Carl Bates

Bates was born and raised in Whanganui, where he attended Mosston School, Rutherford Junior High School, and Whanganui High School.[1] He later gained a bachelor of business studies degree in accountancy from Massey University.[2] He has been a director of an aged care facility, the Arena Manawatu stadium company, and the Universal College of Learning in Palmerston North. Bates set up a company to train boards of directors, named Sirdar Global Group, and operated it in New Zealand and Africa, and self-published two books on business success. He sold the company on his return to New Zealand in 2020.[3][4]

Bates joined the National Party at the age of 13, when he campaigned for Peter Gresham.[3] Bates was selected by the National Party to contest the Whanganui electorate at the 2023 election. He was 47th on the party list.[5] At the time of his selection he was living in Sanson, but later moved to the Whanganui electorate.[2] On election night, Bates received 16,446 votes, beating the incumbent, first-term Labour Party MP Steph Lewis, by more than 5,000 votes.[6] Bates said the result was a sign that "people in the region were against the centralisation of services".[6] He said people in the region were keen to see both the Three Waters and Resource Management Act reforms reversed.[6]

Bates met his wife Candice on Tinder while living in South Africa. They have two children.[1]

• Traversing the avalanche: A practical guide to the implementation of effective governance for SME growth (5 August 2014) Sirdar Press[4]
• The Laws of Extreme Business Success. (2011). Sirdar Press[7]