Todd Muller

Muller was born in Te Aroha in 1968,[2] and was raised in Te Puna, where his parents started a kiwifruit orchard.[3] He attended St Josephs, Te Puna primary school[4][5] and Tauranga Boys' College.[6]

He studied English, history and politics at the University of Waikato and graduated with a master's degree.[3][7]

Muller joined the New Zealand National Party in 1989. From 1994 to 1997 he served as Executive Assistant to Prime Minister Jim Bolger in his second term[8] [6]

Muller started his corporate career working for kiwifruit company Zespri as Industry Relations Manager from 2001 to 2003, then as GM Corporate and Grower Services from 2003 to 2006.

Muller left his role at Zespri to take up the position of CEO at Apata Ltd in January 2006.[9] Apata, a Bay of Plenty company specialising in post-harvest operations, was founded by his father and others in 1983.[10]

He served as a co-opted Waikato University councillor from October 2007 to June 2014.[11][12][13][14]

He served as a director of Crown Research Institute, Plant and Food Research from June 2011 to June 2014. Plant and Food is a New Zealand-based science company providing research and development that adds value to fruit, vegetable, crop and food products.[15]

Muller started his role at Fonterra as Manager of Local Government and Regional Relations from February 2011 through to May 2012. He then became Group Director of Co-operative Affairs from May 2012 until June 2014, when he left the dairy company in order to focus on campaigning for the 2014 general election after being selected as the National Party candidate for the Bay of Plenty electorate.[16]

From August 2012 until June 2014, Muller served as a director Sustainable Business Council NZ, which is a CEO led group of companies that catalyses the New Zealand business community to have a leading role in creating a sustainable future for business, society and the environment.[17]

Muller became a Member of Parliament in 2014. He was selected to replace Tony Ryall in 2014 as National's candidate in the Bay of Plenty electorate,[18] and won with 61% of the vote. He won the electorate again in 2017.

During his time in Parliament Muller has served as the chairperson of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee, and as the deputy chairperson of the Education and Science Select Committee.[19] As of February 2020 he was the Opposition spokesperson for agriculture, biosecurity, food safety, and forestry, and sits on the Primary Production Select Committee.[19]

During his time in Opposition he was given the task of working with the Government on its Zero Carbon Bill. National ended up supporting the bill, with some caveats. Muller's work on the bill earned him respect from across the House.[20]

In November 2019, Muller heckled Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick during her speech on climate change. Swarbrick quickly retorted "OK boomer".[21][22] Although there was little reaction to her comment in Parliament, her two-word throwaway remark became a talking point in media around the world.[23]

In December 2019, Muller criticised a Te Papa exhibition in which displayed bottles of water dyed brown representing farm streams, describing it as "part of the museum's continued attacks on New Zealand's farmers".[24]

Muller takes a socially conservative position on issues such as abortion, euthanasia and drug liberalisation.[40]

He has called for greater action on climate change, having worked with Ardern's government on the Zero Carbon Bill.[41]

After his election as leader, he received attention for his intention to display a 'Make America Great Again' cap in his Parliamentary office as part of a collection of American political memorabilia, with a Muslim community leader calling on him to leave it at home.[42] Muller responded that he was "very comfortable" including it in his collection and that he hoped people would understand the context of the display.[43] He later changed his mind and decided to leave it undisplayed.[44] When pressed on whether he would prefer to see Donald Trump or Joe Biden in the presidency, Muller only stated that he believed Trump's Democratic opponent was better at delivering speeches.[45] He is an admirer of American politics.[46]

Muller and his wife Michelle have three children.[6][47] Muller is Catholic.[48]

• Official website
• Media related to Todd Muller at Wikimedia Commons