Muriel Newman (born 6 April 1950) is a former New Zealand politician for the ACT New Zealand party. She was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1996 until 2005, when she was not re-elected.
Muriel Newman | |
|---|---|
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for ACT party list | |
| In office 12 October 1996 – 17 September 2005 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 April 1950 England |
| Political party | ACT |
| Spouse | Frank Newman |
Early years
editNewman was born in northern England. She arrived in New Zealand at the age of eight and was raised in Whangārei. She gained a BSc in mathematics from the University of Auckland, and then a Ph.D. in mathematics education from Rutgers University in the United States. After working in the education sector for twenty years, she entered the business world with Michael Hill International, eventually becoming the deputy general manager of the New Zealand operation before being elected to Parliament. She has been a president of the Northland Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Northland Health Board, and member of the Northland Conservation Board.
She is married to Frank Newman, an accountant and former member of the Whangarei District Council.[1]
Member of Parliament
edit| Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996–1999 | 45th | List | 8 | ACT | |
| 1999–2002 | 46th | List | 7 | ACT | |
| 2002–2005 | 47th | List | 3 | ACT | |
Newman was a founding member of the ACT New Zealand party. She was one of its candidates in the 1996 general election, the first election the party contested, and was elected to Parliament as one of ACT's eight list MPs. She was re-elected in 1999 and 2002 and was party whip.[2][3]
In 2004, when Richard Prebble stepped down as ACT's leader, Newman stood as a candidate to succeed him;[4] she lost to Rodney Hide, but emerged with the role of deputy leader. She was placed third on ACT's party list in the 2005 election,[5] but lost her seat in Parliament, as ACT's representation was reduced from nine MPs to only two.
After Parliament
editAfter leaving Parliament in 2005, Newman established the New Zealand Centre for Political Debate (since renamed the New Zealand Centre for Political Research), an independent public policy think tank.[6]
References
edit- ^ Bell, Cathie (10 February 1998). "Newmans lose appeal over property valuation" (PDF). The Dominion.
- ^ "ACT leadership contender steps down as whip". NZ Herald. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
- ^ Boston, Jonathan; Church, Stephen; Levine, Stephen (1 April 2004). New Zealand Votes: The General Election of 2002. Victoria University Press. pp. 400–. ISBN 9780864734686. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ^ "Muriel Newman enters race for ACT leadership". NZ Herald. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
- ^ ACT New Zealand. "ACT releases its Party List for 2005 election | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
- ^ "About Us | NZCPR Site". www.nzcpr.com. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
Further reading
edit- ACT Members of Parliament. (2001), Closing the gaps: policy papers, Wellington, [N.Z.]: ACT New Zealand Parliamentary Office, ISBN 0-9582178-1-5
- Newman's contribution is a paper entitled: "Welfare reform: for the sake of our children."
- from ACT Members of Parliament. (2002), Old values, new ideas, Wellington, [N.Z.]: ACT New Zealand Parliamentary Office, ISBN 0-477-01964-1
- Newman's contribution is a paper entitled: "For the general welfare."
- Prebble, Richard; et al. (2003), Liberal thinking, Wellington, [N.Z.]: ACT New Zealand Parliamentary Office
- Newman's contribution is a paper entitled: "ACT's welfare vision."
- Newman, Frank; Newman, Muriel (1991), How to live off the smell of an oily rag, Auckland, [N.Z.]: Pursuit Books, ISBN 0-9597904-2-X
- Newman, Frank; Newman, Muriel (1995), How to live off the smell of an oily rag (rev. ed.), Auckland, [N.Z.]: Oily Rag Books, ISBN 0-9597904-5-4
- Newman, Frank; Newman, Muriel (1996), More ways to live off the smell of an oily rag, Auckland, [N.Z.]: Oily Rag Books, ISBN 0-9597904-7-0
- "Lessons from the past." in Porter, Ruth, ed. (2007), Pursuing social justice in New Zealand: 14 New Zealanders share their stories of communities helping people in ways government cannot, Auckland, [N.Z.]: Maxim Institute, ISBN 978-0-9582652-6-3