Megan Woods

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The Honourable

Megan Woods

MP
portrait photo of a woman in her 40s
28th Minister of Housing
Incumbent
Assumed office
27 June 2019
Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern
Preceded byPhil Twyford
17th Minister of Energy and Resources
Incumbent
Assumed office
26 October 2017
Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern
Preceded byJudith Collins
26th Minister for Research, Science and Innovation
Incumbent
Assumed office
26 October 2017
Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern
Preceded byPaul Goldsmith
Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration
In office
26 October 2017 – 6 November 2020
Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern
Preceded byNicky Wagner
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Wigram
Incumbent
Assumed office
26 November 2011
Preceded byJim Anderton
Majority14,770
Personal details
Born (1973-11-04) 4 November 1973 (age 47)
Political partyLabour (since 2007)
Other political
affiliations		Progressive Party (1999–2007)
WebsiteProfile on Labour website
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Canterbury
ThesisIntegrating the nation: Gendering Maori urbanisation and integration, 1942–1969 (2002)
Doctoral advisorKatie Pickles

Megan Cherie Woods (born 4 November 1973) is a New Zealand Labour Party politician who serves as a Cabinet Minister in the Sixth Labour Government and has served as Member of Parliament for Wigram since 2011.

Early life[]

Woods was born and grew up in Wigram, Christchurch.[1] She attended high school at Catholic Cathedral College and has a PhD in history obtained at the University of Canterbury[2] with a thesis titled Integrating the nation: Gendering Maori urbanisation and integration, 1942–1969.[3]

Professional life[]

Woods was a business manager for Crop & Food Research (2005–08) and its successor organisation Plant and Food Research (2008), based at Lincoln.[1]

Political career[]

Woods and Anderton at the Riccarton Market

Woods was a member of the Alliance Party from 1999 until 2002, when she joined the breakaway Progressive Party. She was involved in several of Jim Anderton's re-election campaigns.[4] She contested the Christchurch Central electorate in the 2005 general election and came fourth, receiving 1077 votes (3.2% of the electorate votes).[5] She was placed fourth on the Progressive party list. As the party obtained only 1.2% of the party vote, she did not enter Parliament that year.

She was a member of the Spreydon-Heathcote community board in Christchurch from 2004 to 2007.[1]

Woods joined the Labour Party in 2007.[4] In the same year, she contested the Christchurch mayoralty for the centre-left Christchurch 2021 group, receiving 32,821 votes and coming second against Bob Parker (47,033 votes), but beating Jo Giles (14,454 votes) in the election contested by ten candidates.[6][7] She did not contest the 2008 general election or the 2010 mayoral election.

Woods was selected as the Labour candidate for the 2011 election in the Wigram electorate.[1][4] She succeeded Jim Anderton, who had announced that he would retire either after winning the Christchurch mayoralty (he was unsuccessful) or at the end of the term of the 49th Parliament in November 2011. Woods was a key member of Anderton's campaign committee, along with key Progressive Party members like Jeanette Lawrence and Liz Maunsell, and Labour activists such as campaign manager Tony Milne, Ben Ross and Liana Foster.[8] Until the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, Anderton was leading in the opinion polls, and winning the mayoralty would have caused a by-election in the Wigram electorate.[9] The earthquake resulted in a mood swing in Christchurch, and Anderton lost against Bob Parker.[10] Anderton remained an MP until the end of the term of the 49th Parliament, and Woods won in the 2011 general election in the Wigram electorate.[4]

Member of Parliament[]

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2011–2014 50th Wigram 47 Labour
2014–2017 51st Wigram 20 Labour
2017–2020 52nd Wigram 6 Labour
2020–present 52nd Wigram 5 Labour

In opposition: 2011–2017[]

Woods' candidacy, which began in late 2010, was centred on job creation in her electorate. She stated in her Labour selection speech that "Growing up here in the 1980s, I watched people lose their jobs. I saw workplaces like the Addington Workshops shut their doors forever. Now I am 36 years old and am watching jobs disappear from our communities again."[4] Woods also cited the rising cost of living for everyday people as a major concern.

