Sue Moroney
Sue Moroney MP | |
---|---|
Labour Spokesperson for Transport and ACC. Associate Industrial Relations and Safety | |
Assumed office 20 November 2008 | |
Junior Government Whip | |
In office 5 November 2007 – 11 November 2008 | |
Preceded by | Darren Hughes |
Succeeded by | Chris Tremain |
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Labour Party list | |
Assumed office 17 September 2005 | |
Personal details | |
Born | 1964 (age 59–60) |
Nationality | New Zealand |
Political party | Labour |
Website | Labour website |
Suzanne Mary Moroney (born 8 May 1964), generally known as Sue Moroney, is a New Zealand politician. She is a member of the New Zealand Labour Party and was first elected at the 2005 general election. She is based in Hamilton, New Zealand.
Early life
Sue Moroney was raised in the Waikato. Her parents farmed eighty acres of land to provide an income for her family of seven. She grew up in Walton and attended Walton Primary School and also spent time in Matamata.
Her family are keenly involved in horse racing. During her maiden speech Moroney quipped: "our family never had Michael Joseph Savage on our wall, but we did have a very tasteful mural of a horse race over our fireplace."[1]
Moroney previously worked as a trainer of health and safety personnel, and held a number of positions in the union movement.
Politics
Moroney has been endorsed as a candidate by the Labour Party on a number of occasions. In the first MMP election of 1996 she contested the seat of Karapiro and was 31st on the Labour list.[2] In the 2002 elections she again contested Piako but chose not to stand for the list.
In the 2005 elections Moroney again contested Piako and, while unsuccessful in the electorate, was ranked 42nd on the Party List and was elected to Parliament as a list MP.[3]
In the 2008 general election she was the Labour candidate in the seat of Hamilton East and was returned to parliament due to her list placing of 22.
Member of Parliament
Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005–2008 | 48th | List | 42 | Labour | |
2008–2011 | 49th | List | 22 | Labour | |
2011 –2014 | 50th | List | 10 | Labour | |
2014 – present | 51st | List | 10 | Labour |
Sue Moroney was, with Shane Jones, one of two newly elected members of parliament to move and second the Address in Reply to the Governor General's speech from the throne at the opening of the 48th Parliament.[1]
On 31 October 2007 Moroney was announced as the new Junior Government Whip, replacing Darren Hughes who became a Minister outside Cabinet.
Sue Moroney drafted a private members bill that entitled workers to their meal and rest breaks which, along with another private members bill in the name of Labour colleague Steve Chadwick, was the basis for the 'Breaks and Infant Feeding Act' which passed in August 2008.[4]
The Labour Party entered Opposition after the 2008 General Election and Moroney became the Opposition Spokesperson for the portfolios of Women's Affairs and Early Childhood Education.[5]
Moroney is a member of the Transport and Industrial Relations select committee.[6]
Moroney had a private members bill in the ballot to extend Paid Parental Leave to six months from fourteen weeks.[7] It was defeated after the 2015 election by a 60-60 vote with the National Party government and ACT voting against the bill.[8] She also sponsored a petition signed by 15,808[9] others calling on the government to reinstate pay equity reviews for school support staff and social workers, and develop a plan to end the 12% gender pay gap in New Zealand.[10]
Moroney presented the "Waikato Trains Now!" petition signed by 11,500 people to the House of Representatives on 1 April 2010, on behalf of the Campaign for Better Transport group. The petition called for a passenger rail service from Hamilton to Auckland.[11][12]
In early 2011 Labour Leader Phil Goff announced a reshuffle of his caucus. Moroney was moved to a higher rank in the party caucus and gained the responsibility for Aged Care. Women's Affairs was passed on to first term MP Carol Beaumont.
Following the resignation from parliament of Darren Hughes, Moroney was further promoted to the front bench taking on the senior portfolio of Education and passed Aged Care onto Steve Chadwick.
Following the resignation of David Shearer in 2013 and the election of David Cunliffe as party leader, Moroney was elected as Chief Whip.
Only five months after its defeat, Moroney had another private members bill drawn from the ballot to extend Paid Parental Leave to six months from 18 weeks.[13] The bill also allocates 'work contact hours' for parents wanting to keep in contact with their workplace during their leave, to no detriment to their parental leave entitlements. the bill passed its first reading in Parliament on 16 September 2015 by 61 votes to 60, with support coming from New Zealand First, the Greens, the Maori Party and United Future.[14] The bill is currently at committee stage.
In the November 2015 Labour Party caucus reshuffle, Moroney was promoted to the Labour Party shadow cabinet by leader Andrew Little. In her promotion, Moroney picked up the Transport portfolio and associate spokesperson on Industrial Relations and Safety.[15]
Personal life
Her family is prominent in racehorse owning and training. Her brother Paul Moroney who is a prominent horse trainer/owner was involved in the controversy surrounding Owen Glenn contributing to the New Zealand First party, by giving an affidavit supporting Mr Glenn's version of events.
Moroney is married with two sons.
References
- ^ a b Moroney, Sue (15 November 2005). Sue Moroney Maiden Speech (Speech). New Zealand House of Representatives, Wellington. Retrieved 6 December 2009. Cite error: The named reference "Maiden Speech of Sue Moroney" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "Party Lists of successful parties elected in 1996" (PDF). Retrieved 5 December 2009.
- ^ "Official Count Results – Piako". Retrieved 5 December 2009.
- ^ "Employment Relations (Breaks and Infant Feeding Bill) Amendment Bill, Speech by Trevor Mallard – 7 August 2008". Retrieved 5 December 2009.
- ^ "Profile of Sue Moroney MP". Retrieved 4 December 2009.
- ^ "Select Committee Members". Retrieved 4 December 2009.
- ^ "Six months Paid Parental Leave on the Agenda" (Press release). New Zealand Labour Party. 18 June 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
- ^ "Paid parental leave bill defeated". Stuff. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- ^ "Pay Equity Petition Presentation – 2009-10-30". Retrieved 5 December 2009.
- ^ "Pay Equity Petition – 2009-06-01" (PDF). Retrieved 5 December 2009.
- ^ Preston, NIikki (30 March 2010). "Train petition off to capital". Waikato Times. Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
- ^ ""Biggest Ever" Rail Petition To Be Presented" (Press release). Campaign For Better Transport. 27 March 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- ^ "Paid parental leave bill rides again". Stuff. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- ^ "Government to veto paid leave bill". Stuff. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- ^ "Moroney reshuffled up the deck". Stuff. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
External links
- Profile on the Labour Party website
- Sue Moroney on Facebook
- Use dmy dates from November 2011
- 1964 births
- Living people
- New Zealand Labour Party MPs
- New Zealand women in politics
- New Zealand list MPs
- Unsuccessful candidates in the New Zealand general election, 1996
- Unsuccessful candidates in the New Zealand general election, 2002
- Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives