Heather du Plessis-Allan was born in
South Africa in 1984. She migrated to New Zealand at the age of 12. Her mother Elizabeth is of
Afrikaner descent while her father is of
English descent and moved to New Zealand during his teenage years. Her parents separated when she was five years old. du-Plessis Allan's mother later remarried a New Zealand-born South African man, who fathered her two younger brothers. While living in South Africa, du Plessis-Allan attended a semi-private high school that was adjusting to the end of
Apartheid in 1994. After migrating to New Zealand, du Plessis-Allan and her family initially lived in
Pukekohe before moving to
Tuakau,
Waikato. There, she studied at
Tuakau College. During her final high school years in New Zealand, du-Plessis Allan's mother and stepfather divorced. She and her brothers opted to remain in New Zealand. Her mother Elizabeth became a real estate agent working for
Barfoot & Thompson. Du Plessis-Allan later studied
political science at the
University of Auckland. She credited her father for inspiring her interest in politics by giving her a copy of former
ACT Party operative Simon Carr's
The Dark Art of Politics. ==Journalism career==