Kieran McAnulty | |
|---|---|
 McAnulty in 2023 | |
| 20thMinister of Local Government | |
| In office 1 February 2023 – 27 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Chris Hipkins |
| Preceded by | Nanaia Mahuta |
| Succeeded by | Simeon Brown |
| 2nd Minister for Rural Communities | |
| In office 1 February 2023 – 27 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Chris Hipkins |
| Preceded by | Damien O'Connor |
| Succeeded by | Mark Patterson |
| 28thMinister for Emergency Management | |
| In office 14 June 2022 – 27 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Jacinda Ardern Chris Hipkins |
| Preceded by | Kiri Allan |
| Succeeded by | Mark Mitchell |
| 14thMinister for Racing | |
| In office 14 June 2022 – 27 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Jacinda Ardern Chris Hipkins |
| Preceded by | Grant Robertson |
| Succeeded by | Winston Peters |
| Chief Government Whip in the House of Representatives | |
| In office 2 November 2020 – 14 June 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Jacinda Ardern |
| Preceded by | Michael Wood |
| Succeeded by | Duncan Webb |
| Member of theNew Zealand Parliament forWairarapa | |
| In office 17 October 2020 – 14 October 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Alastair Scott |
| Succeeded by | Mike Butterick |
| Member of theNew Zealand Parliament forLabour | |
| In office 23 September 2017 – 17 October 2020 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Eketāhuna, New Zealand |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Residence(s) | Masterton, New Zealand |
| Alma mater | University of Otago |
| Profession | Politician |
Kieran Michael McAnulty is a New Zealand politician. He was first elected to theNew Zealand House of Representatives in 2017, representing theNew Zealand Labour Party. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) forWairarapa between 2020 and 2023, and is currently alist MP.
McAnulty was theSenior Whip of the Labour Party during part of the term of theSixth Labour Government. He later served as that government'sMinister of Local Government,Minister for Emergency Management,Minister for Racing andDeputy Leader of the House.[1]
McAnulty was born inEketāhuna in 1985, and was adopted by Marie (née Monaghan) and Mike McAnulty.[2][3][4][5] Their families have lived in theWairarapa area for more than 170 years, with his great grandmother's great grandfather, Henry Burling, arriving as an early settler in what is now the town ofFeatherston.[6] The McAnulty family is a historically "staunch" family ofLabour Party supporters, although his mother's family included someNational Party supporters.[2][7] Ted McAnulty, Kieran's great-grandfather, ("the only Labour-votingcockie in Eketāhuna"[8]) was the campaign manager for a Labour candidate running againstPrime MinisterKeith Holyoake in thePahiatua electorate, at that time a safe National seat.John Monaghan, the former chair ofFonterra, is his mother's cousin.[2]
McAnulty was raisedCatholic.[9] He attended St Mary's School inCarterton, St Patrick's School inMasterton, andChanel College, where he was head boy in 2002.[10][11] He went on to theUniversity of Otago where he completed aBachelor of Arts,Postgraduate Diploma in Arts andMaster of Arts in politics.[12] His 2011 master's thesis was titled "The role of political positioning in party performance in the 2008 New Zealand General Election."[13] He has previously worked for theT.A.B. as a bookmaker covering the racing industry and an economic development advisor for the Masterton District Council.[6][14] He has been a volunteer firefighter.[11]
He met his first wife, Suzanne McNally, while traveling in her home country of Ireland on anoverseas experience.[11] They married in 2011 and later divorced.[6][8][7] McAnulty married his second wife, the former prime minister's press secretary Gia Garrick, in January 2024.[2][15][16]
| Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–2020 | 52nd | List | 38 | Labour | |
| 2020–2023 | 53rd | Wairarapa | 26 | Labour | |
| 2023–present | 54th | List | 16 | Labour | |
McAnulty stood in the North Island electorate ofWairarapa at the2014 election, but was defeated by National'sAlastair Scott.[17] He had previously been offered the Wairarapa candidacy in 2011, but declined.[14]
McAnulty stood for Labour in Wairarapa again in the2017 election. Although he reduced Scott's majority, he failed to win the electorate. He instead entered Parliament via theparty list, where he had been ranked 38.[18][19]
In November 2017 he was appointed Labour's juniorwhip.[20] In his first term, he served on the primary production committee.[1] Hismaiden statement, given on 16 November 2017, focused on the values of fairness and equality.[6]
On 25 September 2019, McAnulty was ejected from Parliament by theSpeaker of the HouseTrevor Mallard for making disparaging remarks aboutNational Party leaderSimon Bridges during a Parliamentary debate aboutPrime MinisterJacinda Ardern's meeting with US PresidentDonald Trump. Mallard also ejectedNew Zealand First MPShane Jones for similar disruptive behaviour.[21]
McAnulty became well known for his distinctive, run-down red 1997Mazda Bountyute. In his maiden speech, he described how it is missing a back door;[6] later, it was reported "the radio sometimes falls out and the heater doesn’t work" and the ute, which had not been able to drive faster than "110kmh in a decade" and had gone further than 463,000 kilometers.[3][22][23] In September 2016, McAnulty wrestled to the ground a car thief who was trying to steal the ute inMasterton.[24] He attracted media attention when he chauffeured Ardern in the ute during the 2020 election campaign and, after the election, when he sold it for charity and replaced it with a 2021Mitsubishi hybrid electric Outlander.[3][22][23]
In the2020 New Zealand general election, McAnulty contested the Wairarapa electorate for Labour, winning by a margin of 6,545 votes over new candidateMike Butterick.[25] On 2 November 2020, following the election, the Labour caucus elected McAnulty as itschief whip.[26]
