The word “colourful” somehow doesn’t begin to describe the life of Bob Clarkson, the tradesman from Gisborne who played representative hockey, drove stock cars and dragsters – and famously knocked Winston Peters off his political perch in the 2005 general election.
More commonly known as “Bob the Builder,” Clarkson’s reputation in the Bay of Plenty is founded on property development and he still controls a real estate portfolio conservatively valued at around $140 million.
Born in 1939, Clarkson served an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner in his hometown of Gisborne before moving to the Waikato to work on the Kaimai Tunnel. Having sold and serviced tractors in Matamata, he then started his own business assembling cars fitted with V8 motors imported from the US before finding his niche in commercial building construction.
Sport has also run in his veins as a Poverty Bay hockey rep and the holder of seven New Zealand drag racing titles.
Most of Clarkson’s current real estate investments consist of large industrial sites in Mt Maunganui, and by far the most valuable property is a 5ha site valued at about $35m. While some locals have complained about the noise and dust, Clarkson, in his typical matter-of-fact style, says: “If you can’t tolerate the noise, smell or dust that’s allowed in an industrial area, why would you go there? They should have bought a bloody house in a residential area.”
One of his more recent developments was a $20m high-tech warehouse at the new Tauriko Business Estate that will become the new headquarters for the NZL Group. However, he finally had to concede defeat and sell a 200ha block of land at Tauriko West for more than $50m after a failed 12-year battle to gain resource consent for residential housing, which would have included affordable homes.
Unlike most developers, who often use elaborate company structures, Clarkson’s property interests are all jointly held in his own name along with that of his second wife Martha and a trustee company called Cherry Way, managed by Town & Country Accountants in Bethlehem.
The only company registered solely in his name is Baypark Speedway Ltd, which harks back to Clarkson’s ownership of the 17,500 seat Baypark Stadium, which initially opened in 2001 as the home of speedway racing and was eventually sold to Tauranga City Council in 2010 for half its $24 million value.
Made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2003 for services to philanthropy, industrial properties and the sports stadium, Clarkson served one term in Parliament as the National MP for Tauranga after defeating Winston Peters in the 2005 election by 730 votes.
However, his political career was marred by controversial comments about Muslims and gay people and allegations of sexual harassment after repeated comments to female employees that he would “bet his left testicle” that the All Blacks would win.
Now battling the onset of Parkinson’s disease, the 80-year-old is the father of two daughters, with four grandchildren, and lives in a two-storey property at Pillans Point, which overlooks Tauranga Harbour and the port.
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