Stephen Rainbow

Stephen Laurence Rainbow (born 26 January 1961) is a New Zealand public servant and former local-body politician.

Early life Stephen Rainbow was born in Christchurch in 1961. He grew up on a tobacco farm south of Nelson and was educated in Richmond at Waimea College. Later he attended Victoria University of Wellington from 1982 and graduated in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts, and in 1991 with a PhD in Political Science.

Rainbow and his partner Anna Frusin (who was born in the Soviet Union) had three children together; Alexandra, Larissa and Solomon.

Political career Rainbow became politically active in the 1970s joining the Labour Party and served on Labour's New Zealand Council. In 1983 he contested the Labour nomination to replace retiring party leader Bill Rowling in the Tasman seat, but lost to Ken Shirley. He did not renew his membership in 1984 and later joined the newly formed Green Party and stood for election in 1989 for the Wellington City Council on a Green ticket. He was successful and became the country's first Green councillor. The next year he contested the seat of Wellington Central for the Greens at the general election, finishing third out of seven candidates. Rainbow was opposed to the Green Party's decision to join the Alliance and declined to stand for them in the seat at the 1992 Wellington Central by-election. There were rumours that Rainbow would instead be approached by Labour (which he was formerly a member of) to stand for them. A Labour official downplayed the rumour but did not rule out the possibility. Rainbow himself said he had no official approach from Labour and stated in any event he wished to concentrate on his role as a Wellington City Councillor.

Rainbow was re-elected to the Wellington City Council in 1992 and 1995. On both occasions he also stood for Mayor without success, finishing fourth in 1992 and seventh in 1995.

By 1994 Rainbow was a leading voice of the opposition to the Green Party's membership of the Alliance, a broad left-wing coalition, thinking the Alliance's emphasis on social justice type issues detracted focus from environmental issues. In 1995 Rainbow co-founded the Progressive Green Party, a "Bluegreen" environmentalist party with a more right-wing emphasis.

In 1998 Rainbow decided not to seek re-election. By that time the Progressive Greens had disbanded and most members had joined the "Bluegreen" wing of the National Party, including Rainbow. At the general election, he stood as a list only candidate for National, ranked 51st. With a relatively low ranking he was not allocated a seat.

Other activities In the 2010s Rainbow was the manager of Auckland Transport's key relationships unit.

Rainbow is also a gay rights activist. He served as Chairman of Auckland-based phone support and LGBT advocacy service OUTLine and also a board member of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation. He campaigned for same sex marriage reform.

Chief Human Rights Commissioner Appointment In August 2024, he was appointed to be New Zealand's Chief Human Rights Commissioner from November 2024 by Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith. Left-wing blogger Martyn "Bomber" Bradbury and The Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman criticised Rainbow's appointment, citing his alleged transphobic and pro-Israel views. In mid-October 2024, Chapman reported that the independent panel set up to shortlist and interview candidates for the role did not recommend Rainbow. Goldsmith had pressed for Rainbow's appointment as Chief Human Rights Commissioner. In December 2025 the High Court found that the Minister's appointment of Rainbow was "unlawful" but did not overturn this appointment.

Genocide hotline In late January 2025, Rainbow as Chief Human Rights Commissioner condemned a "genocide hotline" established by Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa national chairman John Minto, stating "the promotion may not be unlawful, however, the chief commissioner sees it as potentially harmful to Israeli and Jewish people in Aotearoa New Zealand." He called on the organisers to stop operating and promoting the hotline. According to Rainbow, the Human Rights Commission had received 90 complaints about the PSNA's "genocide hotline."

The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ) called Rainbow's comments "an alarming warning bell for human rights in this country." The comments were made regarding a petition to ban conversion therapy. Rainbow denied he was transphobic.

Antisemitism and the left In January 2024, Rainbow penned a column on the website of the pro-Israel advocacy group "Israel Institute of New Zealand" (IINZ) about Israel–New Zealand relations. He suggested that the keffiyeh-wearing antics of some Labour and Green MPs showed that being "anti-Israel has become an integral part of the Leftist creed." Rainbow also wrote: