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Hon Anne Tolley

Hon Anne Tolley is MP for East Coast, a large and diverse electorate which stretches from Gisborne, around East Cape and through to the Whakatane plains.

Anne was first elected to Parliament on the National Party list in 1999, and was appointed Spokesperson on Women's Affairs and Early Childhood. In 2005, she returned to Parliament and was elected Junior Whip and given the Child, Youth and Family portfolio. Anne remains passionate about securing a healthy and secure environment for children, young people and families, and campaigns strongly against family violence and child abuse.

In 2006, Anne was elected Senior Whip, the first woman to hold the position in the National Party. In 2008, she took over the Education portfolio. She was re-elected as MP for East Coast in the 2008 General Election, with an increased majority, and was appointed Minister of Education, Minister for Tertiary Education, and Minister Responsible for ERO. From January 2010 up to the 2011 General Election, she was Minister of Education and Minister Responsible for ERO. Her main focus was on implementing the ground-breaking National Standards policy into primary and intermediate schools.

At the 2011 General Election in November, Anne Tolley was again re-elected as MP for East Coast and was appointed as Minister of Police, Minister of Corrections and Deputy Leader of the House.

Anne lives in Gisborne with her husband, and has three adult children. She is a former Hawkes Bay Regional Councillor, a Napier City Councillor and was the Deputy Mayor of Napier City. Before entering Parliament Anne was an active Rotarian, served on the Napier Girls' High Board of Trustees and Hawkes Bay Polytechnic Council, and was a Trustee of the Hawkes Bay Community Law Centre.