David Henderson (New Zealand)

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David Henderson is a Christchurch, New Zealand based property developer.

In 1994 he founded the Libertarian magazine the Free Radical.^[1] He was also a student of Zenith Applied Philosophy, "It really sparked my interest. I found it greatly stimulating and inspiring, immensely so. They got a terribly bad name, a bad rap."^[2]

From 1992 to 1995 he was audited 27 times after claiming a GST refund and the Inland Revenue Department demanded he pay $NZ924,341 in taxes and penalties. He was charged with fraud, his business failed and he was bankrupted and had to sell his house. The IRD eventually conceded that he did not owe it $NZ924,341, and fraud charges against him were dropped. They also admitted that they owed him $NZ64,000. This experience led him to write a book Be Very Afraid: One Man’s Stand Against the IRD in 1999. His story has been made into a film by South Pacific Pictures,^[3] entitled We're Here To Help.

Henderson's company, Property Ventures Limited is currently undertaking a number of developments including the billion dollar new town, Five Mile, in Queenstown.

In November 2007 saw the opening in Christchurch of a new style of hotel named HotelSO. This building, acquired by Henderson in 2004, was occupied by the Inland Revenue Department.

Christchurch based property developer "Hendo" is often confused with Auckland based property developer "Hendo".

Auckland property developer David Henderson is one of the city's most influential businessmen and is said to have development work worth up to NZ$1 billion under his belt.

The son of a fitter and turner grew up in Milford, and started his empire by renovating old Ponsonby houses. In the 1970s, he opened the Stove Shop, a second-hand dealership in Ponsonby Rd. In 1997 he bought and developed Princess Wharf and has since developed the $100 million Interplex industrial park at Albany, Q City and Q Central apartment block and Precinct apartments. ^[4].