During the 2011 election, Woods won the seat with 45.11% of the vote and a majority of 1,500 votes.[11] Woods won re-election in the 2014 election with an increased majority.[12]

Woods was previously Labour Party's spokesperson for the Environment and Climate Change and has served prior as the Party's spokesperson for Tertiary Education and associate spokesperson for Science and Innovation.[13][14]

During the 2017 general election, Woods retained Wigram for Labour by a margin of 4,594 votes.[15]

In government: 2017–present[]

Woods was elected as a Cabinet Minister by the Labour Party caucus following Labour's formation of a coalition government with New Zealand First and the Greens.[16] As of 2017, Woods is the Minister of Energy and Resources. On 12 April, Woods announced that the Government would halt future gas and oil exploration but clarified that the existing 22 contracts would be allowed to continue.[17]

On 27 June 2019, in Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's first major reshuffle of the coalition government, Woods was appointed Minister of Housing, replacing Phil Twyford.[18]

On 19 June 2020, Woods was given joint responsibility with Air Commodore for overseeing isolation and quarantine facilities for travellers entering New Zealand, as part of the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[19][20]

During the 2020 general election, Woods retained her seat of Wigram by a final margin of 14,770 votes.[21] In early November 2020, she retained her ministerial portfolios of Housing, Energy and Resources, and Research, Science and Innovation, while picking up the position of Associate Minister of Finance.[22]

In late February 2021, Woods defended the Government's Progressive Home Ownership Scheme, which had cost NZ$17 million but only resettled 12 families in the last seven months. In response, National's housing spokesperson Nicola Willis described the program as a failure and contended that Woods was out of touch.[23]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Conway, Glenn (20 September 2010). "Anderton follower chosen for Wigram". The Press. Archived from the original on 21 September 2010. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
  2. ^ "Dr Megan Woods". Plant & Food Research. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  3. ^ Woods, Megan (2002). Integrating the nation: Gendering Maori urbanisation and integration, 1942–1969 (Thesis). University of Canterbury. Archived from the original on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Megan Woods to stand for Labour in Wigram". Newshub. 19 September 2010. Archived from the original on 20 June 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  5. ^ "Official Count Results – Christchurch Central". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  6. ^ Edward Gay and James Ihaka (13 October 2007). "New faces aplenty in local government shake-ups". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  7. ^ "Christchurch City Mayor". Local Elections 2010. Archived from the original on 27 August 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  8. ^ The People's Mayor Announces. 18 July 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  9. ^ Booker, Jarrod (12 September 2010). "Anderton presses on with mayoral bid". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 28 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  10. ^ "Parker re-elected in Christchurch". The Dominion Post. 9 October 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  11. ^ "Official Count Results – Wigram". Electoral Commission. 10 December 2011. Archived from the original on 19 January 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  12. ^ "Official Count Results – Wigram". Electoral Commission. 20 September 2014. Archived from the original on 21 January 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  13. ^ "About Megan". Megan Wood's website. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017.
  14. ^ "Megan Woods". New Zealand Labour Party. Archived from the original on 26 November 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  15. ^ "Wigram - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  16. ^ "Who's in? Who's out?". Radio New Zealand. 20 October 2017. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  17. ^ "Oil, gas exploration move a 'kick in the guts' for Taranaki – mayor". Radio New Zealand. 11 April 2018. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  18. ^ Cooke, Henry (27 June 2019). "PM takes housing off Phil Twyford in first major reshuffle". Stuff. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  19. ^ Cooke, Henry (19 June 2020). "Housing Minister Megan Woods taking on responsibility for border management". Stuff. Archived from the original on 20 June 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  20. ^ "Housing Minister Megan Woods to oversee managed isolation and quarantine facilities". Radio New Zealand. 19 June 2020. Archived from the original on 20 June 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  21. ^ "Wigram - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  22. ^ "Ministerial List for Announcement on Monday" (PDF). Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 2 November 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  23. ^ "Progressive Home Ownership Scheme houses just 12 families in seven months". Radio New Zealand. 24 February 2021. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by
Jim Anderton 		Member of Parliament for Wigram
2011–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Nicky Wagner 		Minister for Greater Canterbury Regeneration
2017–2020 		Ministerial post abolished
Preceded by
Judith Collins 		Minister of Energy and Resources
2017–present 		Incumbent
Preceded by
Paul Goldsmith 		Minister for Research, Science and Innovation
2017–present
Preceded by
Phil Twyford 		Minister of Housing
2019–present
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