Minister of Consumer Affairs; Associate Minister of Defence; Associate Minister of Education; ACT Deputy Leader.

Hon Heather Roy entered Parliament as an ACT New Zealand List MP in July 2002 and is currently the Deputy Leader of the ACT Party.

Under the terms of the National-ACT Confidence & Supply Agreement, she is also Minister outside Cabinet in the National-led Government.

Mrs Roy's Ministerial portfolio responsibilities are as Minister of Consumer Affairs, Associate Minister of Defence and Associate Minister of Education. Both Associate portfolios carry specific delegated areas of responsibility.

Mrs Roy was a member of the Health Select Committee from 2002-05, a member of the Social Services committee from 2005-08, and now sits on the Business Committee and the Cabinet Committee for Honours, Awards and Appointments. She also has ACT Parliamentary Spokesman responsibilities for Foreign Affairs and Trade, as well as Veteran’s Affairs.

Originally from Palmerston in the South Island, Mrs Roy - now a Wellington Central resident and ACT’s representative MP for the area - is a former physiotherapist who has worked in both the public and private health sectors in New Zealand and the UK.

On returning to New Zealand, she co-ordinated medical research trials for pharmaceutical firms over a 10-year period in the areas of cardiology and psychiatry. She has also worked as the manager of a private kindergarten, as publicity officer for the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, and has always been an active participant in community events.

In 2006, Mrs Roy joined the Territorial Force of the New Zealand Army as a Field Engineer in the 5th (Wellington, West Coast & Taranaki) Battalion Group. Since completing basic and specialised training, she continued to attend Army training until her Ministerial duties made this no longer possible.

She has since transferred to the Non-Active Reserve of the New Zealand Army to avoid any potential conflicts of interest and, due to the increased workload of Ministerial portfolios, has had to reduce her level of community volunteer work.

Mrs Roy is married to Dr Duncan Roy and has five children.

Download Heather's Ministerial Bio Here(PDF) here

Read Heather's 'University of Life' Dominion Post feature Here