Philip Shane Ardern (born 26 January 1960) is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the National Party and represented the electorate of

Taranaki-King Country Taranaki-King Country electorate boundaries used since the Taranaki-King Country is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Taranaki-King Countr ...

from 1998 to 2014.

Early years

Ardern is the son of Noel and Olive Ardern. He was born and raised in

Ōpunake Ōpunake is a small town on the southwest coast of Taranaki in New Zealand's North Island. It is located 45 kilometres southwest of New Plymouth. Rahotu is 16 km to the northwest. Manaia is 29 km to the southeast. State Highway ...

, and attended Opunake High School. Before entering politics, he was a

dairy farmer Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history that ...

, and many of his political activities have been on behalf of the farming community. He is a cousin of former New Zealand Prime Minister and Labour MP

Jacinda Ardern Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician who has been serving as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, leader of the Labour Party since 2017. A member of the L ...

Member of Parliament

Ardern first became a member of parliament due to the Taranaki-King Country by-election of 1998, which resulted from the retirement from politics of former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Jim Bolger James Brendan Bolger ( ; born 31 May 1935) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who was the 35th prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997. Bolger was born to an Irish immigrant family in Ōpunake, Tara ...

. He held that seat from 1998 to 2014. Ardern became one of the driving forces behind the legislation that enabled the setting up of the dairy company

Fonterra Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited is a New Zealand multinational publicly traded dairy co-operative owned by around 9,000 New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports and with revenue ex ...

in 2001. He came to nationwide attention in late 2003 when he drove a tractor up the front steps of Parliament House as part of a protest against a proposed agricultural emissions research levy, nicknamed the "flatulence" or "fart tax"; the police investigated him for dangerous conduct and charged him with disorderly conduct. From 2008 until his retirement from parliament in 2014 he served as chairman of the parliamentary Primary Production Select Committee. In late 2013 bloggers and media speculatively named Ardern as one of the National Party MPs likely to retire due to a perceived need for rejuvenation of the National Party parliamentary caucus.

Retirement

Ardern announced he was stepping down from his seat in December 2013 and that he would remain an MP until the end of the

50th New Zealand Parliament The 50th New Zealand Parliament was elected at the 2011 general election. It had 121 members (120 seats plus one overhang seat), and was in place from December 2011 until September 2014, followed by the 2014 general election. The first sitting ...

. Since retiring from Parliament, Ardern has returned to his Central North Island farms, having been succeeded in the Taranki-King Country seat by

Barbara Kuriger Barbara Joan Kuriger (born 1961) 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. Farming career Kuriger is a farmer, shareholder and ...

. Ardern has also begun advocating again at the grassroots levels for the Taranaki farming communities that supply

having been noted at several post-election forums held by the dairy industry.

References

External links

Shane Ardern MP
official site
Profile
at National party * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ardern, Shane 1960 births Living people New Zealand farmers New Zealand National Party MPs People from Ōpunake People educated at Opunake High School Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates 21st-century New Zealand politicians