Dame Annette King | |
|---|---|
 King in 2019 | |
| 19thHigh Commissioner of New Zealand to Australia | |
| In office 7 December 2018 – 22 December 2023 | |
| Monarchs | Elizabeth II Charles III |
| Prime Minister | Jacinda Ardern Chris Hipkins Christopher Luxon |
| Preceded by | Chris Seed |
| Succeeded by | Eamonn O'Shaughnessy (acting) |
| 14thDeputy Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party | |
| In office 24 November 2014 – 1 March 2017 | |
| Leader | Andrew Little |
| Preceded by | David Parker |
| Succeeded by | Jacinda Ardern |
| In office 11 November 2008 – 13 December 2011 | |
| Leader | Phil Goff |
| Preceded by | Michael Cullen |
| Succeeded by | Grant Robertson |
| 45thMinister of Justice | |
| In office 31 October 2007 – 19 November 2008 | |
| Prime Minister | Helen Clark |
| Preceded by | Mark Burton |
| Succeeded by | Simon Power |
| 23rdMinister of Transport | |
| In office 3 May 2006 – 19 November 2008 | |
| Prime Minister | Helen Clark |
| Preceded by | David Parker |
| Succeeded by | Steven Joyce |
| 34thMinister of Police | |
| In office 19 October 2005 – 19 November 2008 | |
| Prime Minister | Helen Clark |
| Preceded by | George Hawkins |
| Succeeded by | Judith Collins |
| 35thMinister of Health | |
| In office 10 December 1999 – 19 October 2005 | |
| Prime Minister | Helen Clark |
| Preceded by | Wyatt Creech |
| Succeeded by | Pete Hodgson |
| 44thMinister of Immigration | |
| In office 9 February 1990 – 2 November 1990 | |
| Prime Minister | Geoffrey Palmer Mike Moore |
| Preceded by | Roger Douglas |
| Succeeded by | Bill Birch |
| 10thMinister of Employment | |
| In office 14 August 1989 – 2 November 1990 | |
| Prime Minister | Geoffrey Palmer Mike Moore |
| Preceded by | Phil Goff |
| Succeeded by | Maurice McTigue |
| Member of theNew Zealand Parliament forRongotai Miramar (1993–1996) | |
| In office 6 November 1993 – 23 September 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Graeme Reeves |
| Succeeded by | Paul Eagle |
| Member of theNew Zealand Parliament forHorowhenua | |
| In office 14 July 1984 – 27 October 1990 | |
| Preceded by | Geoffrey Thompson |
| Succeeded by | Hamish Hancock |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Annette Faye Robinson (1947-09-13)13 September 1947 (age 78) Murchison, New Zealand |
| Political party | Labour |
| Relations |
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| Occupation |
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Dame Annette Faye King[1]DNZM (néeRobinson, born 13 September 1947) is a New Zealand former politician and diplomat. She served asDeputy Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and DeputyLeader of the Opposition from 2008 to 2011, and from 2014 until 1 March 2017. She was aCabinet Minister in theFourth andFifth Labour Governments, and was the MP for theRongotai electorate inWellington from 1996 to 2017.
The daughter of Frank Pace Robinson and Olive Annie Robinson (née Russ),[2] King was born inMurchison on 13 September 1947.[3] After receiving primary education in Murchison, she attended Murchison District High School from 1960 to 1963, and thenWaimea College in 1964.[2][4] Between 1965 and 1967, she completed a diploma in school dental nursing, and worked as a dental nurse from 1967 to 1981.[2][3] In 1981, she gained aBachelor of Arts degree from theUniversity of Waikato, and obtained a postgraduate diploma in dental nursing the same year.[2][3] She was a tutor of dental nursing inWellington from 1982 to 1984.[3] She is partly of Sri Lankan descent.[5]
| Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984–1987 | 41st | Horowhenua | Labour | ||
| 1987–1990 | 42nd | Horowhenua | Labour | ||
| 1993–1996 | 44th | Miramar | Labour | ||
| 1996–1999 | 45th | Rongotai | 6 | Labour | |
| 1999–2002 | 46th | Rongotai | 4 | Labour | |
| 2002–2005 | 47th | Rongotai | 7 | Labour | |
| 2005–2008 | 48th | Rongotai | 7 | Labour | |
| 2008–2011 | 49th | Rongotai | 4 | Labour | |
| 2011–2014 | 50th | Rongotai | 2 | Labour | |
| 2014–2017 | 51st | Rongotai | 4 | Labour | |
King joined theLabour Party in 1972,[4] and has held various offices within the party, including a term on the party's executive (1991–1992).[3] In 1983 King unsuccessfully sought the Labour Party nomination for the seat ofTasman following the retirement of Labour leaderBill Rowling, but lost toKen Shirley.[6]
In the1984 election, she stood as the party's candidate forHorowhenua, and was successful. She was re-elected in the1987 election.[7] King was considered one of the most effective backbenchers in theFourth Labour Government.[8]
Following the 1987 election, she was appointed parliamentary under-secretary to the Minister of Employment and of Social Welfare. In August 1989 she put herself forward to fill one of two vacant seats in cabinet, winning a caucus ballot against ex-ministerRichard Prebble.[9] King was appointedMinister of Employment,Minister of Immigration, andMinister of Youth Affairs. She was also given special responsibility for liaising between Cabinet and the partycaucus.[7]
