Jan Tinetti | |
|---|---|
 Tinetti in 2023 | |
| 48thMinister of Education | |
| In office 1 February 2023 – 27 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Chris Hipkins |
| Preceded by | Chris Hipkins |
| Succeeded by | Erica Stanford |
| 36thMinister of Internal Affairs | |
| In office 6 November 2020 – 1 February 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Jacinda Ardern Chris Hipkins |
| Preceded by | Tracey Martin |
| Succeeded by | Barbara Edmonds |
| 16thMinister for Women | |
| In office 6 November 2020 – 27 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Jacinda Ardern Chris Hipkins |
| Preceded by | Julie Anne Genter |
| Succeeded by | Nicola Grigg |
| Member of theNew Zealand Parliament forLabourparty list | |
| Assumed office 23 September 2017 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Janette Rose Tinetti 1968 (age 56–57) Hokitika, New Zealand |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | David Merton |
| Relations | Don Merton (father-in-law) |
| Children | 2 |
| Profession | School principal |
Janette Rose Tinetti[1] (born 1968)[2] is a New Zealand politician and aMember of Parliament in theHouse of Representatives for theLabour Party.
Tinetti was born inHokitika on theWest Coast of the South Island, the youngest of six children. When she was 11 months old, her family moved toTempleton, just outsideChristchurch, when her father Peter Tinetti became secretary of Templeton Hospital and Training School, an institution for people with intellectual disabilities. The family lived in the only staff house, in the middle of the institution, which is where Tinetti grew up.[3] She received her secondary school education atVilla Maria College in Christchurch. She then studied at theChristchurch College of Education, from where she obtained a diploma in teaching in 1990. She became a primary school teacher and union member,[4] teaching in Southland, Greymouth andTauranga, and spent 20 years as a primary school principal.[3] She graduated from theUniversity of Canterbury with aPostgraduate Diploma in Education in 2013 and aMaster of Education in 2016.[5][6][7] She was the principal of Merivale School in Tauranga and has been on the national executive of theNew Zealand Educational Institute.[8] She is married to David Merton, whose fatherDon Merton was a noted conservationist, and the couple have two children.[9] In 2019, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, for which she had surgery, but did not need chemotherapy or radiation treatment.[10]
| Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–2020 | 52nd | List | 15 | Labour | |
| 2020–2023 | 53rd | List | 32 | Labour | |
| 2023–present | 54th | List | 6 | Labour | |
Tinetti stood for Labour in theTauranga electorate in the2017 election and was placed 15 onLabour's party list for that election.[11] She entered parliament via the party list, after coming second in the electorate vote, with the incumbent theNational Party'sSimon Bridges preferred by a 11,252-vote margin.[12]
She contested Tauranga again in the2020 general election and was 32nd on the2020 Labour party list. She was elected from the party list, with the electorate giving Bridges 1,856 more votes.[13][14]
In theCabinet formed after the 2020 election, Tinetti was appointedMinister of Internal Affairs,Minister for Women and AssociateMinister of Education.[15][16]
Tinetti put her name forward for the Labour candidacy in the2022 Tauranga by-election, after Bridges resigned from parliament,[17] and was confirmed as the candidate on 6 April.[18] The electorate chose the National Party candidateSam Uffindell.[19]
In a cabinet reshuffle by new Prime MinisterChris Hipkins on 31 January 2023, Tinetti was promoted to the number six position in Cabinet,[20] becoming the Minister of Education andMinister for Child Poverty Reduction, while retaining her role as Minister for Women.[21]
On 30 May 2023, Tinetti was referred bySpeakerAdrian Rurawhe to Parliament's Privileges Committee after she delayed correcting a false statement in February 2023 that she had no responsibility for the release of school attendance data. Tinetti was subsequently informed by a staff member about the error but had failed to correct the record until 2 May 2023. Tinnetti claimed that she did not know that she needed to correct the record until Rurawhe raised the matter in a letter.[22][23] In response, Hipkins stated that he still had confidence in Tinetti as Education Minister and would not relieve her off her ministerial portfolio while she was investigated by the Privileges Committee.[24] On 31 May,Newshub reported that the Prime Minister's staff were aware that the Education Minister's office had been delaying the release of official school attendance data.[25]
On 8 June, Tinetti appeared before the Privileges Committee. She expressed regret for misleading Parliament regarding truancy statistics.National Party MPMichael Woodhouse claimed that Tinetti's parliamentary staff were implicated in deciding when the information was released.[26] Woodhouse subsequently apologised for describing Tinetti as a "good girl" during the committee hearing.[27]
On 29 June 2023 the Privileges Committee released its report into the delay. The committee found that Tinetti had not intentionally misled Parliament, but said she had acted with a "high degree of negligence". The committee said Tinetti should formally apologise to the House.[28]
In the2023 New Zealand general election, the Tauranga electorate preferred Sam Uffindell by a margin of 9,370 votes.[29] Following the 2023 election, Tinetti expressed relief that a "weight had been lifted" from her.[30] Tinetti was subsequently re-elected to Parliament on the Labour Party list.[31]
On 30 November 2023, Tinetti assumed the education and women portfolios in theShadow Cabinet of Chris Hipkins.[32]
On 5 December 2023, Tinetti was granted retention of the titleThe Honourable, in recognition of her term as a member of theExecutive Council.[33]
On 7 March 2025, Tinetti lost the education and women portfolios but gained the workplace relations and safety, social investment, early childhood and education and childhood poverty reduction portfolios.[34]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of Internal Affairs 2020–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Women 2020–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Education 2023 | Succeeded by |
