Steven Leonard Joyce (born 7 April 1963) is a New Zealand former politician, who entered the
New Zealand House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes Law of New Zealand, laws, provides Ministers of the New Zealand Government, ministers to form Cabinet of New Zealand, Cabinet, and supervises the ...
in 2008 as a member of the
New Zealand National Party
The New Zealand National Party ( mi, Rōpū Nāhinara o Aotearoa), shortened to National () or the Nats, is a centre-right political party in New Zealand. It is one of two major parties that dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongside ...
. In the same year he became
Minister of Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...
and Minister for Communications and Information Technology. He later became Minister of Science and Innovation, and then served as Minister for
Finance
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
and
Minister for Infrastructure.
As a broadcasting entrepreneur with
RadioWorks
MediaWorks New Zealand is a New Zealand-based company specialising in radio, outdoor advertising and interactive media. It is jointly owned by U.S. company Oaktree Capital Management and out-of-home advertising company QMS. It operates nine n ...
, he was a millionaire before he entered politics.
On 6 March 2018, he announced his resignation from politics, after losing his bid for the leadership of the party.
Early life
Joyce's parents worked as grocers. He went to school at
Francis Douglas Memorial College
Francis Douglas Memorial College is an all-boys state integrated Catholic school with boarding facilities located in Westown, New Plymouth, New Zealand. The college was founded in 1959 under the leadership of the De La Salle Brothers, a relig ...
, before enrolling at
Massey University
Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...
, applying to study
veterinary science
Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...
. However he "missed the cut",
graduating instead with a
BSc
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...
in
zoology
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
. While at university he worked as a presenter and programme director on
student radio
Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...
.
He also took fifteen economics papers at Massey from 1982 to 1986, withdrew or did not complete seven of them and failed one through insufficient grade.
Broadcasting career
After leaving university Joyce and a group of friends (including radio presenter
Jeremy Corbett
Jeremy Corbett (born 1962 in Westport, New Zealand) is a radio and television host and comedian from New Zealand.
Corbett is the former breakfast co-host for More FM's Auckland broadcast, a position he held since 1993, finishing in November 2 ...
) started their own radio station,
Energy FM, in
New Plymouth
New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...
.
With business partners, he built up
RadioWorks
MediaWorks New Zealand is a New Zealand-based company specialising in radio, outdoor advertising and interactive media. It is jointly owned by U.S. company Oaktree Capital Management and out-of-home advertising company QMS. It operates nine n ...
over the next seventeen years, both organically and by acquisition, to a network of 22 radio stations and 650 staff. He retired as Managing Director of RadioWorks in April 2001, when
CanWest
Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place. It held radio, television broadcasting an ...
purchased it, Joyce receiving $6 million for the sale.
After RadioWorks he joined the
New Zealand National Party
The New Zealand National Party ( mi, Rōpū Nāhinara o Aotearoa), shortened to National () or the Nats, is a centre-right political party in New Zealand. It is one of two major parties that dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongside ...
, working as their campaign manager in both the
2005 and the
2008 general elections. He was announced as a list only candidate for the party in the
2002 general election, but did not appear on the final list.
He also served as CEO of
Jasons Travel Media
Jasons is a publisher of travel guides and an online directory of activities and lodging in New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Jasons produces 62 free travel guides annually.
History
The company was started as a family business in ...
for two years until 2008.
In 2010 while Minister of Transport, Joyce admitted to two prior driving convictions, careless driving resulting in a fine in 1988, and careless driving causing injury resulting in a fine and loss of licence in 1989.
Member of Parliament
First term, 2008–2011
On 8 November 2008, Joyce was elected as a
list-only candidate (ranked 16th on the
party list) at the
2008 election in the
Fifth National Government of New Zealand of the
49th Parliament of New Zealand representing the
New Zealand National Party
The New Zealand National Party ( mi, Rōpū Nāhinara o Aotearoa), shortened to National () or the Nats, is a centre-right political party in New Zealand. It is one of two major parties that dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongside ...
.
As a first term member of parliament, Joyce was appointed to the office of the
Minister of Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...
and the office of the
Communications and Information Technology. Joyce was also appointed as a member of the
Executive Council and was titled as
The Honourable
''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...
Steven Leonard Joyce, MP. During his tenure as Minister of Transport a number of changes were introduced. In November 2009 a ban on using cellphones while driving came into effect.
In 2010, New Zealand's unique right-hand rule at intersections was reversed. The minimum driving age was also raised from 15 to 16. Both measures were subject to cabinet approval and public consultation, and eventually passed into law.
This minimum driving age proposal was criticised by the editorial board of ''
The New Zealand Herald
''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...
