Kate Wilkinson is a National list MP based in Rangiora.

Kate was raised on a Mid Canterbury mixed cropping farm at Chertsey and went to secondary school in Christchurch. After leaving St Margaret's College, Kate studied law at the University of Canterbury and graduated with an LLB. She began working as a solicitor with Harman & Co in 1979, and became a partner five years later. She was involved in general practice law, corporate and commercial law, and property and trusts law.

For 15 years, Kate was a member of the New Zealand Junior Chamber Inc (Jaycees) and has been General Legal Counsel and National President. In 2000, Kate was the Personal Assistant to World President of Junior Chamber International and was awarded Senatorship of JCI for outstanding service.

Kate was the Deputy Chairman of the Waimakariri Community Action Group and was also Trustee of the Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson's Foundation Canterbury Inc until late 2008.

She is also a former Trustee of the Christchurch Arts Festival Trust Board and maintains strong links with the arts community. She has been a seminar presenter for the Motor Trade Association, NZ Institute of Management, and the Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce.

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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