31 Facts About Tracey Martin

Tracey Anne Martin was born on 1 July 1964 and is a New Zealand former politician.

Tracey Martin was a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives between 2011 and 2020, representing the New Zealand First Party.

Tracey Martin served as Minister for Children, Minister for Seniors, Minister of Internal Affairs and Associate Minister of Education from 2017 to 2020.

Tracey Martin's mother, Anne Martin was a primary school teacher and political activist with the Social Credit Party and New Zealand First, including as secretary and president of New Zealand First.

Tracey Martin has described her mother as the New Zealander that she most admires as a brave woman who has not been afraid to stand up for her belief and opinions.

Tracey Martin has Maori ancestry through her maternal grandfather, with ties to Ngati Kahungunu.

Tracey Martin married Ben Dugdale, a winemaker, with whom she has three children.

For 15 years, Tracey Martin was a stay-at-home parent and was active in the Warkworth community.

Tracey Martin was involved in parent-based fundraising and volunteer committees for Mahurangi Kindergarten, Warkworth Primary School and Mahurangi College.

Tracey Martin served as the chair of the board of trustees at Mahurangi College for over a decade, before resigning when she became the Associate Minister for Education in 2018.

Tracey Martin has been involved with New Zealand First since the party started in 1993, and became a member of its board of directors in 2008.

Tracey Martin was selected as a candidate for the 2008 general election, running unsuccessfully in Rodney and ranked 13th on the party list.

Tracey Martin said she decided to get involved with politics due to her dissatisfaction with then-local MP, Lockwood Smith.

Tracey Martin successfully stood for the Rodney Local Board during the 2010 Auckland Council elections.

Tracey Martin contested the Rodney electorate for a second time in the 2011 general election, where she was defeated by newcomer Mark Mitchell.

Tracey Martin was critical of the National government's introduction of charter schools and changes to teacher training.

In 2012, Tracey Martin sponsored the Social Security Amendment Bill.

Tracey Martin advocated for the expansion of this allowance so that it can be accessed by kin carers.

Tracey Martin ensured appropriate people were involved in coalition management, including policy adviser and Tracey Martin's sister Kirsty Christison.

Tracey Martin announced that the Government would be conducting a review into the Hawkes Bay attempted uplifting incident.

In early August 2019, Tracey Martin announced that the Government would be scrapping its Children's Teams task forces in response to the uplifting controversy but rejected comparisons with the Australian "Stolen Generations".

Tracey Martin voted in favour of the Government's abortion legislation bill, which passed its first reading on 8 August 2019.

On 14 March 2020, it was reported that Tracey Martin was one of the first New Zealand MPs to be self-isolating and tested for the COVID-19 virus after meeting with Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, during a Five Eyes ministerial meeting in Washington, DC the previous week.

On 9 November 2020, Tracey Martin was granted retention of the title "The Honourable" for life, in recognition of her term as a member of the Executive Council.

Tracey Martin stated that she was now far closer to Labour politically than the majority of the New Zealand First caucus.

Tracey Martin described Labour as having moved "to where [her] belief structure was", rather than a realignment of her own values.

Tracey Martin was appointed to a number of governance roles by the Labour Government, including as the chair of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and a board member for the NZ Transport Agency.

Tracey Martin was chair of the Strong Public Media business case governance group and Public Media Entity establishment board.

In 2023, Tracey Martin finished a two-year term as independent chair of the Wellington Regional Leadership Committee.

Five years later, Tracey Martin said she maintained the view that a referendum should have been required.

Tracey Martin took a pro-choice stance on abortion, supporting efforts to remove it from the Crimes Act 1961.