Richard was a Member of Parliament for nine years and chaired the Regulations Review Committee, along with three other select committees. He was a member of Auckland Council’s Governing Body and chaired the Accountability and Performance of Council and CCOs Committee. Richard was chair of the Auckland District Council of Social Services for 15 years and was an Auckland City Councillor for 17 years. He is a National Councillor of Local Government New Zealand and he chairs the Auckland Community Housing Trust. Richard is an elected member and chair of the Waitemata Local Board. He chaired the Problem Gambling Foundation (now trading as PGF Group), for 15 of the last 18 years and in December 2021 was succeeded as Chair by Sandra Geange.
