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Portrait of Mike Butterick
Photo via Wikipedia
MP · #13

Mike Butterick

Wairarapa · New Zealand National Party
Pecuniary interests
19 items
Directorships
3 declared
Recent meetings
32 logged

Bg Background Methodology →

Research run #25 · 26 Apr 2026
Every claim below links to its source. Click any footnote [1] in the text, or expand the citation index after the bio, to see the verbatim quote and the page it came from.

Mike Butterick is a New Zealand National Party politician who, according to a single reputable secondary source, serves as the Member of Parliament for the Wairarapa electorate [18].

Butterick's background is in farming. He is confirmed to have worked as a sheep and beef farmer [2], and according to a single reputable secondary source, also worked as a shepherd in Canterbury and in the Wairarapa earlier in his career [3][4]. A single reputable secondary source also notes that he served as Federated Farmers Wairarapa meat and wool sector chair [5], and acted as spokesperson for Fifty Shades of Green [7].

He is affiliated with the National Party [19], and according to a single reputable secondary source, stood as the National Party candidate for the Wairarapa electorate at the 2020 general election [17]. He entered Parliament as the Member of Parliament for Wairarapa from 14 October 2023 [13].

During his time in Parliament, according to a single reputable secondary source, Butterick served as a member of the Primary Production Select Committee [6]. He was appointed to a ministerial role from 2 April 2026 [14], and according to a single reputable secondary source, became Minister for Defence from that same date [15]. He is also noted, according to a single reputable secondary source, as having been appointed Minister for Land Information from 7 April 2026 [16], as well as Associate Minister of Agriculture from April 2026 [9].

Generated 27 Apr 2026 · model claude-sonnet-4-6
AI-generated biography. Assembled by an LLM from public sources (Wikipedia, Hansard, Beehive, Parliament register, news archives). Every claim is backed by a verbatim quote in one of the cited sources below and tagged confirmed, unverified, or disputed based on corroboration. Use as a starting reference, not a final source — cross-check anything load-bearing.
2 confirmed 17 unverified 0 disputed
Verify the bio — expand the citation index 19 sourced claims

Career

Political offices

Party affiliation

Civic roles & honours

Looked for, not found

  • No public record found confirming Mike Butterick's formal education qualifications (e.g. secondary school, university degree). Wikipedia mentions he grew up in mid-Canterbury but does not specify educational institutions attended.
  • Unable to confirm whether Mike Butterick held any earlier role (e.g. Parliamentary Under-Secretary) prior to his April 2026 appointment as Minister for Land Information and Associate Minister of Agriculture — the page budget was exhausted before this could be verified.

The researcher checked for these topics across the allowed public sources but could not find verbatim-quotable evidence. Absence here doesn't rule the fact out — it just means no journalist-accessible source covered it at the time of the run.

01 Positions

  • Cabinet Minister — Land Information
  • Associate Minister — Agriculture

03 Pecuniary interests (2025) Methodology →

as of 2026-05-27 02:16
Beneficial interests in, and trusteeships of, trusts
Rocky Hills Trust (trustee and beneficiary) — Rocky Hills Trust (Trustee)
Taharoa Trust (trustee) — Taharoa Trust (Trustee)
The Butterick Family Trust (beneficiary) — The Butterick Family Trust (Beneficiary)
Debts owed to you
Rocky Hills Trust – loan from trustee* — Rocky Hills Trust (Trustee)
The Butterick Family Trust – beneficiary current account* — The Butterick Family Trust (Beneficiary)
Organisations and trusts seeking Government funding
Wings over Wairarapa – regional airshow — Wings over Wairarapa
Other companies and business entities
Alliance Group Limited – meat processing — Alliance Group Limited
Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited – farming supplier — Farmlands Co-operative Society Limited
Heartland Group Holdings – banking — Heartland Group Holdings
Kahuiti Limited – farming — Kahuiti Limited
MD & ER Butterick Partnership, trading as Rocky Hills Partnership – farming — MD & ER Butterick Partnership
Manaia Farms Limited – farming — Manaia Farms Limited
Silver Fern Farms Co-operative Limited – meat processing — Silver Fern Farms Co-operative Limited
The New Zealand Merino Company Limited – wool industry group — The New Zealand Merino Company Limited
Waipuke Farming Limited – farming — Waipuke Farming Limited
Wools of New Zealand Holdings Limited – wool industry group — Wools of New Zealand Holdings Limited
Real property
Family home (owned by trust) – Masterton
Farmland (owned by trust) – Masterton
Retirement schemes
Milford Asset Management KiwiSaver — Milford Asset Management

04 Directorships Methodology →

as of 2026-05-27 02:16
None recorded.

