Carl Bates is a New Zealand National Party Member of Parliament representing the Whanganui electorate [34][42].
According to a secondary source, Bates began university at the age of 15 [28] and went on to complete a Bachelor of Business Studies (Honours) in Accountancy at Massey University in 2004 [2][27]. He holds a confirmed Chartered Accountant designation [3] and is a confirmed Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand, a status he attained in 2022 [40].
Bates has held several business roles, though most are drawn from single secondary sources. According to such sources, he founded Sirdar in 2006 [12], a professional services firm described as training directors, managing boardrooms, and growing businesses throughout Africa and the world [14], and also operated it as Sirdar Global Group [11]. He has been described as a Founding Partner of Sirdar [5] and as a founder of a professional services company in Africa [13]. According to a secondary source, he served as director and chairman for international businesses in Africa [8] and in sectors including primary industries, animal health, food safety and manufacturing, retail, and education [9]. He has also been described as an educator, appointer, and guide of High-Performance boards in Africa [10]. A secondary source describes him as a second-generation entrepreneur in a family property business in New Zealand [6].
In New Zealand, according to secondary sources, Bates served as Acting CEO of Quality Health New Zealand [1] and as leader of the New Zealand Council of Healthcare Standards [16]. He is noted as an author [7] and independent director [15], and is described as having been a director of the Brightwater Centre [24], a board member of Arena Manawatū [23][25], and an independent director of a non-profit specialised aged care facility [22][26]. He is also described as having been a council member of the Universal College of Learning (UCOL) [19][20][37].
In 2016, Bates received the confirmed award of Young Business Person of the Year at the Wellington Regional Business Excellence Awards [41]. His association with the National Party is said to date to at least 1996 [43], and according to a secondary source he founded the Whanganui Young Nationals branch that year [21]. He was elected to Parliament as the Member for Whanganui in 2023 [34][31][36] and, according to secondary sources, has served as Deputy Chair of the Education and Workforce Committee [17][29] and as a member of the Petitions Committee [18][38].