Chris Hipkins

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The Honourable
Chris Hipkins
MP
File:Chris Hipkins NZ Labour.jpg
Hipkins in 2022
Prime Minister-designate of New Zealand
Taking office
25 January 2023[1]
Monarch
Deputy
Governor-General
Succeeding Jacinda Ardern
Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party
Assumed office
22 January 2023
Deputy Kelvin Davis
Preceded by Jacinda Ardern
Ministerial offices 2017–⁠2023
47th Minister of Education
Assumed office
26 October 2017
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by Nikki Kaye
19th Minister for the Public Service
Assumed office
26 October 2017
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by Paula Bennett
41st Minister of Police
Assumed office
14 June 2022
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by Poto Williams
1st Minister for COVID-19 Response
In office
6 November 2020 – 14 June 2022
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Ayesha Verrall
41st Minister of Health
In office
2 July 2020 – 6 November 2020
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by David Clark
Succeeded by Andrew Little
11th Leader of the House
Assumed office
26 October 2017
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by Simon Bridges
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Remutaka
Rimutaka (2008–2020)
Assumed office
8 November 2008
Preceded by Paul Swain
Majority 20,497
Personal details
Born (1978-09-05) 5 September 1978 (age 46)[2][3]
Hutt Valley, New Zealand[4]
Political party Labour (since 1996)
Children 2
Residence Upper Hutt, New Zealand
Alma mater Victoria University of Wellington
Website Hipkins' Facebook page
Nickname(s) Chippy[5]

Christopher John Hipkins (born 5 September 1978) is a New Zealand politician who has been the leader of the New Zealand Labour Party since 2023 and is set to succeed Jacinda Ardern as the prime minister of New Zealand.[6] He currently serves as minister of education, police, the Public Service, and leader of the House. He has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Remutaka since the 2008 election. He became a prominent figure as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, serving as minister of health from July to November 2020 and minister for COVID-19 response from November 2020 to June 2022.

On 21 January 2023, Hipkins became the sole candidate to succeed Ardern as leader of the Labour Party. He became party leader on 22 January 2023, and is expected to be appointed by the governor-general as the 41st prime minister on 25 January 2023.[7]

Early life

Hipkins was born in the Hutt Valley in 1978.[3] His mother is Rosemary Hipkins, chief researcher for the New Zealand Council for Educational Research.[8] He attended Waterloo Primary School and Hutt Intermediate. He was head boy at Hutt Valley Memorial College (later known as Petone College) in 1996.[2] Hipkins went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in politics and criminology at Victoria University of Wellington,[2] where he was student president in 2000 and 2001.[9] In September 1997, as a first-year student, Hipkins was one of dozens arrested while protesting the Tertiary Review Green Bill at Parliament. The matter went through the courts, and 10 years later an apology and award of over $200,000 was shared between the 41 protesters. The judge ruled that despite claims by police that the protestors were violent, the protest was peaceful and there were no grounds for arrest.[9]

After graduating, Hipkins held a number of jobs, including working as a policy advisor for the Industry Training Federation, and as a training manager for Todd Energy in Taranaki. Hipkins also worked in Parliament as an advisor to Trevor Mallard and Helen Clark.[10]

Parliamentary career

Parliament of New Zealand
Years Term Electorate List Party
2008–2011 49th Rimutaka 47 Labour
2011–2014 50th Rimutaka 30 Labour
2014–2017 51st Rimutaka 9 Labour
2017–2020 52nd Rimutaka 7 Labour
2020–present 53rd Remutaka 6 Labour
Hipkins in 2011

Hipkins was selected to stand in the Labour-held seat of Rimutaka (renamed Remutaka in 2020) in the 2008 general election, following the retirement of sitting MP Paul Swain. In his first election, Hipkins won the seat with a majority of 753 and comfortably retained the electorate on each subsequent attempt.[11][12][13][14] In the 2020 general election, he had the highest majority of any successful candidate other than Ardern.[15]

For the first nine years of Hipkins' parliamentary career, Labour formed the Official Opposition. In his first term, Hipkins was the Labour spokesperson for internal affairs and a member of parliament's committees for government administration, local government and environment, and transport and infrastructure.[16] In May 2010, his Electricity (Renewable Preference) Amendment Bill was drawn from the member's ballot.[17] The bill would have reinstated an ban on the thermal generation of electricity which had been imposed by the previous Labour Government in September 2008 before being repealed by the incoming National Government in December 2008,[18] but was defeated at its first reading in June.[17]

