Julie Anne Genter (List MP: 2011-2023, Electorate MP: 2023 - …) is the Green MP for Rongotai and has been a Green list MP for over 12 years.
Julie Anne has had a life-long fascination with the role our cities and their planning can play on our health and happiness. Raised in Los Angeles, , at a young age, Julie Anne was exposed to how car-dependence, low-density planning, and a lack of the prioritising of community spaces had created a poor quality of life for those around her, especially the most vulnerable communities.
She earned a BA from the University of California, Berkeley and a post-graduate certificate in International Political Studies from the Institut d'études politiques Paris, before coming to Aotearoa New Zealand in 2006 to complete a MA of Planning Practice from the University of Auckland. Before standing for parliament, she worked as a transport planning consultant, advising many city and regional councils in New Zealand and Australia, as well as central government agencies in Aotearoa.
Not long after arriving in Aotearoa, Julie Anne joined and became actively involved with the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand; The only party at the time, and still the only, dedicated towards prioritising environmental and social justice, and evidence-based policies that could deliver real results.
From 2017-2020. Julie Anne served as one of the first three Green Ministers of the Crown, as Minister for Women and Associate Minister of Transport and Health. She spearheaded the Clean Car Discount & Standards - which massively reduced the average emissions of vehicles being imported into the country. She fought for and won funding increases to maternity services and midwives, and delivered the biggest annual reduction in the public sector gender pay gap in 20 years.
As the first Green MP for Rongotai, Julie Anne will continue to serve the community and organise for policy change that will ensure all people have what they need to live good lives, and that we are able to live more in harmony with nature.
