Judith Collins
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Parl. | Electorate | List Pos. | Party |
|---|---|---|---|
| 47th | Clevedon | 48 | National |
| 48th | Clevedon | 7 | National |
Judith Anne Collins (24 February 1959 - ) is a New Zealand politician. She is a member of the National Party.
Collins was born in Hamilton. In 1977 & 1978 she studied at the University of Canterbury. In 1979 she switched to the University of Auckland, and obtained first an LLB and then a LLM.
After leaving university, she worked as a lawyer, specializing in employment, property, commercial, and tax law. She was active in legal associations, and was President of the Auckland District Law Society and Vice-President of the New Zealand Law Society. She also served as chairperson of the Casino Control Authority.
[edit] Political career
Collins was elected to Parliament in the 2002 elections as MP for Clevedon. Clevedon, although technically a new electorate, was largely based on the old Hunua seat, held by National's Warren Kyd. Collins' challenge to Kyd's candidacy in Clevedon was controversial, as sitting MPs were rarely opposed for re-selection. In Parliament, Collins became National's Associate Spokesperson on Health and Spokesperson on Internal Affairs. In 2003, these responsibilities were changed for those of Associate Spokesperson on Justice and Spokesperson on Tourism. She was generally regarded as having performed well, and she now serves as Spokesperson on Social Welfare, Spokesperson on Family, and Spokesperson on Pacific Island Affairs. She is ranked seventh in the current National Party caucus.
Ms Collins' Clevedon seat disappears under boundary changes for the 2008 general election. She originally announced her intention to seek the National Party nomination for Howick, which comprises the urban part of her former Clevedon seat. However, following objections made to the Electoral Commission over draft changes to the boundaries that saw a major redrawing of the adjacent constituency Pakuranga, the draft Howick was redrawn and renamed Botany. Ms Collins has since indicated she will now seek the nomination for Papakura (which comprises the other half of her former Clevedon seat) and will allow her colleague, National Party MP Pansy Wong to seek nomination for Botany.
