David John Butcher (born 19 September 1948) is a former New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.
[1] The family migrated to New Zealand in 1963, and he attended Karamu High School in Hastings with broadcaster Paul Holmes, and Victoria University of Wellington.
As Minister of Energy, Butcher had responsibility for ensuring that privatised utilities operated in a competitive environment, or were subjected to appropriate regulation.
[10] He represented the Hastings electorate in Parliament until 1990, when he was defeated by National's Jeff Whittaker, one of a number of losses contributing to the fall of the Fourth Labour Government.
[13] In 2000, he was fined $10,000 plus reparations, for fraudulently claiming expenses on airline tickets under a travel rebate scheme for former MPs.