Judith Collins is the Minister of Police, Corrections and Veterans’ Affairs in the New Zealand National Government. She is also responsible for the Serious Fraud Office. She is ranked seventh in the Cabinet and is the highest ranked woman.

Ms Collins was elected to Parliament representing the Auckland seat of Clevedon in 2002. Following electorate boundary changes she was elected MP for Papakura in 2008.

As Minister Ms Collins has energetically championed policies aimed at improving community safety, boosting resourcing for law and order and providing support for the victims of crime. She introduced and passed legislation to bring private management back into the prison system.

In the Veterans’ Affairs portfiolio, Ms Collins has promoted new initiatives to modernise support services for veterans and to ensure fairness in the provision of pensions and entitlements.

The daughter of a World War II serviceman, Ms Collins campaigned successfully to force an inquiry into the effect of Agent Orange on Vietnam War veterans. She was the proud recipient of both the Ex-Vietnam Services Association Pin and Badge for her work.

She is formerly a member of the Royal New Zealand Naval Association (Counties Branch) and an Associate Member of the Papakura Branch of the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association.

Prior to being elected to Parliament, Ms Collins was a lawyer and company director. She was Chair of the Casino Control Authority and has served as President of the Auckland District Law Society and Vice-President of the New Zealand Law Society. She is a member of the Fulbright New Zealand Alumni Association.

She holds a Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws (Honours) and a Master of Taxation Studies from the University of Auckland.

Ms Collins is married and lives with her family in Auckland.

Top 5 Issues

1. Building a stronger economy
   • Balance the books sooner.
   • Borrow less so we can have lower interest rates for longer.
   • Keep personal taxes lower to encourage hard work.
   • Make New Zealand more competitive so our exporters can sell more overseas and create more real jobs.
   • Encourage savings and investments.
   • Use the mixed-Ownership model to fund infrastructure to help us grow faster.
   • Invest in skills training and tertiary education that gets results.
   
2. Building world-class infrastructure
   • Ultra-fast broadband for greater innovation.
   • More, and better, roads to ease congestion.
   • Investing in more rail and public transport.
   
3. Building a safer New Zealand
   • Staying strong on crime – tougher sentencing, stronger bail laws, and a focus on victims.
   • Keep working to lower the crime rate further so our families are safer.
   • Making our roads safer, so we can keep the road toll lower.
   
4. Rebuilding Christchurch
   • $5.5 billion recovery fund
   • Re-establishing essential infrastructure
   • More construction-related training
   
5. Building better public services
   • Better Schools – identifying and helping children falling behind, school reports in plain English.
   • World-class healthcare –more doctors and nurses, more operations, shorter waiting times.
   • Effective welfare- more people back into work, more incentives to work, payment cards for teens on benefits.
   

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