Hon Poto Williams
Min. of Conservation
Poto Williams has been the Minister for Conservation since June 2022, and will shortly celebrate a decade as the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Christchurch East, where she lives.
Also Minister for Disability Issues, and Associate Minister for children, Poto has wide experience with previously held ministerial portfolios of Police, Building and Construction, and has been Associate Minister of Housing (Public Housing).
After gaining an MBA and Graduate Certificate in Research Methods from Manukau Institute of Technology and Southern Cross University, Poto has worked in a variety of communities with specific needs and responses. She has a keen perception for people’s strengths and looks to maximise potential – a skill which guides her practices and decision making.
Poto is the very proud mother of Terai, grandmother of Bodhi and Fletcher, and a member of a very large extended family in New Zealand, Australia and the Cook Islands.