Matthew Peter Robson (born 5 January 1950) is a New Zealand politician. He was deputy leader of the Progressive Party, and served in the Parliament from 1996 to 2005, first as a member of the Alliance, then as a Progressive. Early years Robson was born in Brisbane, Australia. He attained an MA (Hons) in Political Studies and later studied law, and worked both as a lawyer and a teacher. He also spent three years in the Netherlands as a technical editor. Robson was originally a member of the Labour Party, holding several positions within the party organisation. In 1981 he became chairman of Labour's electorate committee and was campaign manager to Colin Moyle in the seat at the before resigning as chairman and from the party itself in 1989, taking almost 300 members with him. He was deeply opposed to the neo-liberal economic policies of Roger Douglas, the Labour Party's Minister of Finance, and when Jim Anderton, a Labour MP, quit the party, Robson followed him. Robson was heavily involved in the establishment of Anderton's NewLabour Party (NLP), which later became the core of the Alliance. He was NLP spokesperson for industrial relations and immigration. He contested the electorate for NewLabour in the . At the 1992 local-body elections he put himself forward as a candidate for the Maungakiekie ward of the Auckland City Council. Standing as an Alliance candidate (the NLP was a component party of the Alliance) he was unsuccessful. Later he was the Alliance candidate for in the . Member of Parliament Robson was elected to Parliament as an Alliance list MP in the , and again in the , having stood in , and coming in third place at both elections. In the Labour-Alliance coalition government (1999–2002), Robson was Minister of Corrections, Minister for Courts, Minister for Land Information, and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs (with responsibility for foreign aid). Towards the end of 1999, however, the Alliance began to collapse, with a rift opening between the party organisation and its parliamentary leadership. In this dispute, Robson sided with the parliamentary leader, Anderton. When Anderton finally left the Alliance and established the Progressive Coalition (later renamed as the Progressive Party), Robson followed him and became the new party's deputy leader. In the , the Progressives only won 1.7% of the vote. However, Anderton easily held onto his seat, allowing Robson (standing in , where he came