Louise Upston

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The Honurable
Louise Upston
MP
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Taupō
Assumed office
8 November 2008
Preceded by Mark Burton
Majority 14,115 (63.65%)
Minister for Land Information
Assumed office
8 October 2014
Preceded by Michael Woodhouse
Senior Government Whip
In office
29 January 2013 – 7 October 2014
Preceded by Chris Tremain
Succeeded by Tim Macindoe
Personal details
Born (1971-03-14) 14 March 1971 (age 53)[1]
Nationality New Zealand
Political party National
Children three
Website www.louiseupston.co.nz

Louise Claire Upston MP (née McGill, born 14 March 1971) is a New Zealand politician of the National Party. She has represented the Taupō electorate in the House of Representatives since the 2008 election. In New Zealand's Fifth National Government, led by Prime Minister John Key, she has been Minister for Women's Affairs and Minister for Land Information since 8 October 2014.

Early life

Louise McGill was born in North Shore and grew up in East Coast Bays.[2] Her parents are Ian and the late Norma McGill. The youngest of four children, she has two sisters and one brother.[2] She attended Rangitoto College, from which she graduated in 1988, and where she was friends with Amy Adams.[3] Since before the age of ten, she had wanted to become a member of parliament.[4]

McGill dropped out of law school and instead founded a management consultancy firm, McGill Manning, when she was 19. Her clients included Air New Zealand, Russell McVeagh, and Datacom Group. She then studied at the Waikato Management School and graduated with a Master of Business Administration.[5]

McGill married Craig Upston, and they have three children.[2] The Upston family lives in Karapiro.[6]

Member of Parliament

Upston was elected to Parliament at the 2008 general election for the Taupō electorate,[7] where she unseated Mark Burton, a Labour cabinet minister who had represented the area for 15 years.[8] She received attention in the media for comments made in her maiden statement to the House of Representatives, such as her slogan approach to crime: "The police are good. The criminals are bad. It's that simple."[9]

Parliament of New Zealand
Years Term Electorate List Party
2008–2011 49th Taupō 53 National
2011–2014 50th Taupō 44 National
2014–present 51st Taupō 27 National

In the 2011 election, she more than doubled her majority to 14,115 votes.[10][11] This made Taupō one of the safest seats in the country.[12] Her majority increased to 15,046 votes in the 2014 election.[13]

Upston was appointed to Junior Whip for the National Government after the 2011 election.[14] Following the February 2013 reshuffle by John Key, Upston was elected Chief Whip and joined by Tim Macindoe and Jami-Lee Ross who act as Junior and Third Whip in Parliament.[7]

Upston is conservative on conscience issues: she voted against the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill in 2013, and voted to raise the purchase age of alcohol to 20.[15]

In December 2014, Upston stated she is not a feminist.[16]

In April 2015, Upston refused to comment on women's rights in the work place after it was revealed John Key was forced to apologise to a Parnell cafe worker for repeatedly pulling her hair. Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei accused Upston of abdicating her responsibilities as Minister of Women.[17]

As at 14 December 2015, she is a minister outside cabinet with responsibility for the Ministry of Land Information and the Ministry for Women.[18]

References

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  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links

New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Taupō
2008–present		 Incumbent
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