Agnes Loreta Loheni (born 1971) is a New Zealand politician and a former

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

for the

New Zealand National Party The New Zealand National Party ( mi, Rōpū Nāhinara o Aotearoa), shortened to National () or the Nats, is a centre-right political party in New Zealand. It is one of two major parties that dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongside ...

. She was declared elected on 31 January 2019, following the resignation of

Chris Finlayson Christopher Francis Finlayson (born 1956) is a New Zealand lawyer and former Member of Parliament, representing the National Party. He was elected to Parliament in 2005. In the Fifth National Government, from 2008 to 2017, he was Attorney-Ge ...

Early life and career

Loheni was born in 1972 in Auckland, spending her formative years in Mount Albert. She lived in a state house with as many as 15 family members in just three bedrooms, and was educated at

Marist College, Auckland "To Jesus through Mary" , established = 1928; years ago , principal = Raechelle Taulu , streetaddress= 31 Alberton Avenue,Mount Albert , city = Auckland , country = New Zealand , coordinates = , type = State integrate ...

. Loheni is a

Samoan New Zealander Samoan New Zealanders are Samoan immigrants in New Zealand, their descendants, and New Zealanders of Samoan ethnic descent. They constitute one of New Zealand's most sizeable ethnic minorities. In the 2018 census, 182,721 New Zealanders identifie ...

. She is the eldest daughter of Fepulea'i Pelasio Loheni and Filomena Mata'utia Loheni (Mena Loheni). She also has three sisters named Jackie, Gina and Charlene. Agnes, her mother Mena, and her sisters ran a local Samoan fashion brand called MENA. She is married and has five children. Loheni has a degree in chemical engineering from the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. After graduating she had a two-year OE based in

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and then returned to New Zealand where she focused on running the family business selling contemporary Pasifika fashion.

Political career

In Loheni stood for the National Party in the electorate and was placed 49 on National's party list. She was defeated by the incumbent Labour Member of Parliament

William Sio Aupito Tofae Su'a William Sio (born 1960) is a politician who became a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives on 1 April 2008 for the Labour Party as a list MP. Since the November , he has represented the Māngere electorate. Perso ...

, who won by a margin of 14,597 votes. Loheni was not ranked high enough on National's party list to be allocated a seat in parliament. In February 2018 Loheni and several other "next in line" list candidates attended National's parliamentary

caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

meeting to help ease their transition into parliament should they enter during the course of the parliamentary term. Loheni became a Member of Parliament on 31 January 2019, following the retirement of National MP

, and was sworn in on 12 February. She was appointed as National's associate spokesperson for small business and associate spokesperson for Pacific people by leader

Simon Bridges Simon Joseph Bridges (born 12 October 1976) is a former New Zealand politician and lawyer. He served as Leader of the National Party and Leader of the Opposition between 2018 and 2020, and as the Member of Parliament for Tauranga from the to ...

. In November 2019 she stood for the National nomination in the safer seat of , but lost to former

Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacific ...

CEO

Christopher Luxon Christopher Mark Luxon (born 19 July 1970) is a New Zealand politician and former business executive who is currently serving as leader of the New Zealand National Party and the Leader of the Opposition. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP ...

. In May 2020 she indicated that she was seeking the National nomination for the new seat of , but a month later the party announced Rima Nakhle as its candidate. Loheni was instead selected to contest for a second time. During the

2020 New Zealand general election The 2020 New Zealand general election was held on Saturday 17 October 2020 to determine the composition of the 53rd parliament. Voters elected 120 members to the House of Representatives, 72 from single-member electorates and 48 from closed ...

, Loheni contested Māngere a second time but was defeated by the Labour incumbent William Sio by a final margin of 19,396 votes. Due to National's landslide defeat, Loheni lost her seat in Parliament since she did not rank highly on the party list.

Views

Loheni has taken an

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

stance. She served on the Abortion Legislation Select Committee to consider the

Abortion Legislation Act 2020 The New Zealand Abortion Legislation Act 2020 is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand that amends the law to decriminalise abortion. Under the act, abortion is available without restrictions to any woman who is not more than 20 weeks pregnant. W ...

. Loheni wrote a minority report for the committee criticising the bill for what she considered its lack of safeguards on late-term abortions and foetal abnormalities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loheni, Agnes 1972 births Living people New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand National Party MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand list MPs Unsuccessful candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election University of Auckland alumni People educated at Marist College, Auckland Unsuccessful candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election