In 1957, McLean married Alison Macdonald, and the couple went on to have four children.[1] The same year, he returned to the eastern Bay of Plenty to farm family beef, sheep and dairy farms, before studying economics and becoming an economist in 1971, joining New Zealand's Ministry of Agriculture.
From 1974 to 1976 he led an FAO/UNDP project in Tanzania.
In 1978 while attached to the New Zealand Planning Council, McLean published the book, The future for New Zealand agriculture: economic strategies for the 1980s, coining the phrase 'More Market' which became popular in New Zealand's economic reforms of the 1980s.[3]
McLean represented the Tarawera electorate from the 1978 general election[4] to 1990, when he retired and was replaced by Max Bradford. At parliament, he was chair of the Public Expenditure Committee.
In 2017 he was quoted in A History of Australasian Economic Thought by Alex Millimow: 'Ian McLean, a New Zealand politician with economics training, colourfully described his country as a market economy where markets are seldom permitted to operate efficiently, together with a centrally-planned economy without a central plan. The allocation of resources is to a large extent determined neither by the market mechanisms nor government decision, but by historical patterns fossilised in institutional procedures.[5]
Post-parliamentary career
On retiring as an MP, McLean chaired the Earthquake Commission and was one of the first in the world to use dynamic financial analysis (DFA) commercially. He later advised on the formation of earthquake insurance schemes in Turkey and Romania under the World Bank.[6]
He led the revival of the LakesWater Quality Society which initiated restoration of the Rotorua lakes.[7] He was chair of the Mahi Tahi Akoranga Trust which works with Māori inmates in prison.[8]
^Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. p. 217. OCLC154283103.