Barbara Rachael Fati Palepa Edmonds is a New Zealand politician and

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 o ...

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 Labour Party.

Early life and career

Edmonds' parents came to New Zealand from

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

in 1978. She was also raised by her stepmother after her mother died when she was 4 years old. She was born in North Shore,

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

and attended Carmel College. Her school was next door to North Shore Hospital where members of her family were working in the kitchen, laundry and as cleaners. She married and had eight children. Edmonds was a parent elected member of the Board of Trustees of

Mana College Mana College is a decile two secondary school in Porirua, Wellington, New Zealand. Mana College celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 2007. History In recent years, the college has introduced Pathways a system to help students achieve in areas they ...

. Edmonds is a specialist tax lawyer, and before entering Parliament, worked in both the private and public sectors. In 2016, she was seconded from

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation t ...

to work as a private secretary to

Michael Woodhouse Michael Allan Woodhouse (born 1965) is a National member of the New Zealand Parliament. Early years Woodhouse was born and raised in South Dunedin, the fifth of nine children. He attended St Patrick's, St Edmund's and St Pauls High School, no ...

and

Judith Collins Judith Anne Collins (born 24 February 1959) is a New Zealand politician who served as the Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 14 July 2020 to 25 November 2021. She was the second female Leader of the Natio ...

, as Ministers of Revenue. In 2017, she was appointed as a political adviser to

Stuart Nash Stuart Alexander Nash (born August 1967) is a politician from New Zealand. He was a list member of the House of Representatives for the Labour Party from to 2011, and was re-elected in the as representative of the Napier electorate. He ente ...

in his role as Minister of Revenue.

Political career

In August 2020, Edmonds was ranked 49th on the Labour Party's

list A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...

. During the , she won

Mana According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being ...

by a large margin of 16,244, defeating

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Member of Parliament

Jo Hayes Joanne Kowhai Hayes (born 1959) is a former New Zealand politician who served as a New Zealand National Party List MP in the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2014 to 2020. Early life and career Hayes' whakapapa is to the Whanganui- Ra ...

. Following the election, she was appointed as Labour's associate whip on 2 November. She was deputy chair of the

Finance and Expenditure Committee The Finance and Expenditure Committee (known as the Public Accounts Committee until 1962, and as the Public Expenditure Committee, from 1962) is a select committee of the House of Representatives, the unicameral chamber of the New Zealand Parliame ...

from 3 December 2020 to 22 June 2022, when she became chair.

References

Living people New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand Labour Party MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives 21st-century New Zealand politicians 21st-century New Zealand women politicians Year of birth missing (living people) {{NewZealand-Labour-politician-stub