Don Brash

Childhood, education and marriage

Don Brash was born to Alan Brash, a Presbyterian minister and son of prominent lay leader Thomas Brash, and Eljean Brash (née Hill), in Whanganui on 24 September 1940.

His family moved to Christchurch when he was six. He attended Cashmere Primary School and Christchurch Boys' High School before going to the University of Canterbury where he graduated in economics, history and political science. He continued his studies in economics, receiving his master's degree in 1962 for a thesis arguing that foreign investment damaged a country's economic development. The following year he began working towards a PhD (again in economics), at the Australian National University.

In 1964 Brash married Erica, with whom he had two children. In the 1980s he and his Singaporean secretary, Je Lan Lee, who was also married, began a relationship. He separated from Erica in 1985 and four months after they were later divorced, he married Lee. In 2007, his marriage to Lee also broke up, following an affair with Diane Foreman, then Deputy Chair of the Business Round Table. Brash and Lee had one child together.

Brash went to Washington, D.C. in the United States in 1966 to work as an economist for the World Bank. However, he returned to New Zealand in 1971 to become general manager of Broadbank Corporation, a merchant bank.

Brash's first entry into politics came in 1980 when the National Party selected him to stand as its candidate in the by-election in the East Coast Bays electorate. Brash's attempt at the seat, however, failed – some believe that this resulted from the decision by Robert Muldoon, National Party Prime Minister, to raise tolls on the Auckland Harbour Bridge, an important route for East Coast Bays residents. The seat went to Gary Knapp of the Social Credit Party. Brash again failed to win the seat at the 1981 general election.

In 1981, he also hosted Milton Friedman while National Party candidate, prior to the neoliberal reforms enacted by Roger Douglas, whom he later nominated as the greatest living New Zealander

In 1982 Brash became managing director at the New Zealand Kiwifruit Authority, which oversaw the export of kiwifruit (he still grows kiwifruit as a hobby). From 1986 to 1988, he served as the general manager of Trust Bank, a merger of nine trustee savings banks.

Since 2016, Brash's partner has been Margaret Murray-Benge. As Margaret Murray, she was a councillor for Waimairi District (1977–1989), Christchurch City (1992–1998), Since 2004, she has been a councillor for Western Bay of Plenty District.

Career after national politics

On 18 May 2007, Brash joined the ANZ National Bank board as Rob McLeod retired from the board to return to his accounting practice. He became chairman of Huljich Wealth Management, an independent, specialist funds-management company based in Auckland, New Zealand. In late 2008 he was lecturing in economics at the Auckland University of Technology In April 2009 Brash was appointed as a director of the electricity grid operator Transpower.

In late April 2011, Brash, still a National Party member, announced that he would like to lead the ACT Party, which would require incumbent leader Rodney Hide to step down. Hide dismissed any talk of a leadership challenge to him but Brash was quoted as saying, "I'd like to say to the board that, under my leadership, I believe Act has a much better prospect of not only getting back into Parliament but having a significant number of MPs." John Key also would not rule out working with Brash if it came down to a tight decision.

Brash chairs the New Zealand subsidiary of the state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.