Background
He was born in Morrinsville and educated at Hamilton Boys" High School and Massey University (BAgSc, DipAgSc, DipBusSc, MMgt).
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John Luxton
Edit ProfileCareer
He was a National Party Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2002. He is the Chairman of DairyNZ, the organisation that represents all New Zealand dairy farmers. He is also co-chair of the Waikato River Authority, a Crown/iwi co-governance organisation established through Treaty of Waitangi settlement legislation to clean-up the Waikato River.
Periods of project consulting in Africa, Asia and the Pacific were interspersed with dairy farming in New Zealand over the following decade.
Luxton was first elected to Parliament in the 1987 elections as the Member of Parliament for Matamata. He replaced his father Jack Luxton, who held the Piako electorate then Matamata for 21 years from 1966, and had been Chairman of Committees in Parliament.
Luxton held Matamata until the 1996 elections, when a boundary change caused him to stand in the seat of Karapiro. In the 1999 elections, he opted to become a list Member of Parliament, leaving the Karapiro seat to newcomer Lindsay Tisch.
Minister
His ministerial roles have included Minister of Energy, Minister of Housing, Minister of Maori Affairs, Minister of Police, Minister of Commerce,Minister of Industry, Minister of Fisheries, Minister of Lands, Minister of Customs and Minister of Agriculture.
He was also an Associate Minister of Education and of Overseas Trade. Luxton did not seek re-election in the 2002 elections. He holds a number of directorships in the agribusiness sector including the Tatua Cooperative(s) Dairy Company, having been a previous Chairman, and Wallace Corporation, and has farming interests and is currently chair of DairyNZ, the New Zealand Dairy Industry Good organisation which represents all New Zealand dairy farmers.
He was for a short period (2005-2006) a director of listed investment and property company Blue Chip, Luxton resigned from that Board.
He also sits on the board of the Royal New Zealand Ballet Company and Landcare Research, one of the Crown Research Institutes.
Achievements
Membership
Luxton was regarded by many as one of the more economically liberal members of the National Party. Luxton has been appointed as a Company-Chair the Waikato River Authority and is a member of the New Zealand Constitutional Advisory Panel.
