The Post

Mitchell primed for next battle

As a policeman Mark Mitchell lost the full use of his arm after a samurai sword attack. But his career has since led him to tribal warfare in the Middle East and now into Parliament as National’s MP for Rodney. The corridors of power should be a walk in t

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WHEN Mahdi militia surrounded a government compound in southern Iraq in 2004, cutting it off from support for five days, Mark Mitchell thought he was going to die.

Instead he was instrument­al in regaining control of the Italian-run An Nasiriyah compound and ensuring the safety of most of the diplomats, security staff and coalition forces housed there.

Lives were lost on both sides as Mr Mitchell and his men used AK47S and machine guns to stave off physical attacks by night and mortar fire throughout the day.

British governor Rory Stewart, now a Conservati­ve MP, headed the diplomatic corps at the compound and has written a book about the siege. United States actor Brad Pitt’s production company has bought the rights, but filming and casting are yet to get under way.

‘‘We weren’t even sure if we were going to survive that and come out the other end of it,’’ Mr Mitchell recalls in the comfort of his Bowen House office inside Wellington’s parliament­ary complex.

There are a few congratula­tions cards on a bookshelf and some papers scattered on the desk. The tomes of legislatio­n and knickknack­s from official visits overseas are yet to come.

It seems a giant leap from the battlefiel­ds of Iraq to the law and order select committee. But the former hostage negotiator, security consultant and chief executive of an internatio­nal threat management company says he is simply taking the latest opportunit­y to present itself.

‘‘Early on I just always took the approach that if a door opened, have a good look at it and step through if you felt like it was the right thing to do.’’

When he was first approached to go to Iraq, just a year after retiring from the police force, he wondered ‘‘what the hell a Kiwi cop knew’’ about security in the troubled nation.

‘‘The guy that approached me said ‘I wouldn’t ask you if I didn’t think you could do it’, and I’m glad that I took the challenge on because I learnt a lot.’’

He began working for a company contracted by the British Government to set up security for Iraq’s interim coalition government.

Mr Mitchell, now 43, was charged with transporti­ng government officials, protecting their homes and training Iraqi security forces.

After a couple of years being shot at and targeted in roadside bomb attacks, he decided to return to New Zealand.

However, doors soon began opening again and it wasn’t long before he was back in the Middle East improving security for a Kuwait-based logistics firm. He founded and ran the firm’s subsidiary, the Threat Management Group.

‘‘When I went out to Iraq I never had any intent to develop an internatio­nal business career.’’

But he turned the subsidiary into a multimilli­on-dollar business which won a number of lucrative contracts.

May 22, 1968, in Auckland and raised on the North Shore. Family: His father was a flight lieutenant and his mother was the daughter of Air Commodore Frank Gill, who was also a member of Muldoon’s Cabinet. Mr Mitchell’s younger brother, Sean, who suffered from manic depression, committed suicide in 2000. In November last year, Mr Mitchell married Peggy Bourne, Possum Bourne’s widow, and became stepfather to her three children – Taylor, Spencer and Jazlin. He has a daughter, Sylvie, and son Nathan. He has been divorced twice. Education: Attended high school at Rosmini College in Auckland and later studied through an executive education programme at the University of Pennsylvan­ia’s Wharton School of Business. Work experience: 1988-1989: Shepherd on Weiti Station in Rodney. 1989-2002: Patrol dog handler and armed offenders squad member with police. 2002-2003: Trained and bred horses in Taupo. 2003-2011: Worked in Iraq and the Middle East, originally for a firm contracted to set up security for the coalition government. He was then asked to establish the Provincial Joint Operations Centre in southern Iraq before forming an internatio­nal security consulting firm. He was also part of a team that helped establish emergency logistics systems for the World Economic Forum. 2010: Began making return trips to New Zealand with the aim of standing for the National Party. 2011: Elected Rodney MP with a winning majority of 12,222. Awards: Police Commission­er’s Gold Merit Award for bravery and dedication to duty after the arrest of a samurai swordwield­ing offender. Police long service and good conduct medal. British Iraq service medal. Letter of commendati­on from the Italian Government following the five-day siege at An Nasiriyah in Iraq.

It’s also what drew him home last year. ‘‘[It] started to pull me back and point me in the direction of coming home and running for Parliament because I felt that maybe I had developed some real skills and knowledge that could really be used to help the country.’’

MR MITCHELL and his wife Peggy – widow of rally driver Possum Bourne – moved their blended family to Orewa. ‘‘In some ways it was very easy to come back because our children were getting older and I wanted them to experience the Kiwi lifestyle.’’

The kids, aged 9-17, have adjusted to life back in New Zealand despite having spent the past few years dining with presidents and entertaini­ng ambassador­s.

Mr Mitchell says adapting has been easier for him than the family as he was focused on settling into the political world. It was probably hardest on Mrs Bourne-mitchell, who was born in Africa to missionary parents and was accustomed to an internatio­nal lifestyle, he says.

Mr Mitchell’s daughter from a previous marriage lives with them fulltime, his youngest son does not. He is very proud of his children and holds his family dear.

