Sue Moroney

Sue Moroney
MP
Labour Spokesperson for "Education" and Early Childhood Education
Incumbent
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
Incumbent
Assumed office
17 September 2005
Personal details
Born 1964 (age 50–51)
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

Parliament of New Zealand
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 Education & Science Select Committee.[6]

Moroney has a private members bill in the ballot to extend Paid Parental Leave to six months from its current fourteen weeks.[7] She also sponsored a petition signed by 15,808[8] 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.[9]

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.[10][11]

Moroney will contest the Hamilton West electorate in the 2011 elections, after Tim Macindoe of the National Party beat the incumbent Martin Gallagher in 2008. Moroney also intends to run as a Labour party list candidate.[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.

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

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Moroney, Sue (15 November 2005). Sue Moroney Maiden Speech (Speech). New Zealand House of Representatives, Wellington. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
  2. ↑ "Party Lists of successful parties elected in 1996" (PDF). Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  3. ↑ "Official Count Results – Piako". Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  4. ↑ "Employment Relations (Breaks and Infant Feeding Bill) Amendment Bill, Speech by Trevor Mallard – 7 August 2008". Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  5. ↑ "Profile of Sue Moroney MP". Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  6. ↑ "Select Committee Members". Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  7. ↑ "Six months Paid Parental Leave on the Agenda" (Press release). New Zealand Labour Party. 18 June 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  8. ↑ "Pay Equity Petition Presentation – 2009-10-30". Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  9. ↑ "Pay Equity Petition – 2009-06-01" (PDF). Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ ""Biggest Ever" Rail Petition To Be Presented" (Press release). Campaign For Better Transport. 27 March 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  12. ↑ "Moroney to Stand". Waikato Times. 12 June 2010. p. 3.

External link

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sue Moroney.
Political offices
Preceded by
Darren Hughes		 Junior Government Whip
2007–2008 		Succeeded by
Chris Tremain