Early life and career Barker was born in the town of
Greymouth, on New Zealand's
West Coast. He attended
Greymouth High School and then the
University of Otago. After working as a shop assistant,
bartender, storeworker, farmhand, driver, factory worker, and
quarrier, he became involved in the
trade unions, primarily those relating to the service sector. He eventually became National Secretary of the Service Workers' Union.
Member of Parliament Barker became a member of the
Labour Party in 1973, served for a time as the Industrial Representative on the party's National Council and was also junior vice-president of the party. In the lead up to the
1993 election Barker sought the Labour nomination for the normally safe Labour seat of
Heretaunga, but lost out to political advisor
Heather Simpson. Later in 1993 he won the Labour nomination for the
Hastings electorate, defeating Auckland Tamoana Freezing Workers' Union president Pat Weir. His selection was a surprise as Weir won the floor vote of local members, but the selection panel chose Barker. The Freezing Workers' Union laid a complaint with the Labour Party's head office alleging the panel had been
stacked, an assertion rejected by party secretary Tony Timms. At the 1993 election, he succeeded in winning the Hastings electorate, winning a seat that was previously held by the
National Party. Soon after entering parliament he supported
Helen Clark in her successful leadership challenge to
Mike Moore. He was re-elected in
1996,
1999, and
2002 for the reconfigured seat of
Tukituki. In
2005 he lost the seat in what was a large swing against the sitting Labour government in the provincial areas and returned to
Parliament as a
list MP. In
2008 Barker tried unsuccessfully to regain the seat of Tukituki and for the second time was returned to parliament as a Labour list MP. He stood in one of the safest National seats,
Taranaki-King Country, in 2011 and was not high enough on the Labour list to remain an MP.
Cabinet minister In 2002
Labour was re-elected for a second term and Barker was appointed to
Cabinet as
Minister of Customs,
Minister for Courts, Associate Minister of Justice, and Associate Minister of Social Services and Employment. During the 2002–2005 term, he was given additional responsibility as
Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector and Minister for Small Business. In 2005, Barker was re-appointed to Cabinet as the
Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister for Courts,
Minister of Civil Defence and Minister of Veterans' Affairs. Barker lost his ministerial warrants following Labour's defeat in the 2008 election; however, Barker was appointed by the House of Representatives to the role of Assistant Speaker for the
49th New Zealand Parliament for the session 2008–11. As a cabinet minister, Barker was entitled to the title of
The Honourable and became The Hon. Rick (Richard) Barker which is a title he was granted for the rest of his life after his term of office.
Post-parliamentary roles Barker was elected to the
Hawke's Bay Regional Council in 2013, representing the Hastings constituency. In 2016 he was appointed deputy chair of the council. On 30 June 2021 he was elected chair, holding the role until October 2022. In June 2018, Barker was appointed chairperson of the
West Coast District Health Board by the
Minister of Health,
David Clark. He was reappointed in December 2019. ==Personal life==