Craig Foss

The Honourable
Craig Foss
Minister of Civil Defence
In office
8 June 2011 – 22 January 2013
Prime Minister John Key
Preceded by John Carter
Succeeded by Nikki Kaye
10th Minister for Senior Citizens
In office
8 June 2011 – 14 December 2011
Prime Minister John Key
Preceded by John Carter
Succeeded by Jo Goodhew
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Tukituki
In office
17 September 2005 – 23 September 2017
Preceded by Rick Barker
Succeeded by Lawrence Yule
Majority 2,402 (2005)
Personal details
Born 4 July 1963
Lower Hutt, Wellington
Political party National
Spouse Kristal Foss
Children Two daughters
Profession Investment banker
Website craigfoss.co.nz

Craig Raymond Robert Foss (born 4 July 1963) is a New Zealand investment banker and politician. He was elected to the Hawke's Bay Regional Council in October 2019 and was previously the Member of Parliament for Tukituki from 2005 until 2017.

Early years and family

Foss was born on 4 July 1963 in Lower Hutt, the son of Raymond Foss and Rosemary Dwyer. He attended Victoria University of Wellington, completing a BCA. He worked in the banking sector. He was Chief Dealer for the Bank of New Zealand. Subsequently, he worked for Credit Suisse Financial Products as Interest Rate Risk Manager in London and Tokyo.

Foss married Kristal in 1993; they have two daughters together. Foss owns a small farm and some tourist accommodation.

Political career

Member of Parliament

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2005–2008 48th Tukituki 44 National
2008–2011 49th Tukituki 33 National
2011–2014 50th Tukituki 21 National
2014–2017 51st Tukituki 17 National

Foss represented the Tukituki electorate for twelve years but was not successful in winning the electorate at his first attempt. In the 2002 election, he was beaten by Labour's incumbent, Rick Barker, by 6,410 votes. He was ranked 47th on the National Party list, not high enough to enter Parliament as a list MP.

Foss contested Tukituki again in 2005 and defeated Barker to enter Parliament for the first time. He was returned for three further elections and his majority peaking at nearly 10,000 votes in 2011. Foss voted in favour of the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013.

The National Party formed a government in 2008. Foss was the chair of the Finance and Expenditure Committee from 2008 until June 2011, when he was appointed a minister outside Cabinet. He held the Civil Defence, Racing and Senior Citizens portfolios, as well as associate ministerial responsibilities in local government and commerce, replacing John Carter who left to take up a High Commissioner post in the Cook Islands.

After the 2011 election, Foss was promoted to be a minister inside the Cabinet, as Minister of Broadcasting and Minister of Commerce. He was also an associate minister in the education and ACC portfolios. As associate minister of education, Foss had responsibility for the ill-fated rollout of Novopay. In January 2013 he was removed from the education portfolio and reassigned to be Minister of Consumer Affairs. In this term he also held brief acting appointments as Minister for Climate Change Issues, after the 2012 resignation of Nick Smith, and as Minister for ACC, after the 2014 resignation of Judith Collins.

National was elected for a third term in 2014, and Foss was appointed Minister for Small Business, Minister of Statistics, Minister of Veterans' Affairs, Associate Minister of Immigration, and Associate Minister of Transport, but no longer served in the Cabinet. On 14 December 2016, following a change to the National Party leadership, Foss announced that he would retire from politics at the 2017 general election. He relinquished his ministerial roles on 20 December 2016. The Tukituki electorate was won at the election by Lawrence Yule, who had succeeded Foss as the National Party's candidate.

Local government

Foss was elected to the Hawke's Bay Regional Council in the 2019 New Zealand local elections, alongside his former parliamentary rival Rick Barker.