Anne Tolley
Commission Chair
Anne Tolley has had a wide experience in local and national politics over the last 30 years.
Elected to the Napier City Council in 1986, she was quickly appointed a Standing Committee Chair, and was then Deputy Mayor for six years. She was also elected to the inaugural Hawkes Bay Regional Council for one term.
In 1999, Anne was elected to Parliament as a National Party List MP based in Napier. She then moved to Gisborne and successfully contested the election for the East Coast Electorate in 2005. She held the seat until her retirement from national politics in 2020, moving to Ōhope as the growing electorate’s boundary reached the edge of Te Puke. During that time, she has been a vocal advocate for the development of both Kawerau and Ōpōtiki.
Anne served for nine years as a Government minister, holding the portfolios of Education, Police, Corrections, MSD, Children and Local Government. From 2017 to 2020, she served as Deputy Speaker and as part of that role, chaired the committee which developed a Code of Conduct that covered everybody working in the NZ. She was also the Parliamentary representative to the International Parliamentarians Union.
She is married to Allan and has three adult children and four grandchildren.
Email: anne.tolley@tauranga.govt.nz