In the1990 election, King lost theHorowhenua electorate againstHamish Hancock, a lawyer who stood for the National Party.[4][10] She served as chief executive officer of thePalmerston North Enterprise Board from 1991 until the1993 election,[3] when she was returned to Parliament as the MP forMiramar.[7] In the1996 election, when the shift tomixed-member proportional (MMP) representation prompted a reorganisation of electorates, King successfully contested the new seat ofRongotai. In that 1996 election, she was ranked in sixth place on the Labour Party's list.[11]
After re-entering parliament new leaderHelen Clark appointed her as spokesperson for Immigration and Business & Industry in December 1993.[12] Less than a year later, in October 1994, afterPeter Dunne split from Labour, Clark gave King Dunne's commerce and customs portfolios as well.[13] In June 1995, afterClive Matthewson left Labour, King was given Matthewson's position of Shadow Minister of Social Welfare.[14] In August 1997 King was promoted again, replacingLianne Dalziel as Shadow Minister of Health while relinquishing the Social Welfare portfolio.[15]
When Labour won the1999 election, andHelen Clark became Prime Minister, King was appointedMinister of Health.[7] She was ranked sixth within Cabinet. After Labour winning a third term in government at the2005 election, King took on the roles ofMinister of Transport andMinister of Police. Following another reshuffle in late 2007, King became the newMinister of Justice.[7] Before the2008 general election she was elevated to number four on the party list.[16]
Labour was defeated in the 2008 election by theNational Party led by relative newcomerJohn Key. King retained her seat with a majority of about 7,800 votes.[17] King was elected as theDeputy Leader of the Labour Party in a special caucus meeting on 11 November 2008, replacingMichael Cullen.[7]Phil Goff, another senior Labour Party member, became the Leader of the Labour Party, replacing former Prime MinisterHelen Clark.[18] King stood again forRongotai in the 2011 general election. She was ranked second on theLabour Party list.[19] Following the defeat of the Labour Party in the 2011 election, Annette King announced she would step down as Deputy Leader of the Labour party, and Deputy Leader of the Opposition effective 13 December 2011.[7] She was succeeded as Deputy Leader byGrant Robertson in the2011 Labour Party leadership election.[20]
In the2014 election, King increased her majority in the Rongotai electorate, but National won the party vote for the first time since the initial MMP election in 1996.[21] Labour's heavy defeat at the 2014 election caused the resignation ofDavid Cunliffe as the party's leader and the nextleadership election, with King in an interim capacity as deputy leader.[22]
Following the election ofAndrew Little as the new leader, King remained as deputy in a permanent capacity. Although Little guaranteed that she would be deputy for at least a year, he did not indicate whether he wanted her to be a future Deputy Prime Minister.[23]
On 1 March 2017 King announced her intention to retire from politics at the2017 election, despite initially indicating she would only contest the election on the party list. She also stepped down from the deputy leader role.[24]
On 14 November 2018, King was appointed asHigh Commissioner to Australia byForeign Affairs MinisterWinston Peters.[25]
King received both theNew Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal, and theNew Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal in 1993.[2]
In 2007, King was awarded a Bravo award by theNew Zealand Skeptics for her work along with "industry group Natural Products New Zealand, their attempt to provide standards and accountability via the Therapeutic Products and Medicines Bill."[26]
In the2018 New Year Honours, King was appointed aDame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services as a member of Parliament.[27]
King is married with one daughter, and has three step-sons.[3] She is a cousin of formerNational ministerChris Finlayson; King was a second cousin to Finlayson’s mother through her Russ side (the Russes were a large Nelson family also related toChester Borrows.[28] She received verbal abuse in Parliament from Finlayson in September 2013.[29] Finlayson also opposed her in the Rongotai electorate at the 2008, 2011 and 2014 general elections.
In 2019 an authorized biography of King was published, co-written by John Harvey and Brent Edwards.[30]
| New Zealand Parliament | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Horowhenua 1984–1990 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Miramar 1993–1996 | Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament for Rongotai 1996–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of Employment 1989–1990 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Health 1999–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Police 2005–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Justice 2007–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Deputy Leader of the Opposition 2008–2011 2014–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Succeeded by | |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party 2008–2011 2014–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Succeeded by | |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | High Commissioner to Australia 2018–present | Incumbent |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