In a June 2022 reshuffle, McAnulty was appointed asMinister for Racing andMinister for Emergency Management, outside Cabinet, as well an associate minister in the local government and transport portfolios.[27] McAnulty joined the executive at a "uniquely challenging time" for local government, according to prime ministerJacinda Ardern, due to tensions and challenges related to the government's reforms in the portfolio on top of localised emergencies.[28] He completed a tour of visits to New Zealand's to 54 rural and provincial councils in his first five months.[29] He led the passage of the Local Electoral (Advertising) Amendment Act 2022 on behalf of theMinister of Local Government,Nanaia Mahuta.[30][31]
In August 2022, McAnulty was implicated in bullying accusations by fellow Labour MPGaurav Sharma. Sharma accused McAnulty of "gaslighting me, shouting at me, degrading me in front of caucus members and other attendees at events and telling me that I was a terrible MP".[32] The Labour Party, including Ardern,[32] rejected the claims.[33]
In January 2023, McAnulty claimed he was advised by parliamentary security to stop advertising the availability of his mobile office in his electorate because of death threats against him.[34]
Following a cabinet reshuffle that occurred on 31 January 2023, McAnulty was promoted into Cabinet and succeeded Mahuta as the local government minister.[35] New prime ministerChris Hipkins also confirmed that theThree Waters reform programme (which falls under the Local Government portfolio) would continue.[36] McAnulty continued as Minister for Racing and was also appointed Minister for Rural Communities andDeputy Leader of the House.[37] He picked up the Minister for Regional Development role afterKiri Allan resigned from Cabinet in July 2023.[38]
On 14 February 2023, McAnulty, in his capacity as Minister of Emergency Management, declared a nationalstate of emergency over theNorthland,Auckland,Tairawhiti,Bay of Plenty,Waikato andHawke's Bay regions in response toCyclone Gabrielle. This marked the third time a state of emergency had been declared over the country.[39][40]
As Minister of Local Government, McAnulty announced a major overhaul of the Government's Three Waters reform programme, which was renamed theWater Services Reform Programme. The proposed four water services entities were expanded into ten entities but will retain the same split co-governance structure consisting of representatives of local councils and mana whenua representatives.[41] He defended the retention of the Government's water infrastructure programme, stating that simply ditching it would be "dumping our duty." McAnulty also defended the programme's co-governance element, stating thatMāori people have a special interest in water that has been established by theTreaty of Waitangi and the court system.[42][43] He defended accusations that the co-governance element is "anti-democratic" by saying that "in each democratic system, there are specific factors that are unique to each country."[44]Newsroom reported that McAnulty received praise "for 'cutting to the chase' and explaining in simple terms that the reforms are first and foremost about cost savings."[45] He received the report of the Future for Local Government review established by his predecessor, but declined to commit to its recommendations before the 2023 general election.[46]
During the2023 New Zealand general election, McAnulty wasunseated in Wairarapa by the National Party'sMike Butterick.[47][48] He returned to Parliament on the Labour Party list.[49] After the election, he was promoted to seventh in theShadow Cabinet of Chris Hipkins and became the party's spokesperson for housing, regional development and local government.[50]
On 5 December 2023, McAnulty was granted retention of the titleThe Honourable, in recognition of his term as a member of theExecutive Council.[51]
In June 2024,The Post reported that McAnulty was claiming a NZ$36,400 annual housing allowance to rent aLower Hutt flat from his wife. McAnulty resided at the flat while Parliament is in session. In addition, McAnulty owned a four-bedroom, NZ$655,000 home inMasterton, which is about one hour and 40 minute drive away fromWellington.[52]
During acabinet reshuffle in early March 2025, McAnulty retained the Shadow Leader and housing portfolios, and gained the infrastructure and public investment portfolios. He also lost the local government and regional development portfolios.[53]
McAnulty identifies as asocialist[54][55] and supports aNew Zealand republic, with a local head of state.[20] McAnulty was previously treasurer of theNew Zealand Republic campaign before entering parliament.[56]
McAnulty, despite hisCatholic faith, is in favour oflegalised same-sex marriage[9] and moreopen abortion laws. He stated in Parliament when debating theAbortion Legislation Bill: "I was raised that my religious views are mine only. So I will not use my vote today to impose any particular view that I may have to prevent the choice of a woman to make on her own body."[57]
McAnulty is in favour of decriminalisingcannabis, and has admitted to smoking cannabis twice.[58][59] He voted "yes" in both the2020 New Zealand cannabis referendum and the2020 New Zealand euthanasia referendum.[8] Regarding the conflict between his Catholic religion and support for euthanasia, he said: "Not everyone believes in God. And as long as we have a structure in place that allows people to pursue their own personal beliefs, then how dare they impose their views on others?"[8]
| New Zealand Parliament | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Wairarapa 2020–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister for Emergency Management 2022–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Racing 2022–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Local Government 2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Rural Communities 2023 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Senior Whip of the Labour Party 2020–2022 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
