Heather Roy

Heather Roy (born 5 March 1964) is a former New Zealand politician. She was a Member of Parliament for ACT New Zealand from 2002 until 2011.

Roy was the deputy leader of ACT New Zealand from 17 September 2005 to 17 August 2010. She was also Minister of Consumer Affairs in the John Key-led National Government from 19 November 2008 until 17 August 2010.

Early life, career and family

Roy grew up in Palmerston, Otago as the eldest of six children.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> She was the deputy head girl and, later, head girl at her secondary school.<ref name=":0" /> She studied for a diploma in physiotherapy at Otago Polytechnic.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> She was introduced to politics in 1984 at the age of 20 when she met her husband Duncan Roy, who at that time was the New Zealand Party candidate for Awarua.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref> The Roys have five children.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

Before entering politics, Roy worked as a physiotherapist, medical research co-ordinator, manager of a private kindergarten and as publicity officer for the New Zealand Portrait Gallery. In 2006, she completed basic and corps training as a reserve forces field engineer (Royal New Zealand Engineers) within the New Zealand Army.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Member of Parliament

Template:NZ parlbox header Template:NZ parlbox Template:NZ parlbox Template:NZ parlbox Template:NZ parlbox footerRoy first contested Parliament as a list-only candidate at the 1999 general election, where she was ranked 10th on the ACT New Zealand list. ACT only won enough support for nine MPs so Roy was unsuccessful.

In Opposition

At the 2002 general election, she contested the electorate of Ohariu-Belmont, where she finished fifth behind incumbent Peter Dunne.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> With an improved list position of 9 and ACT holding its support from the previous election, Roy was elected for the first time. In her maiden speech, Roy talked of her "fervent" belief in the liberal ideals of "freedom of market, of mind, and of body".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In her first term, Roy was ACT spokesperson for ACC; arts, culture and heritage; family; health; internal affairs, occupational safety and health; senior citizens; women; and youth.<ref name=":1" /> She was also a member of Parliament's health select committee.<ref name=":1" />

For the 2005 general election, Roy was placed second on the ACT party list, ahead of its deputy leader Muriel Newman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Roy contested but lost Ohariu-Belmont,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was re-elected on the party list. ACT only secured two positions in Parliament, so Roy became the party's deputy leader, whip, and national security spokesperson.<ref name=":1" /> For her second term, she served on the social services committee.<ref name=":1" />

In the 2008 election, she contested the electorate of Template:NZ electorate link, a seat formerly held by former ACT leader and co-founder Richard Prebble from 1996 to 1999.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The seat had been held by Labour since 1999, although the incumbent, Marian Hobbs, was retiring. Roy finished fourth but was re-elected to Parliament on the ACT party list for the third time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Supporting the National-led government

In November 2008, National Party leader John Key formed a new government with support from ACT New Zealand and other small parties. As part of the National–ACT agreement, Roy was appointed as Minister of Consumer Affairs, Associate Minister of Defence and Associate Minister of Education.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the latter two roles, Roy commissioned reviews of the New Zealand Defence Force (including a study on voluntary national service)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and of special education.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She advocated for, without success, the reversal of New Zealand's nuclear free policy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":2" /> She also announced reforms to independent schools, including increased government subsidies to independent schools in 2009.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As Minister of Consumer Affairs, Roy launched a "consumer reform" discussion document in June 2010,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> approved the creation of New Zealand's first financial sector consumer dispute resolution schemes,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and established new regulations requiring water efficiency labels to be fastened to electrical appliances including washing machines, dishwashers, taps, toilets and showers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The 2008–2011 term saw dysfunction and disruption in the ACT New Zealand leadership. ACT founder Sir Roger Douglas, with Roy's support, was reported as leading unsuccessful moves to remove Epsom MP Rodney Hide as ACT leader in November 2009.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At the ACT party conference in March 2010, Roy used her deputy leader's speech to criticise the party's reliance on Hide and the Epsom electorate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In August 2010, Roy was removed as deputy leader and replaced by John Boscawen.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref> She was also removed as a government minister.<ref name=":4" /> In exit press, Roy denied being part of an attempt to replace Hide as leader.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Less than twelve months later, in April 2011, Hide was succeeded as leader by Don Brash.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In June 2011, Roy announced she would leave Parliament at the 2011 general election.<ref name="Stuff.co.nz_51918452">Template:Cite web</ref> In her final year in office, she took charge of the Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment Bill, a private member's bill which had been in her name from 2005 to 2008 but was transferred to Sir Roger Douglas when Roy became a minister. The bill proposed to make membership of student associations and unions voluntary and faced strong opposition from student unions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The bill eventually passed its third reading in September 2011.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Career after politics

Following the 2011 election, Roy was appointed non-executive board chair of the pharmaceutical lobby group, Medicines NZ.<ref name="Stuff.co.nz2">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="mnz-about-us2">Template:Cite web</ref> She left the role in early 2018. <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> For a period after leaving Parliament, Roy also resumed her role as a reserve forces field engineerTemplate:Citation needed.

Roy has appeared as a political commentator advocating for lowering the 5% threshold for parties to be represented in Parliament and for public opinion polls to be banned during the election voting period.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

References

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Further reading

• Template:Cite book (Roy contributed a paper entitled "Health for all".)
• Template:Cite report

External links

• Official website archive