Katherine Rich (politician)

Early life and family

Rich was born in Australia on 16 December 1967, the daughter of agricultural scientist Jock Allison, and moved to New Zealand in 1969. She was educated at St Hilda's Collegiate School in Dunedin from 1980 to 1985, and studied at the University of Otago, from where she graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce in 1990 and a Bachelor of Arts in 1993. When she voted for the first time, in the 1987 election, she gave her vote to her uncle, the Labour MP Clive Matthewson.

After leaving university she held a number of management and analytical roles in both the public and private sectors. Her jobs were:

Member of Parliament

Rich entered Parliament in 1999 as a list MP for the National Party. She had contested the Dunedin North electorate, but finished second behind incumbent Labour MP Pete Hodgson. At this election, Rich was ranked twenty-third, which was high enough to return her as a list MP.

Once in Parliament, Rich rose quickly through the National Party hierarchy, and eventually was ranked fourth in the party caucus. At various times she served as her Party's spokesperson for employment, broadcasting, economic development, state-owned enterprises, and culture. In January 2005, however, she refused to give full support to the "tough-on-welfare" Orewa Speech by then-party leader Don Brash, who demoted her to tenth place and dismissed her as social-welfare spokesperson and gave the portfolio to Judith Collins. Following the resignation of Don Brash as National Party leader on 27 November 2006, the incoming Leader of the Opposition, John Key, elevated Rich to eighth place within the National caucus and shadow Cabinet. She was appointed, on 1 December 2006, the party's spokesperson on education. Some notable achievements included co-presenting to Parliament a petition for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Peter Ellis case (2003); exposing a huge rise in the number of unallocated cases of physically and sexually abused children (2005); highlighting Labour Government inaction over understaffed PlunketLine (2005); leading National’s support for a bill to allow mothers in prison to keep their babies with them until they turn two (2006); revealing irresponsible government spending, including the hip-hop tour spending debacle (2004). She was also the sole National MP prepared to cross the floor and vote to support the anti-smacking bill (2007).

For both the 2002 and 2005 general elections, Rich stood unsuccessfully in the Dunedin North electorate, but was returned as a list MP. She announced, on 13 February 2008, that she would not stand in the 2008 general election, saying that she wanted to spend more time with her children. She was replaced as National candidate for Dunedin North by Michael Woodhouse.

Political views

Rich, who has described her own position as "centrist" and "centre right", had a reputation as one of the more liberal members of the National Party. She was the inaugural parliamentary co-chair of the party's internal Classical Liberal Policy Advisory Group, which advocates policies that are both economically and socially liberal.

National MP Nikki Kaye, herself known for what has been described as "socially liberal" views, has cited her as a role model.

Career after Parliament

Rich took up the position of Chief Executive of the New Zealand Food & Grocery Council in March 2009, following appointment in November 2008. The Council represents grocery manufacturers and suppliers.

She was appointed to the board of the Health Promotion Agency in June 2012. Prime Minister John Key of the National Party said she would be able to manage conflicts of interest with her role with the Food & Grocery Council.

Dirty Politics controversy

Emails leaked to political writer Nicky Hager implied that Rich, in her role as Chief Executive of the Food & Grocery Council, has while on the board of the Health Promotion Agency (a Crown entity) given prominent blogger Cameron Slater information that rebutted comments made by academics. These allegations were denied by Rich. HPA chair Lee Mathias said she believed any potential conflicts of interest with Rich's dual roles had been managed in terms of the State Services Commission's guidelines. "She's been a very strong supporter of every decision made by this agency." A subsequent review of Rich's role by the Auditor-General found no conflict of interest and Rich said she felt vindicated by the Auditor-General’s declaration. She said "I'm pleased with the result, which vindicates my position. Accusations that I had broken the law and not declared interests were disappointing, wrong and defamatory.”