06 Trusteeships & beneficial trust interests

08 Recent meetings (as minister) Methodology →

as of 2026-06-30 16:30
2026-04-30 Thu
4 entries
ATTEND: Federated Farmers Tararua AGM
MEET
Land Information Officials
MEET: Land Information Officials
MEET
MEDIA: ZB Talkback
MEET
Cabinet Committee
ATTEND: Cabinet Committee
MEET
2026-04-29 Wed
1 entry
ATTEND: Beef + Lamb New Zealand and Meat Industry Association New Zealand Election Manifesto Launch
MEET
2026-04-28 Tue
1 entry
Land Information Officials
MEET: Land Information Officials
MEET
2026-04-23 Thu
2 entries
MEDIA: CountryWide CONNECT
MEET
Cabinet Committee
ATTEND: Cabinet Committee
MEET
2026-04-22 Wed
1 entry
ATTEND: Halter Parliamentary Function
with: Rt Hon Luxon
MEET
2026-04-21 Tue
5 entries
ATTEND: Rural Support Trust Conference Dinner
with: Hon Doocey, Hon Patterson
MEET
Associate Agriculture Officials
MEET: Associate Agriculture Officials
MEET
Land Information Officials
MEET: Land Information Officials
MEET
Cabinet Committee
ATTEND: Cabinet Committee
MEET
MEET: United States Embassy Agricultrual Specialist
with: Hon Meager, US Embassy Official
MEET
2026-04-20 Mon
1 entry
MEET: High Country Accord Trust
MEET
2026-04-16 Thu
4 entries
VISIT: Ngāi Tahu Farms
MEET
VISIT: Foundation for Arable Research
with: FAR
MEET
VISIT: Āmua
MEET
MEET: Arable Industry
with: Hon Grigg, Hon Patterson, farming community members
MEET
2026-04-15 Wed
1 entry
MEDIA: Farmers Weekly
MEET
2026-04-14 Tue
5 entries
ATTEND: North Canterbury Public Meeting
with: Rt Hon Luxon, Stuart Smith MP
MEET
VISIT: North Canterbury Farm
with: Rt Hon Luxon, Stuart Smith MP, farming community members
MEET
VISIT: North Canterbury Veterinary Clinic
with: Rt Hon Luxon, Stuart Smith MP
MEET
VISIT: Kells Kitchen Homemade
with: Rt Hon Luxon, Stuart Smith MP
MEET
VISIT: Amberley Country Estate Retirement Village
with: Rt Hon Luxon, Stuart Smith MP
MEET
2026-04-13 Mon
2 entries
Associate Agriculture Officials
MEET: Associate Agriculture Officials
with: MPI, Associate Agriculture Officials
MEET
VISIT: Land Information New Zealand
with: LINZ
MEET
2026-04-09 Thu
2 entries
VISIT: Ministry for Primary Industries
with: MPI
MEET
MEDIA: Newstalk ZB
MEET
2026-04-08 Wed
2 entries
Land Information Officials
MEET: Land Information Officials
MEET
MEDIA: CountryWide CONNECT
MEET
2026-04-07 Tue
1 entry
ATTEND: Swearing in ceremony
with: Rt Hon Luxon, Rt Hon Dame Kiro
MEET

09 Recent Hansard speeches

10 Recent press releases

From Beehive.govt.nz. Most recent 10.

  • Farmers are an integral force behind improving land management practices and the Government is backing their efforts by increasing the footprint of rural catchment groups and creating funding certainty, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay and Associate Agriculture Minister Mike Butterick say.
    2026-06-10
  • Agriculture Minister Todd McClay today confirmed new Associate Agriculture Minister Mike Butterick’s key areas of delegated responsibility across the primary sector. “Mike Butterick brings a deep understanding of farming and rural communities to his new role,” Mr McClay says.
    2026-05-12

12 In the news Methodology →

21 articles

Coverage from RNZ, Stuff, NZ Herald, ODT, 1News, Newsroom and The Spinoff that mentions this person. Click any source to expand. Article body markdown is captured separately and used for AI summarisation downstream.

RNZ 7
1News 5
Stuff 4
The Spinoff 3
Newsroom 1
NZ Herald 1

13 Commentary topics Methodology →

6 topics · 12 weeks

Topics where op-eds, blogs and press releases have mentioned this person, week-by-week. Each row links through to the topic detail in the discourse lens.

14 Press topics Methodology →

6 topics · 12 weeks

Topics where major news outlets have reported on this person. Each row links through to the topic detail in the press lens. Compare to the discourse rows above to see where reporting and commentary converge or diverge.

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