In Hipkins' second term he was promoted into Labour's shadow Cabinet as spokesperson for state services and education under new leader David Shearer. He also became the Labour Party's chief whip for the first time.[16] As education spokesperson, Hipkins was outspoken in his opposition to the National Government's implementation of charter schools in New Zealand[19] and closure of schools in Christchurch following the destructive 2011 earthquake.[20] He continued as education spokesperson under subsequent leaders David Cunliffe, Andrew Little and Ardern.[16] Under Little and Ardern, Hipkins was additionally shadow leader of the House.[16]

In April 2013, he voted in favour of the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill, which legalised same-sex marriage in New Zealand.[21] In late 2015, Hipkins received veiled threats, including a death threat, for voicing his concerns about a billboard advertising "cut-price" guns.[22]

In April 2016, his Education (Charter Schools Abolition) Amendment Bill was drawn from the members' ballot. It was defeated at its first reading in November.[23]

Ministerial career

As a senior Labour MP, Hipkins was a key figure in the Sixth Labour Government. Between 2017 and 2023, he was the sixth-ranked Government minister from the Labour Party and he was assigned responsibilities as minister of education, minister for the Public Service and leader of the House. He was later looked upon as a "fixer,"[24] and was given additional responsibility as minister of health and minister for COVID-19 response during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, and later as minister of police during a spate of ram-raids. He emerged as the Labour Party's "consensus candidate" in a January 2023 leadership election triggered by the retirement of Ardern.

First term (2017–2020)

Hipkins was elected as a Cabinet minister by the Labour Party caucus following the formation of a Labour–New Zealand First coalition government supported by the Greens.[25] It was later announced that he would serve as minister for education.[26]

File:Chris Hipkins in 2018 at NZEI Te Riu Roa strike rally.jpeg
Hipkins at the NZEI strike rally outside Parliament House, 15 August 2018

As education minister, Hipkins has supported the abolition of National Standards and charter schools in New Zealand, which were supported by the previous National Government. He has also signaled a review of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) high school certificate system. However, Hipkins has clarified that the Ministry of Education would continue to fund the University of Otago's National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement and the Progress and Consistency Tool (PaCT). The Government's announcement that it would close charter schools drew criticism from the opposition National and ACT parties.[27][28] In early 2018, Hipkins introduced legislation preventing the creation of new charter schools, while enabling existing charter schools to be converted into special character schools.[29] By September 2018, all twelve charter schools had successfully transitioned to become state-integrated and special character schools.[30][31]

In December 2018, Hipkins rejected a recommendation by the Council of Victoria University of Wellington to rename the university "University of Wellington", citing the strong opposition to the name change from staff, students, and alumni. Hipkins said that "he was not convinced the university had sufficiently engaged with stakeholders, who should have their views considered."[32][33]

In February 2019, Hipkins proposed merging the country's 16 polytechnics into a New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology to counter deficits and declining domestic enrolments. This proposed Institute of Skills and Technology will also take over the country's vocational and apprenticeship programmes. While the Tertiary Education Union, Employers and Manufacturers Union, and the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce have expressed support for the Government's proposal, this has been criticised by the opposition National Party, Southern Institute of Technology CEO Penny Simmonds, and Mayor of Invercargill Tim Shadbolt.[34][35][36][37] In response to the Christchurch mosque shootings, Hipkins extended the polytechnic submission timeframe to 5 April 2019.[38]

In early May 2019, Hipkins announced that the Government would be investing NZ$95 million to train 2,400 new teacher trainees through increased scholarships and placements, new employment-based teacher education programmes, and iwi-based scholarships over the next four years to address the teaching shortage. These measures were criticised as inadequate by the Post Primary Teachers' Association and National Party education spokesperson Nikki Kaye.[39][40][41]

On 1 August 2019, Hipkins reaffirmed the Government's plan to merge all polytechnics into a single entity in April 2020.[42] In addition, he announced that the Government would replace all 11 industrial training organisations (ITOs) with between four and seven workforce development councils that would be set up by 2022 to influence vocational education and training. While polytechnics have been cautiously optimistic about the changes despite concerns about losing their autonomy, ITOs and National's tertiary education spokesperson Shane Reti have opposed these changes, claiming they would damage the vocational training system and cause job losses.[43][44][45] By 2022, the merger began to strike difficulties including low enrolments, large deficits and resignations of senior staff.[46]

