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Wieke Paulusma

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Wieke Paulusma
Member of the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office
15 April 2021
Member of the Groningen municipal council
In office
27 March 2014[1] – 28 April 2021[2]
Succeeded bySander Claassen
Personal details
Born (1978-12-05) 5 December 1978 (age 45)
Emmen, Netherlands
Political partyDemocrats 66 (D66)
Children2
Alma mater
Occupation
  • Politician
  • nurse
  • health care manager

Wieke Paulusma (born 5 December 1978) is a Dutch health professional and politician for the social liberal party Democrats 66 (D66), who has been serving as a member of the House of Representatives since the 2021 general election. She started her career as a nurse and also worked as a health care manager. Besides, Paulusma served on the Groningen municipal council between 2014 and 2021.

Early life and career

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Paulusma was born in 1978 in Emmen, a city in the province of Drenthe, and grew up in the nearby village of Odoorn.[3][4] Her parents were teachers, and they raised her in the West Frisian language. Paulusma has two younger brothers, and the family attended a Reformed Protestant church.[5][6] She attended the secondary school Hondrus College in Emmen at vwo level and subsequently studied at the School of Nursing, part of the Groningen Hanze University of Applied Sciences.[7] Paulusma was also trained in nursing at the HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht.[3]

She started her career as a district nurse for Thuiszorg Groningen, working there between 2003 and 2007.[3][8] Paulusma then served as a partner at MAD Multimedia and a senior account manager at Storm Marketing Consultants. She returned to health care in 2011, working as manager at Thuiszorg Icare, and became a manager at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) in 2013. She worked as a manager and project leader at Treant Zorggroep in 2017 before becoming a district nurse again the following year at TSN Thuiszorg.[3] Between 2019 and her election to the House in 2021, she was a program manager at Ommelander Hospital and the UMCG.[3][9]

Besides her job, Paulusma has also been serving as the chair of the board of directors of the International Film Festival Assen (IFA) since 2019 and as the secretary of the three-person board of directors of Stichting Lutje Geluk, which makes it possible for financially strained families to go on trips, since its formation in 2018.[4][10][11]

Politics

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Local (2014–2021)

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She was inspired to go into politics by Els Borst, D66 leader and Ministers of Health, Welfare, and Sport, and joined D66 in 2012.[12][13] Paulusma was elected to the Groningen municipal council in the 2014 municipal elections as D66's eighth candidate.[14] She had decided to run for office because municipalities had been given more health care responsibilities, and she therefore deemed it necessary for people with experience in that field to be in the municipal council.[5] Paulusma was one of the organizers of a G1000 conference, which was held in Groningen in June 2015. The conference about the city's future was attended by over 500 citizens, who had been chosen through a lottery, and it followed the concept of other G1000 conferences that had been held in Belgium and the Netherlands.[15][16] Paulusma was also one of the initiators of a cooperative district council with members chosen through a lottery in her own district, the Oosterparkwijk.[17] She had been inspired by a similar council in the London Borough of Lambeth.[18] In the municipal council, she proposed making it possible for citizens to retrieve the municipality's file of them online.[19] She also advocated banning smoking in places such as playgrounds and schools.[20]

Paulusma was re-elected in November 2018 as D66's second candidate.[21] Her new specialties in the council included health care, welfare, local democracy, safety, and diversity.[22] She also helped organize the campaign Raad zoekt Vrouw (Council is looking for women) to get more women elected to the Groningen council, for which she received the 2017 inspiration award from D66's Els Borst Netwerk.[12][23] Paulusma also won the European Innovation in Politics Award for Democracy in 2019 for her work on the cooperative district council.[24] She left the municipal council in April 2021 after her election to the House of Representatives.[2]

While a councilor, Paulusma served as chair of D66's national thematic department Care and Welfare, as a board member of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG; 2016–2021), and as a board member of the Els Borst Netwerk, which promotes gender equality within D66.[25][26][27][28]

House of Representatives

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She ran for member of parliament in the 2021 general election, being placed fifteenth on D66's party list. Paulusma was elected and received 14,933 preference votes.[29] She tested positive for the coronavirus on 30 March, causing her to miss the swearing in of the new House of Representatives the following day. Paulusma was eventually installed on 15 April.[30] Paulusma became her party's spokesperson for curative care, mental health care, assisted living for people with psychological and psychosocial issues, caregivers, medicine, and war victims, and she is a member of the Committees for Health, Welfare and Sport and for Kingdom Relations (vice chair and later chair).[3][31]