'' for being too hesitant after experts and the public had favoured raising the driving age as high as 18 and in the opinion of the newspaper, Joyce "had not shown the resolve to follow the recommendations".
He helped create
Auckland Transport
Auckland Transport (AT) is the council-controlled organisation (CCO) of Auckland Council responsible for transport projects and services. It was established by section 38 of the Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009, and operates under ...
as a
council-controlled organisation
Council-controlled organisations (CCOs) and council-controlled trading organisations in New Zealand are what were formerly known as '' local-authority trading enterprises'' (''LATEs''). Introduced under Sections 6 and 7 of the ''Local Government Ac ...
for
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
. Joyce stated that "Auckland will need a good agency focused on delivering the projects that have been agreed by council" and noting that Council had a number of ways of ensuring that the entity was accountable.
Joyce was also appointed to the Office o
Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employmentreplacing Anne Tolley, effective 27 January 2010.
Second term, 2011–2014
In the
2011 election for the
50th New Zealand Parliament Joyce retained his seat in Parliament (as a list candidate, now rated 13th on the party list) and was appointed to the office of Minister for
Economic Development
In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and ...
. in the
Fifth National Government of New Zealand
The Fifth National Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand for three parliamentary terms from 19 November 2008 to 26 October 2017. John Key served as National Leader and Prime Minister until December 2016, after which Bill ...
. His previous role as Minister of Transport passed to
Gerry Brownlee
Gerard Anthony Brownlee (born 4 February 1956) is a New Zealand politician of the New Zealand National Party. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1996, was Leader of the House, Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery and Minister of ...
.
In May 2013, he signed a deal with casino
Skycity Auckland
Skycity Auckland is an entertainment complex and casino in the central business district of Auckland, New Zealand, between Victoria and Federal Streets. Located at the base of the Sky Tower, it was the second casino in New Zealand, and is the on ...
, allowing it to install an additional 230 pokie machines and 40 new gambling tables, in exchange for building a $402 million convention centre.
In August 2013, he was given responsibility to investigate both the
Novopay
Novopay is a web-based payroll system for state and state integrated schools in New Zealand, processing the pay of 110,000 teaching and support staff at 2,457 schools. It was purchased by the New Zealand Ministry of Education for $182 million ove ...
debacle and the
2013 Fonterra recall.
Third term, 2014–2017
In what became known as the
Waitangi dildo incident, a rubber sex toy was thrown at Joyce during an anti-
TPPA protest at the 2016 Waitangi Day celebrations while he was speaking to media. The protester responsible, Josie Butler, a nurse from Christchurch, shouted "That’s for raping our sovereignty". She claimed she was protesting against the TPPA. She was taken away by police, but not charged.
On 20 December 2016, Joyce was appointed as
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
and Infrastructure.
During the lead-up to the
2017 general election, Joyce alleged that there was an
NZ$
The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New ...
11 billion hole in the opposition Labour Party's fiscal plan. These charges were disputed by Labour politicians including
Opposition Leader
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
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 Labour Party since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the member of ...
and Deputy Leader
Kelvin Davis.
During the 2017 election, Joyce stood on the National Party list and was re-elected. National won 44% of the popular vote and 56 seats; maintaining its plurality in the New Zealand House of Representatives. However, National fell short of the majority needed to govern alone. Following post-election negotiations, Labour formed a
coalition government with the opposition
New Zealand First and
Green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...
parties.
In Opposition, 2017–2018
Following the formation of a Labour-led coalition government, Joyce became the National Party's Spokesperson for Finance and Infrastructure. He was also allocated a seat on the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee.
However, on 6 March 2018, Joyce announced he would resign from Parliament, reportedly after not being offered the Finance portfolio under new National leader
Simon Bridges
Simon Joseph Bridges (born 12 October 1976) is a former New Zealand politician and lawyer. He served as Leader of the National Party and Leader of the Opposition between 2018 and 2020, and as the Member of Parliament for Tauranga from the to ...
, who had replaced Bill English.
Private life
Joyce lives in
Albany with his wife Suzanne and their two children.
References
External links
MediaWorks repays 'Joyce loan' for radio licences nzherald.co.nz, 4 October 2012; accessed 26 January 2017.
Profile national.org.nz; accessed 26 January 2017.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Joyce, Steven
1963 births
Living people
Massey University alumni
Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
New Zealand businesspeople
New Zealand National Party MPs
New Zealand radio presenters
People from New Plymouth
People educated at Francis Douglas Memorial College
New Zealand list MPs
New Zealand finance ministers
21st-century New Zealand politicians
Candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election
People educated at Kapiti College