Shane Reti

Shane Raymond Reti QSM MP (born 5 June 1963) is a New Zealand politician who was elected to the New Zealand parliament at the 2014 general election as a representative of the New Zealand National Party. He has been the deputy leader of National since 10 November 2020.

Shane Reti QSM MP
Deputy Leader of the National Party Deputy Leader of the Opposition
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 November 2020
Leader	Judith Collins
Preceded by	Gerry Brownlee
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for National Party list
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 October 2020
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Whangarei
In office 20 September 2014 – 17 October 2020
Preceded by	Phil Heatley
Succeeded by	Emily Henderson
Personal details
Born	Shane Raymond Reti 5 June 1963 Hamilton, New Zealand
Political party	National Party
Website	https://shanereti.national.org.nz

Early life and family

Born in Hamilton in 1963, Reti is of Māori descent, and has tribal affiliations to Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Hine and Ngāti Kura. He was educated at Hamilton Boys' High School and Minidoka County High School in Idaho, United States. He then studied at the University of Waikato from 1981 to 1982 and the University of Auckland between 1982 and 1987 and in 1989, graduating from the latter with a Bachelor of Human Biology in 1985, MB ChB in 1987 and a Diploma in Obstetrics in 1989. He was also awarded a Diploma in Dermatological Science by the University of Wales, Cardiff in 1991.

Reti served in the Territorial Force from 1983 to 1987.[1] He played badminton for Waikato between 1978 and 1982.[1]

Reti has three adult children: two daughters and one son.[2]

Professional career

Reti worked as a general practitioner for 17 years.[3][4] For seven years he served as a member of the Northland District Health Board.[4] In the 2006 New Year Honours he was awarded a Queen's Service Medal for public services.[5]

In 2007 Reti was awarded a Harkness Fellowship and moved to Massachusetts to work at Harvard University.[4][6] Reti remained in Boston for six years and resisted offers by Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth and Harvard Medical School to extend his stay.[4]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
Years	Term	Electorate	List	Party
2014–2017	51st	Whangarei	60	National
2017–2020	52nd	Whangarei	45	National
2020–present	53rd	List	5	National

Fifth National Government, 2014–2017

Early in 2014, Reti won the National Party nomination in the safe Whangarei electorate against sitting list MP Paul Foster-Bell for the 2014 election.[6] At the 2014 election, he had a large margin over Labour's Kelly Ellis.[6]

During the Northland by-election, Reti was accused of bullying Alex Wright of the Pipiwai Titoki Advocacy group, a group campaigning to seal the "dusty and dangerous foresty roads" in Northland. Wright claimed that Reti rang her and told her to keep quiet until after the by-election or get nothing. Reti responded that he was attempting to help the group.[7]

Sixth Labour Government, 2017–present

During the 2017 election, Reti was re-elected in Whangārei, defeating Labour candidate Tony John Savage by a margin of 10,967 votes.[8] Following the formation of the Labour-led coalition government, Reti became National's Associate Spokesperson for Health and Deputy Chaiperson of the Health Select Committee. He was later appointed as the party's spokesperson for "data and cybersecurity" and "disability issues."[9] In January 2019, Reti was designated as National's spokesperson for "tertiary education, skills, and employment."[10][11]

Between 25 March and 26 May 2020, Reti was a member of the Epidemic Response Committee, a select committee that considered the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12] On 2 July, Reti was promoted to number 13 on the National Party's list ranking within Todd Muller's shadow cabinet and also given the associate drug reform portfolio.[13][14]

On 15 July 2020, Judith Collins, the new Leader of the Opposition, announced that Reti was to be promoted to Spokesperson for Health for National.[15][16][17]

During the 2020 New Zealand general election held on 17 October, preliminary results had Reti ahead of Labour candidate Emily Henderson in the Whangārei electorate by 162 votes.[18] Following the publication of official results on 6 November, he lost the seat to Henderson by 431 votes.[19] He returned to Parliament on the National Party list.[20]

On 10 November, Reti was unanimously elected as the deputy leader of the National Party during a party caucus meeting.[21][22]

Views and positions

Obesity

In mid-November 2020, Dr Reti supported National Party leader Judith Collins' earlier remarks about obesity being a matter of personal responsibility. Reti said that National had a "good obesity framework" and that people could be trusted to make the right choice with the "right information." While acknowledging that socio-economic and genetics were factors in obesity, he added there were other reasons including medical factors for putting on weight.[23]

References

1. Taylor, Alister, ed. (2001). New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa 2001. Auckland: Alister Taylor Publishers. ISSN 1172-9813.
2. "MPs hidden talents". Stuff. 15 January 2017. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
3. "Dr Shane Reti picked as National's candidate for Whangarei electorate". The New Zealand Herald. 7 March 2014. Archived from the original on 10 March 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
4. Dinsdale, Mike (27 January 2014). "Trio put hands up to represent National". The Northern Advocate. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
5. "New Year honours list 2006". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2005. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
6. "Election 2014: Shane Reti wins Whangarei". The New Zealand Herald. 20 September 2014. Archived from the original on 21 September 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
7. "Dusty road group claim bullying". Radio New Zealand. 18 March 2015. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
8. "Whangarei – Official Result 2017". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 22 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
9. "Dr Shane Reti". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 23 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
10. "Bennett named drug reform spokesperson in shadow cabinet reshuffle". Radio New Zealand. 22 January 2019. Archived from the original on 23 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
11. Coughlan, Thomas (22 January 2019). "Bridges begins year with a reshuffle". Newsroom. Archived from the original on 23 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
12. "Epidemic response". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
13. Cooke, Henry (2 July 2020). "National reshuffle: Simon Bridges gets foreign affairs role, but not a high ranking". Stuff. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
14. Cheng, Derek (2 July 2020). "National's Todd Muller's first reshuffle – winners and losers revealed". New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
15. Deguara, Brittney (15 July 2020). "'Just Shane, a Māori boy from Northland': Who is National's new health spokesman?". Stuff. Archived from the original on 16 July 2020.
16. Walls, Jason (15 July 2020). "Election 2020: New National leader Judith Collins demotes Woodhouse, makes Shane Reti new health spokesman". New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
17. Houlahan, Mike (16 July 2020). "Woodhouse takes medicine". Otago Daily Times. Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
18. Martin, Hannah (19 October 2020). "Election 2020: National retains Whangārei and Northland seats - but only just". Stuff. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
19. "Whangārei - Official Result". Elecotral Commission. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
20. "Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
21. McCulloch, Craig; Scotcher, Katie (10 November 2020). "Shane Reti becomes new deputy leader of the National Party". Radio New Zealand. Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
22. Manch, Thomas; Cooke, Henry (17 November 2020). "Shane Reti elected unopposed as new deputy leader of the National Party". Stuff. Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
23. Satherley, Dan (14 November 2020). "Obese Kiwis with socio-economic or genetic reasons 'not the bigger group' - Shane Reti". Newshub. Archived from the original on 15 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.