Margaret Wilson.html



The Honourable  Margaret Wilson
Margaret Wilson giving opening address for the Parliamentary Commissioner of Environment's 20th anniversary.
27th Speaker of the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office  3 March 2005
Prime Minister	Helen Clark
Preceded by	Jonathan Hunt
Born	20 May 1947 (1947-05-20) (age 61) Gisborne,  New Zealand
Nationality	New Zealand
Political party	Labour
Profession	Trade unionist

Margaret Wilson (born 20 May 1947), a New Zealand politician. She was Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives during the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand. She is a member of the Labour Party.

Early life

Born in Gisborne, Wilson graduated LLB (honours) from the University of Auckland. She has worked as a lawyer, a Professor of Law and Dean at the University of Waikato, and a trade unionist. From 1984 to 1987, she was president of the Labour Party, and from 1989 to 1990, she worked as chief political advisor to the Prime Minister, Geoffrey Palmer. She has also served on the Law Commission, and was appointed as a director of the Reserve Bank.

Member of Parliament

Wilson entered Parliament as a list MP in the 1999 elections, and immediately gained election to Cabinet. Her portfolios included those of Attorney-General and Minister of Labour. She remained a list MP after the 2002 elections, serving as Attorney-General, Minister of Commerce, Minister in Charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Associate Minister for Courts, and Associate Minister of Justice.

Speaker of the House

In December 2004, the Clark Labour Government announced that they would nominate Wilson for the post of Speaker of the House of Representatives, a position which would become vacant with the pending retirement of Jonathan Hunt. Previous speculation had focused on Mark Burton, the Minister of Defence. On 3 March 2005, Parliament elected Wilson as their new Speaker over candidacies by Clem Simich from the New Zealand National Party and Ken Shirley from the ACT Party. Wilson became New Zealand's first female speaker. After the 2005 elections, she was re-elected to the position unopposed.¹

Her style was noticeably different from her predecessor Jonathan Hunt. In July 2006, National attempted a vote of no confidence in Wilson, after she refused to send a report on Labour MP Taito Phillip Field to the Privileges Committee, but Labour blocked the move.² The most serious challenge to her authority as speaker came on 26 August 2008, when Act leader Rodney Hide initially refused her order to leave the debating chamber - "I actually won't go now, Madam Speaker.". She told him to "think carefully", and applied to have Hide named after he left.³

Wilson announced in February 2008 that she would not be standing for re-election in 2008, and was considering "academia" rather than a diplomatic posting.⁴ She finished by closing the 48th Parliament.⁵

Political views

Wilson strongly promotes various social causes such as feminism and multiculturalism, and opponents often painted her as Labour's most "politically correct" minister. She was the Minister responsible for the introduction of the new Supreme Court, which was controversial at the time, as well as changing the law on dividing property between partners after a separation, known now as relationship property law.

Return to Academia

In 2009 Wilson will return as the founding Dean of the Waikato School of Law at The University of Waikato Hamilton. Wilson established this school of law as New Zealand's most modern law school in 1990.

It is planned that Wilson will return as a Professor of Law and Public Policy at the University.

References

External links

• Page on Parliamentary Website