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Barbara Kuriger
MP
Kuriger in 2023
12th Deputy Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 December 2023
SpeakerGerry Brownlee
Preceded byGreg O'Connor
Senior Whip of the National Party
In office
21 March 2018 – 10 November 2020
DeputyMatt Doocey
LeaderSimon Bridges
Todd Muller
Judith Collins
Preceded byJami-Lee Ross
Succeeded byMatt Doocey
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Taranaki-King Country
Incumbent
Assumed office
20 September 2014
Preceded byShane Ardern
Personal details
Born1961 (age 62–63)
New Zealand
Political partyNational
SpouseLouis Kuriger
ProfessionFarmer

Barbara Joan Kuriger (born 1961)[1] is a New Zealand politician who was elected to the New Zealand parliament at the 2014 general election as a representative of the New Zealand National Party.

Farming career

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Kuriger is a farmer, shareholder and director of three family-owned farming businesses. She has also served on the boards of several companies and institutions including DairyNZ, Dairy Training Limited, Primary ITO, New Zealand Young Farmers, Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre, Te Kauta, Venture Taranaki Trust, and the Dairy Women's Network. In 2012, she won the title of Dairy Woman of the Year.[2]

Kuriger is a former director of Oxbow Dairies Ltd which was charged with multiple counts of animal cruelty and neglect. Kuriger ceased being a director in 2014, while her husband Louis was still a director until late 2018 during which period the bulk of the charges were laid and offences committed, her son, Tony, pleaded guilty in January 2020 for causing "prolonged and severe pain" to the animals in his care.[3]

Political career

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New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2014–2017 51st Taranaki-King Country 58 National
2017–2020 52nd Taranaki-King Country 28 National
2020–2023 53rd Taranaki-King Country 20 National
2023–present 54th Taranaki-King Country 36 National

Fifth National Government, 2014–2017

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In April 2014, Kuriger was selected as National's representative in Taranaki-King Country to replace incumbent Member of Parliament Shane Ardern.[2] During the 2014 New Zealand general election, she won Taranaki-King Country for National by a margin of 16,773 votes.[4]

During the Fifth National Government, Kuriger served as Deputy Chairperson of the Health Committee and as a member of the Primary Production Committee. In Opposition, she served as the National Party's Senior Whip from 2018 to 2020.[5][6]

In 2015, David Cunliffe called out Kuriger for "ignorance" over the funding rorts at Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre while she was on its board.[7]

Sixth Labour Government, 2017–2023

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During the 2017 New Zealand general election, Kuriger retained Taranaki-King Country for National by a margin of 15,259 votes.[8]

During the 2020 New Zealand general election, Kuriger retained Taranaki-King Country for National by a final margin of 3,134 votes.[9]

In October 2022 Kuriger resigned from her agriculture, biosecurity, and food safety portfolios due to mismanaging conflicts of interest with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) over the prosecution of her husband and son.[10]

In December 2022, hundreds of pages of emails between Kuriger and MPI, obtained by Newsroom under the Official Information Act, revealed a pattern of personal attacks on MPI officials in relation to animal mistreatment charges filed against her son Tony. MPI commissioned Mike Heron KC to review its conduct in the case. That review cleared the ministry of any wrongdoing and found the investigation into Tony Kuriger was not motivated by political purposes, despite the Kurigers' repeated private and public claims to the contrary. [11]

Following a reshuffle in National Party leader Christopher Luxon's shadow cabinet that occurred on 19 January 2023, Kuriger was allocated the conservation spokesperson portfolio but was moved outside of the shadow cabinet with no ranking.[12]

Sixth National Government, 2023–present

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During the 2023 New Zealand general election held on 14 October, Kuriger retained Taranaki-King Country by a margin of 14,355 votes, defeating Labour candidate Angela Roberts.[13]

Other activities

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Kuriger currently sits on the board of the New Zealand Rural Games Trust.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "Roll of members of the New Zealand House of Representatives, 1854 onwards" (PDF). New Zealand Parliament. 24 May 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Kuriger National's pick". Taranaki Daily News. Stuff. 7 April 2014. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  3. ^ Kilmister, Sam (28 January 2020). "Politician's son pleads guilty to ill-treating dairy cows; charges against husband dropped". Stuff. Archived from the original on 21 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Official Count Results – Taranaki-King Country". Electoral Commission. 10 October 2014. Archived from the original on 22 January 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  5. ^ "Current MPs: Barbara Kuriger". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  6. ^ McCulloch, Craig; Scotcher, Katie (10 November 2020). "Shane Reti becomes new deputy leader of the National Party". RNZ. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  7. ^ Lee, Hannah (16 September 2015). "Kuriger must have known about Taratahi 'rorts' – Cunliffe". Taranaki Daily News. Stuff. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  8. ^ "Taranaki-King Country – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  9. ^ "Taranaki-King Country – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  10. ^ "National MP Barbara Kuriger drops agriculture portfolios over 'blurred line' in family dispute". Stuff. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  11. ^ Daalder, Marc (17 December 2022). "MP's emails show pattern of personal attacks on ministry". Newsroom. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  12. ^ "National reshuffle: Luxon promotes former leaders Judith Collins, Todd Muller". The New Zealand Herald. 19 January 2023. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Taranaki-King Country – Official Result". Electoral Commission. 3 November 2023. Archived from the original on 10 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  14. ^ "Rural Games to get off the ground in Queenstown". Mountain Scene. Allied Press. 17 June 2014. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
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New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Taranaki-King Country
2014–present 		Incumbent
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