Amy Adams

Background

Adams was born in 1971 and when she was two, her mother divorced, and brought up her and her sister Belinda by herself.

Education

Adams attended Rangitoto College where she became friends with Louise Upston, then graduated from the University of Canterbury with an Bachelor of Laws with First-Class Honours.

Career

Her other ministerial portfolios in the 51st New Zealand Parliament are Courts, Broadcasting, and Communications. Her first employment as a lawyer was in Invercargill, but she soon moved back to Canterbury. She became a partner in the Christchurch law firm Mortlock McCormack.

Adams was selected as the National party candidate for the Selwyn seat for the 2008 general election after a contested selection.

In the 2014 election, she got over 70% of the electorate votes based on preliminary results. In 2009 her Fair Trading (Soliciting on Behalf of Charities) Amendment Bill was drawn from the member"s ballot.

The bill required fundraising companies to disclose the proportion of funds they passed on to the charities they collect foreign The bill passed its third reading in June 2012.

After a reshuffle of cabinet responsibilities caused by the resignation of Nick Smith, Adams was made Minister for the Environment, while the responsibility for Internal Affairs was passed to Chris Tremain.

Achievements

• She won the Selwyn seat with a comfortable majority, achieving 60% of the electorate votes cast. Adams was made Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee and the Electoral Legislation Committee for the final months of the 49th Parliament and was appointed a Cabinet Minister for Internal Affairs, Communications and Associate Earthquake Recovery after the National Party won a second term in Government.

Politics

This compares with the National Party achieving 55% of party votes.

Membership

She currently represents the Selwyn electorate and is a member of the National Party.