Born in England in 1939 Brown Merchant Navy and held the rank of Chief Officer and holds a sea captain's certificate.
He then operated his own business, Intercargo Management, doing consultancy work for cargo, shipping and port companies.
Instead he joined New Zealand First and stood as the party's candidate for the seat of Kaimai at the 1993 election and came a close second, reducing incumbent National MP Robert Anderson's majority from 8,147 to just 372.
[3] In April 2008, Brown – an immigrant himself – drew widespread attention after voicing similar views and expressing concern at the increase in New Zealand's immigrant population, specifically ethnic Asians: "We are going to flood this country with Asian people with no idea what we are going to do with them when they come here.
If we continue this open door policy there is real danger we will be inundated with people who have no intention of integrating into our society.