In the House, she drew attention to long COVID, a condition from which she was suffering as a result of her coronavirus infection, and offered an action plan to Minister for Medical Care Tamara van Ark.[30] Following the swearing in of the fourth Rutte cabinet in January 2022, her specialties changed to the coronavirus, curative care, and medicine.[31] She defended her party's position to keep open the option of instating a 2G policy, under which only vaccinated or recovered people are allowed to enter certain places, to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.[32] Paulusma complained about the hatred, sexism, and accusations she was experiencing since taking on the COVID-19 portfolio, and months later a man was sentenced to one month in prison after making threats against her as well as an acting mayor and two police officers.[33][34] When the health minister was considering closing two of the four locations in the Netherlands for pediatric heart surgery for the sake of centralization, Paulusma filed a motion in February 2022 to force the investigation to take regional spread into account. It was supported by a majority of the House.[35] Another motion of Paulusma was carried to send free self-tests to women to detect the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can lead to cervical cancer. This was in response to decreasing turn-out during screenings for the virus. The self-tests had earlier only been available upon request.[36]

Following her November 2023 re-election, Paulusma's portfolio changed to healthcare, sport, child services, and poverty.[37] She led D66's campaign during the May 2024 European Parliament election.[38] A motion by Paulusma was passed in September 2024 calling on the government to donate 13,200 of its 100,000 mpox vaccines to African countries in response to the an epidemic. Minister Fleur Agema had ignored her ministry's advice to that effect, but she announced that she would comply following the motion.[39][40] Together with Judith Tielen (VVD), she presented a bill which would compel day care centers to refuse admission to children not participating in the National Immunisation Programme [nl] if the national vaccination rate is below 92%.[41]

Personal life

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Paulusma lives in the city of Groningen.[3] She has a husband, and they have a son and a daughter.[5][42] She has described herself as a non-believer.[6]

Electoral history

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Electoral history of Wieke Paulusma
Year Body Party Pos. Votes Result Ref.
Party seats Individual
2021 House of Representatives Democrats 66 15 14,933 24 Won [43]
2023 House of Representatives Democrats 66 7 12,771 9 Won [44]