Following the resignation of David Clark as minister of health on 2 July 2020, Prime Minister Ardern appointed Hipkins as interim health minister, serving until the October 2020 general election.[47][48]

Second term (2020–2023)

In early November 2020, Hipkins retained his education portfolio. He was also designated as minister for COVID-19 response and minister for the Public Service.[49]

On 31 January 2022, Hipkins, in his capacity as minister for COVID-19 response, issued a statement that the Government had offered stranded New Zealand journalist Charlotte Bellis a place under the emergency allocation criteria to travel to New Zealand within a period of 14 days. However, he also claimed that Bellis had indicated that she did not intend to travel until late February and that MIQ had advised her to consider moving her travel plans forward. He also confirmed that New Zealand consular assistance had earlier twice offered to help her return from Afghanistan in December 2021. Bellis was an Al Jazeera journalist who had left Qatar after becoming pregnant due to the Gulf State's law criminalising unmarried pregnancies. Bellis had travelled to Afghanistan where she and her partner had visas allowing them to live there. Due to New Zealand's strict pandemic border policies, Bellis had struggled to secure a place in the Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) system.[50]

Hipkins was criticised by Bellis' lawyer Tudor Clee for allegedly breaching her client's privacy by sharing personal details about her circumstances and indicated that she was considering "legal options." In response, Bellis stated that she did not give Hipkins consent to share her information and disputed the facts in his statement. National and ACT Members of Parliament Bishop and Seymour also criticised Hipkins's actions, stating that they were "unbecoming" of a minister of the Crown.[51] On 22 June 2022, Hipkins publicly apologised for releasing personal information without Bellis' consent and making inaccurate comments about Bellis travelling to Afghanistan and being offered consular assistance. As a result, Bellis and her partner Jim Huylebroek had received online abuse. Hipkins had earlier privately apologised to Bellis in mid-March 2022.[52]

In a June 2022 reshuffle, Hipkins was shifted from his COVID-19 response portfolio and replaced Poto Williams as minister of police.[53]

In September 2022, Hipkins apologised to former Finance Minister Bill English for suggesting that he had granted his brothers favourable government contracts. Hipkins had made those remarks during an exchange over the awarding of government contracts to Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta's husband Gannin Ormsby.[54]

Prime minister

Jacinda Ardern announced her resignation as leader of the Labour Party in a media conference on 19 January 2023, stating that she no longer had sufficient energy for the demands of the role. She indicated that she will formally step down no later than 7 February 2023.[55][56]

Hipkins was confirmed as the only nominee shortly after nominations closed at 9:00 a.m. on 21 January.[57][58] Stuff reported that Kiri Allan, the East Coast MP and minister of justice who had been speculated by media as an alternative candidate, was one of the seven MPs who nominated him.[59] Hipkins had previously demurred when asked about his leadership aspirations, stating that he would support whichever candidate the Labour Party could "reach a consensus" on.[60] In a media standup outside Parliament at 1:00 p.m. on 21 January, Hipkins commented that he discovered that he had emerged as that consensus candidate as "the door to the plane [that he had boarded for a flight to Wellington] was closing," leaving him unable to respond to his messages for 40 minutes.[61] The formal meeting to confirm Hipkins as leader was scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on 22 January 2023.[56] Hipkins' deputy prime minister will be Carmel Sepuloni, the first Pasifika to hold the position.[62]

Personal life

Hipkins was married in 2020 in a ceremony held at Premier House, Wellington; Grant Robertson was his best man.[63] When he took extended paternity leave for his second child's birth in 2018 he was one of the first senior male cabinet ministers to do so.[64] Hipkins and his wife separated in 2022; they have two children together.[65]

He is known for his enjoyment of sausage rolls and Coke Zero.[66][67]

References

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  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Hipkins, Chris (14 October 2015). Education (Charter Schools Curriculum) Amendment Bill. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Volume:709; Page:7224. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  66. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  67. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

  • Chris Hipkins on TwitterLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Remutaka
2008–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by Leader of the House
2017–present
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Education
2017–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by Minister for the Public Service
2017–present
Preceded by Minister of Police
2022–present
New ministerial post Minister for COVID-19 Response
2020–2022		 Succeeded by
Ayesha Verrall
Preceded by Minister of Health
2020		 Succeeded by
Andrew Little
Party political offices
Preceded by Senior Whip of the Labour Party
2011–2013
2014–2016		 Succeeded by
Sue Moroney
Preceded by Succeeded by
Kris Faafoi

Template:Chris Hipkins


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