Christine Kathryn Rankin (born Greymouth c. 1954) is a New Zealand politician and former civil servant who served as head of the Department of Work and Income.
[1] Her time as chief executive was controversial, with allegations of extravagant spending and a management style akin to a personality cult.
[1] Three official inquiries were prompted by the expenditure of $165,000 to charter an aircraft to fly staff to a meeting in Wairākei, including one by State Services Commissioner Michael Wintringham who found a lack of financial discipline, and Rankin’s performance bonus was withheld.
Rankin was known for wearing short skirts and dangly earrings, and Prebble, for example, described her dress as "indecent" and "offensive".
[16] On 7 September 2016, Christine Rankin testified in a defamation lawsuit brought by the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union founder Jordan Williams against the former Party leader Colin Craig.
[20] Rankin was born in Greymouth to Walter, a coalminer and later a prison guard, and Sylvia Parker from Blackball, West Coast.