local-body candidate Marshall stood as a candidate in the Porirua City Council elections in 1992 but was unsuccessful.

Honours Marshall was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977, and the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal in 1990. In the 2001 New Year Honours, Marshall was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for public services.

In 1989 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Khon Kaen University in Thailand for services to community development. They had three children together.