32 Facts About Margaret Wilson

Margaret Anne Wilson was born on 20 May 1947 and is a New Zealand lawyer, academic and former Labour Party politician.

Margaret Wilson served as Attorney-General from 1999 to 2005 and Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2005 to 2008, during the Fifth Labour Government.

Margaret Wilson's family were Catholic and Labour-voting; Bill's father's cousin was the Labor Party Premier of New South Wales, Bob Heffron.

Margaret Wilson returned to Auckland to receive secondary education at St Dominic's College, and completed her final year as the only female student at Morrinsville College.

Margaret Wilson had a leg amputated due to cancer at the age of 16, which cut short her plans to be a physical education teacher.

Margaret Wilson began lecturing in the University of Auckland law faculty in 1972 and continued in lecturing roles until 1990.

Margaret Wilson campaigned for Eddie Isbey, the Labour Party candidate in Grey Lynn, in 1969 and 1972.

Margaret Wilson stood unsuccessfully for the Auckland City Council on a Labour Party ticket in both 1977 and 1980.

Margaret Wilson was elected as a women's representative on the Labour Party Council for two one-year terms in 1980 and 1981 and to the vice-presidency in 1982.

Margaret Wilson contributed to the party's manifesto commitments on women's equality, which included the establishment of the Ministry for Women's Affairs, for the 1984 general election.

Margaret Wilson established the University of Waikato School of Law as New Zealand's fifth law school in 1990.

Margaret Wilson was its first Professor of law and founding Dean until 1999 when she became a Member of Parliament.

Margaret Wilson was the first female Dean of a law school in New Zealand.

In 1993, Margaret Wilson was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal.

Margaret Wilson agreed and stood for election in the Tauranga electorate, displacing Labour's expected candidate, union organiser and former Tauranga Labour electorate committee chairman Terry Hughes.

Margaret Wilson placed third behind New Zealand First leader Winston Peters and National candidate Katherine O'Regan in a close race.

Margaret Wilson sought a judicial recount as since New Zealand First won less than five percent of the party vote they would have no seats in parliament in at all if Peters lost the electorate.

Across her portfolios, Margaret Wilson had a strong focus on women's equality.

Margaret Wilson established the position of Equal Employment Opportunities commissioner at the Human Rights Commission and progressed reform to matrimonial property law.

Margaret Wilson oversaw the replacement of the Employment Contracts Act 1991 with the Employment Relations Act 2000 and, as Attorney-General, revived and completed previous governments' attempts to cease using the Privy Council as the New Zealand's court of last resort and establish an independent Supreme Court of New Zealand.

Margaret Wilson remained a list MP after the 2002 election and, over the term, gained a more varied set of portfolios.

Margaret Wilson initially continued as Attorney-General, Minister of Labour, Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations and Associate Minister of Justice.

Margaret Wilson was Minister for Courts until May 2003, until that role was reassigned to Rick Barker with Wilson as the associate minister.

In February 2004, Margaret Wilson became Minister of Commerce and in November 2004, Margaret Wilson became the first Minister for Building Issues.

On 21 June 2005, Margaret Wilson ejected the Prime Minister Helen Clark from Parliament's Chamber for interjecting while National's Nick Smith was speaking.

Margaret Wilson oversaw the launch of Parliament TV in July 2007.

Margaret 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.

Margaret Wilson finished her role by closing the 48th Parliament.

Margaret Wilson strongly promotes various social causes such as feminism and multiculturalism, and opponents often painted her as Labour's most "politically correct" minister.

Margaret Wilson 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.

However, Margaret Wilson acknowledged that the Labour Relations Act 1987 was a "an awkward compromise" between neoliberal economic values, and the rights of organised labour.

Margaret Wilson published her memoir Activism, Feminism, Politics and Parliament in 2021.