The Inspirational Women From New Zealand

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New Zealand has always been a pioneer when it comes to gender equality. It was a world leader in women’s suffrage and was the first country in Oceania to legalise same sex marriage. Kiwi women have been at the forefront of many remarkable feats. Here are inspirational figures of the past and present who have made a difference. Let’s exploce The Inspirational Women From New Zealand below.

The Inspirational Women From New Zealand

Kristine Bartlett

Kristine was named 2018 New Zealander of the Year for her groundbreaking legal battle that won a pay equity claim for care and support workers. She also received NEXT magazine’s 2017 Woman of the Year Award. Having worked at a rest home for 24 years for only $14.46 an hour, Kristine made history when she campaigned for, and won, equal pay for 55,000 low paid workers.
Backed by her union, E tu, Kristine’s five-year fight for equal pay took her all the way to the Supreme Court, and was hailed by the Human Rights Commission as a “historic step forward for gender equality”. It led to the government establishing a working group to develop principles for dealing with pay equity claims.

The Inspirational Women From New Zealand

Helen Clark

Helen Clark held the reigns as Prime Minister of New Zealand for nine years (1999-2008) and went on to make her mark in world politics, working for the UN (United Nations). Her accolades include: being awarded the annual Peace Prize of the Danish Peace Foundation for promoting nuclear disarmament in 1986; she also maintained New Zealand’s nuclear free zone status. In 2005 Clark won an award for restoring law and order in the Soloman Islands. In 2009 she was voted Greatest Living New Zealander in a poll run by the New Zealand Herald and in 2016, Clark stood as secretary general of the UN.
While she wasn’t successful she hopes the world is ready to vote a woman in as the UN’s next secretarygeneral she’ll be putting the full weight of her support behind her. It’s really no wonder she was ranked 22 on The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list published in Forbe’s magazine.

The Inspirational Women From New Zealand

Jacinda Ardern (26 Jul 1980 )

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is currently the world’s youngest female leader. Her swift rise to power quickly caught the attention of international media especially after she publicly defended the right of New Zealand women to keep their child bearing plans to themselves. In 2018 she also made history by becoming the first female prime minister to be welcomed into Waitangi grounds and the first PM to march in Auckland’s gay pride parade.
Ardern became a Labour list Member of Parliament in 2008, holding onto that title for almost a decade before she was voted into Auckland’s Mount Albert electorate in February 2017. That same year she was unanimously elected as the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party before being offered the top leadership position.

Jean Batten (15 Sep 1909 to 22 Nov 1982)

New Zealand aviatrix Jean Batten is globally renowned for her record breaking long distance flights. She first captured international media attention in 1934 after she successfully completed a solo return journey from Australia to England.
By November 1935, she had become the first woman to fly herself across the South Atlantic; in October 1936 she took things up a notch by making the first ever direct flight from England to New Zealand. Batten’s final long distance flight, again from Australia to England, took place in 1937. She kept a relatively low profile until her tragic death (she suffered from a pulmonary abscess) in 1982. This is once of The Inspirational Women From New Zealand.

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Dame Miriam Dell (14 Jun 1924 )

Dame Miriam Dell has dedicated most of her life to women’s advocacy in New Zealand and abroad. She was the founding member of the Hutt Valley branch of the National Council of Women (NCW), which led her to being elected as the National President of the NCW from 1970 to 1974. From 1979 until 1986 Dell was the president of the International Council of Women, becoming the first New Zealander to be elected into the role.
She was also the New Zealand Government delegate to all UN Conferences on gender equity held in the 1970s, organised the International Council of Women 1988 Centennial Celebrations in Washington, D.C. and was in charge of the International Council of Women’s Third World Development Programme until 1991. In 1993 her ongoing efforts to support and foster women’s rights earned her a membership in the Order of New Zealand, the country’s highest civil honour.

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