References

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  1. ^ "Vergadering" [Meeting]. Gemeente Groningen (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Vergadering" [Meeting]. Gemeente Groningen (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Wieke Paulusma". Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal. 15 April 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Organisatie" [Organization]. IFA (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Van Oosterhout, Ecco; Holsappel, Wouter (10 February 2021). "Wieke Paulusma (D66): 'Mijn dochter voert anti-campagne'" [Wieke Paulusma (D66): 'My daughter is running a negative campaign against me']. OOG (Podcast). Grote Markt 1 (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  6. ^ a b Paulusma, Wieke (13 August 2024). "D66-Kamerlid Wieke Paulusma gelooft in vrijheid. 'Zonder beperkende overtuigingen kun je jezelf zijn'" [D66 MP Wieke Paulusma believes in liberty. 'Without limiting convictions you can be yourself']. Nederlands Dagblad (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Niels van den Bovenkamp. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Biografie, onderwijs en loopbaan van Wieke Paulusma" [Biography, education, and career of Wieke Paulusma]. Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Alert houden om wegzakken te voorkomen" [Keeping alert to prevent sinking]. Dagblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). 17 November 2005.
  9. ^ Van der Veen, Erik (11 November 2020). "Wieke Paulusma uit Groningen wil voor D66 'écht verschil maken' in Tweede Kamer" [Wieke Paulusma from Groningen wants to 'make a real difference' for D66]. Dagblad van het Noorden (in Dutch).
  10. ^ "Over ons" [About us]. Stichting Lutje Geluk (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  11. ^ "Nevenactiviteiten van Wieke Paulusma" [Secondary activities of Wieke Paulusma]. Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Els Borst prijs voor gemeenteraadslid" [Els Borst Award for municipal councilor]. Dagblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). 3 July 2017. p. 14.
  13. ^ Paulusma, Wieke (12 May 2021). "Wieke Paulusma was jarenlang wijkverpleegkundige" [Wieke Paulusma worked for years as a district nurse]. D66 (Interview) (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  14. ^ "Definitieve lijst D66 Groningen voor GR2014 bekend" [Definitive list Groningen D66 for 2014 municipal elections announced]. D66 Groningen (Press release) (in Dutch). 29 October 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  15. ^ Brandsma, Richold (8 June 2015). "G1000 en 'cadeautjes die de moeite waard zijn'". Dagblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). p. 14.
  16. ^ Van den Berg, Jurre (8 June 2015). "'Niemand gelooft nog in democratie'" ['Nobody believes in democracy anymore']. de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  17. ^ Van den Krommenacker, Lieke (11 July 2017). "De Oosterparkwijk weet raad" [The Oosterparkwijk has a council]. Dagblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  18. ^ Paulusma, Wieke. "Wieke Paulusma". Nederlandse Vereniging voor Raadsleden (Interview) (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  19. ^ "Wat weet gemeente Groningen eigenlijk van mij? Een muisklik en je ziet het" [What does the municipality of Groningen actually know about me? One mouse click, and you will see.]. Dagblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). 21 June 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  20. ^ Kolthof, Patriecia. "Eerste straat met rookverbod ligt in Groningen" [The first street with a smoking ban is located in Groningen]. Dagblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  21. ^ Von Hebel, Frank (18 June 2018). "Fractievoorzitter D66 Stad keert na verkiezingen niet terug in de raad" [Caucus leader of city will not return to the council after the election]. Dagblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  22. ^ "Wieke Paulusma". D66 Groningen (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  23. ^ Fabrizi, Giulia (30 June 2017). "Groningse vrouwen vinden stadhuis" [Groningen women find city hall]. Dagblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  24. ^ "Politieke hervormer Paulusma wint prijs" [Political reformer Paulusma wins award]. Trouw (in Dutch). 6 December 2019. p. 2.
  25. ^ "Kandidatenboek Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2021" [Candidate book House of Representatives 2021] (PDF). D66 (in Dutch). November 2020. p. 182. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  26. ^ "Raadslid Wieke Paulusma in VNG-bestuur" [Councilor Wieke Paulusma on VNG board] (in Dutch). 23 November 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  27. ^ Geluk, L.K. (14 July 2021). "Benoeming tijdelijke adviseurs in VNG bestuur en commissies en overdracht taken commissievoorzitter Ruimte, Wonen & Mobiliteit" [Appointment temporary advisors on VNG board and committees and transfer responsibilities chair of Committee for Spatial Planning, Housing, and Mobility] (PDF) (in Dutch). Letter to members. VNG. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  28. ^ Kammer, Claudia; Van de Wiel, Clara (10 May 2019). "Zo beweeg je vrouwen de politiek in te gaan" [This is how you get women into politics]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  29. ^ "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 17 maart 2021 Proces-verbaal" [Results general election 17 March 2021 Report] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 29 March 2021. p. 62 and 188. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  30. ^ a b "Kamerlid wil erkenning voor long covid: 'Ik wil graag weer mezelf zijn'" [House member wants recognition for long COVID: 'I would like to be myself again']. AD (in Dutch). 30 June 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  31. ^ a b "Wieke Paulusma". D66 (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  32. ^ Klaassen, Niels (2 February 2022). "2G op de lange baan, kritiek op 3G groeit" [2G postponed, criticism of 3G grows]. AD/Rotterdams Dagblad (in Dutch). p. 7.
  33. ^ "D66'er hekelt 'afschuwelijke drek' nu ze woord voert over corona" [D66 member denounces 'horrible rubbish' now that she is her party's spokesperson for corona]. Dagblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). 26 January 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  34. ^ Van Sluis, Bas (24 March 2022). "Bedreigd D66-Kamerlid voelt zich 'onveilig in eigen huis'" [Threatened D66 House member is feeling 'unsafe in own home']. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch).
  35. ^ Altena, Stef (25 February 2022). "Zijden draad iets steviger voor kinderhartcentrum" [Silk thread of pediatric heart center a little stronger]. Dagblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). p. 18.
  36. ^ "Kamer steunt beschikbaar maken van zelftests voor baarmoederhalskanker" [House supports providing self-tests for cervical cancer]. NU.nl (in Dutch). 20 October 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  37. ^ "Verdeling van portefeuilles Tweede Kamerfractie" [Portfolio allocation House of Representatives group]. Democrats 66 (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  38. ^ Derix, Steven (6 June 2024). "Wel of niet naar Brussel? De een is dolblij met 'twee fucking zetels', de andere partij verwerkt de exitpoll gelaten" [Will they go to Brussels? Some are exuberant with 'two fucking seats', others take in the exit poll resigned]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  39. ^ Oving, Sanne (11 September 2024). "Agema is niet tegen het doneren van mpoxvaccins, maar 'wil voorzichtig zijn'" [Agema does not oppose donating mpox vaccines, but 'wants to be prudent']. NU.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  40. ^ Vermeer, Oscar (24 September 2024). "Minister Agema gaat toch mpox-vaccins aan Afrika doneren" [Minister Agema will donate mpox vaccines to Africa after all]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  41. ^ "VVD en D66: inentingsplicht in kinderopvang bij lage vaccinatiegraad" [VVD and D66: Vaccination mandate at day care centers with low vaccination rate]. NOS (in Dutch). 18 October 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  42. ^ Paulusma, Wieke (10 June 2021). Maidenspeech Wieke Paulusma: "Wijkverpleegkundige zijn, is het mooiste wat er is." [Maiden speech Wieke Paulusma: "Being a district nurse is the most beautiful thing there is."] (Speech). D66 (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  43. ^ "Proces-verbaal verkiezingsuitslag Tweede Kamer 2021" [Report of the election results House of Representatives 2021] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 29 March 2021. pp. 62–100, 188. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  44. ^ "Proces-verbaal van de uitslag van de verkiezing van de Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal 2023 d.d. 4 december 2023" [Report of the results of the election of the House of Representatives on 4 December 2023] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 4 December 2023. pp. 19–20. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
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