Paula Lee Bennett was born on 9 April 1969 and is a New Zealand former politician who served as the 18th deputy prime minister of New Zealand between December 2016 and October 2017.
37 Facts About Paula Bennett
2.
Paula Bennett served as the deputy leader of the National Party from 2016 to 2020 and as MP for Upper Harbour from 2014 to 2020.
3.
Paula Bennett held the Cabinet portfolios of State Services, Women, Tourism, Police, and Climate Change Issues in the fifth National Government until 2017.
4.
Paula Bennett retired from Parliament at the 2020 general election.
5.
Paula Bennett has Tainui ancestry through her half-Maori paternal grandmother, Ailsa Bennett.
6.
Paula Bennett's father had a flooring business in Auckland, then in 1974 bought the village store at Kinloch, near Taupo.
7.
In 1992 Paula Bennett moved to Auckland, where she worked in a rest home, first as a kitchenhand and then as a nurse aide.
8.
Paula Bennett began studying social work at the Albany campus of Massey University in 1994.
9.
Paula Bennett became the welfare officer of the Massey University at Albany Students' Association, then, in 1996, the president, which she said gave her a taste for politics.
10.
Paula Bennett discontinued the social work component of her course of study, leaving simply social policy, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.
11.
Paula Bennett then worked as a recruitment consultant for several years and assisted McCully in the 2002 general election campaign.
12.
Paula Bennett failed to win Waitakere, but entered Parliament as a list MP.
14.
Paula Bennett was appointed to several cabinet roles in the new National-led government.
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Paula Bennett faced criticism in enacting welfare reform during her first and second terms in government, especially around her previous use of government support programs.
16.
Paula Bennett had her first child at 17 and was at times on a domestic purposes benefit.
17.
Paula Bennett was declared the winner after a judicial recount.
18.
At the 2014 election, Paula Bennett stood for the Upper Harbour seat and won with a majority of 9,692 votes.
19.
Prime Minister John Key suggested prior to the announcement of the new Cabinet that Paula Bennett would leave the social development portfolio and instead be given a financial or economic role.
20.
Paula Bennett was eventually announced as the highest-ranking female Cabinet minister, holding the State Services, Social Housing, and Local Government portfolios.
21.
Paula Bennett was Associate Minister of Finance and Associate Minister of Tourism.
22.
Paula Bennett was succeeded as Prime Minister by Bill English.
23.
Paula Bennett was appointed National's deputy leader and sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister on 12 December 2016.
24.
Paula Bennett held this role, as well as the State Services, Women, Tourism, Police and Climate Change Issues Cabinet portfolios, for the remainder of the term of government.
25.
Paula Bennett continued as National's deputy leader under Simon Bridges after Bill English retired in 2018 and was the party's spokesperson for social investment and social services, women and drug reform.
26.
Paula Bennett has argued that the government's drug reform policy needs to consider health, education, and justice.
27.
In mid-August 2019, Paula Bennett announced her intention not to contest Upper Harbour in 2020 and run as a list-only candidate.
28.
Paula Bennett was named as National's 2020 election campaign manager.
29.
On 19 October 2020, after the general election, Paula Bennett joined Bayleys Real Estate as Director - Strategic Advisory.
30.
When Paula Bennett revealed that solo mothers could take home more than $1000 per week in government support, two women, Natasha Fuller and Jennifer Johnston, came forward to reveal parts of their own benefit allowances, and criticised the Government's policy of abolishing the Training Initiative Allowance.
31.
When challenged by opposition parties and the media on this revelation of private details, Paula Bennett said she believed she had "implied consent" for the release of the information based on the women releasing their own details.
32.
Paula Bennett apologised to Johnston personally for the public reaction to the figures, but not for releasing the women's details, and after talking to Johnston said she would investigate the idea raised by Johnston for a larger loan for solo parents to cover study costs.
33.
When TV3 News reported in April 2010 that Paula Bennett had paid Fuller to settle the privacy dispute, both parties rejected this claim.
34.
In May 2009, Paula Bennett appointed the controversial Christine Rankin as Families Commissioner; her term ended in 2013.
35.
In October 2017, prior to the Christchurch mosque shootings, Paula Bennett rejected 12 of 20 recommendations from a select committee inquiry into the illegal possession of firearms.
36.
In late 2017 Paula Bennett announced she had undergone gastric bypass surgery for weight loss.
37.
For several years Paula Bennett appeared on TV One's Breakfast with friend and Labour MP Darren Hughes.