The death of his grandfathe­r, Frank Gill, when he was 15 had a profound impact on Mr Mitchell.

Mr Gill was minister of health and defence under former prime minister Sir Robert Muldoon and was the ambassador in Washington DC when he died of cancer.

‘‘I went really wobbly there. He was a big influence in my life and he was suddenly gone.’’

Likewise, his brother Sean’s suicide in 2000 had a major impact on him and has driven him to champion improvemen­ts in mental health services and awareness.

Mr Mitchell’s friend and former police colleague, Senior Sergeant John Edmonds, says that drive is a major part of Mr Mitchell’s character.

‘‘No-one was ever going to better him. Once he started a job he was never ever going to give it up until there was no other path to go down.

‘‘He’s the sort of guy that if he fell into a toilet bowl he’d find a gold bar.’’

When Mr Edmonds’ old dog had to be put down, Mr Mitchell took a colleague round to his house and dug a grave. That was Mr Mitchell – generous to a fault, stubborn and empathetic, Mr Edmonds says.

After Mangakino cop Murray Stretch was killed in 1999, Mr Mitchell, who was on call, ‘‘ran off’’ determined to catch the killer.

‘‘Our first priority was to find Mark, in those days comms [communicat­ions] wasn’t that sharp over there, either,’’ Mr Edmonds says.

Carlos Namana was later jailed for life for Mr Stretch’s murder.

As a police dog handler, Mr Mitchell’s partner was Czar, a black german shepherd.

Czar was stabbed in the chest, and Mr Mitchell in the right arm, early in their career during a confrontat­ion with a samurai-wielding offender who was trying to attack medical staff at Rotorua hospital.

He never regained the full use of his arm, but does not blame the man.

‘‘He didn’t wake up one morning saying ‘I want to be paranoid schizophre­nic’. He was ill with a sickness he didn’t want.’’

His time with police left Mr Mitchell with a contempt for criminal gangs, which he describes as ‘‘parasites living off the backs of our communitie­s and a bunch of low-life cowards’’.

Organised crime syndicates turn up anywhere there’s money to be made and police do a good job of tackling them with the resources they have, he says.

That said, more resources were always welcome.

Mr Mitchell says work was satisfying.

But asked what he is most proud of, he can’t get past his work alongside humanitari­an agencies in the Middle East, Africa and southeast Asia.

He helped scientists from The Hague safely take evidence from mass graves for the case against Saddam Hussein, delivered food and medical supplies to areas of Pakistan ravaged by floods and moved refugees out of Lebanon when they were trapped in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

‘‘That was extremely satisfying. When we could actually get on the ground, we could move quickly, we could get relief and aid and sometimes protection in place for people that had no hope, kids that were hungry.’’

His experience­s have served him well in his short time in Parliament.

The Iraqi Ambassador met him earlier this year while visiting from Canberra and he has been using his own networks to open up markets for New Zealand exporters. Trade is a passion. He wants to see local companies tapping into the extensive demand

his

policing in Iraq, Co-operation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf countries and other Middle Eastern nations.

‘‘There’s everything from food and services, constructi­on, oil and gas. There’s all sorts of different opportunit­ies up there.’’

Promoting trade and working for his Rodney electorate are Mr Mitchell’s main focus for now. Despite a history of leadership roles, he will not be drawn on aspiration­s. Prime Minister Mark Mitchell? ‘‘If being prime minister was going to get me out of doing the lawns then I’d have to dust off my CV. I’ve been trying to get out of the lawns since I was 15,’’ he says.

‘‘I’m back learning again, because this is a very different job.

‘‘You do bring over a lot of your life experience and a lot of your past experience with you but this is all about learning again now. I find it challengin­g. I’m not bored at all with what I’m doing.’’

FELLOW Rodney candidate and Conservati­ve Party leader Colin Craig says Mr Mitchell will have to show some backbone and stand up for what he really believes in, after sticking to the party line throughout the election campaign.

‘‘That made it difficult for him on some of the key issues.

‘‘He did make a promise that he would put the electorate ahead of the party, now that’s going to be a big promise to have to keep. So we will see.’’

Mr Craig says Mr Mitchell had great support from his family and put a lot of effort into his campaign.

Mr Mitchell says he would do whatever he was asked to do for the Government, but planned to spend the first term focused on his electorate.

‘‘I haven’t struck anything that has completely surprised me or shocked me or I hadn’t been prepared for. It’s all been pretty plain sailing up till now.’’

 ?? Photo: PHIL DOYLE/FAIRFAX NZ ?? Lifestyle change: Mark Mitchell married Peggy in November, with their honeymoon delayed by the run-up to the general election.
Photo: PHIL DOYLE/FAIRFAX NZ Lifestyle change: Mark Mitchell married Peggy in November, with their honeymoon delayed by the run-up to the general election.
 ??  ?? Partners against crime: Mark Mitchell in his days as a police dog handler, with Czar, the german shepherd. Both were stabbed by a man wielding a samurai sword.
Partners against crime: Mark Mitchell in his days as a police dog handler, with Czar, the german shepherd. Both were stabbed by a man wielding a samurai sword.
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