Camilla Vera Feslier Belich is a New Zealand lawyer and politician who became a

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 ...

, representing the New Zealand Labour Party, in 2020.

Biography

Early life and career

As a law student Belich became involved in student politics and was co-president of the New Zealand University Students Association. In 2000 she was a member of the

New Zealand Youth Parliament The New Zealand Youth Parliament, held once in each term of parliament (usually every three or four years), is an event used to promote the civic and community engagement of New Zealand youth. The event has been held since 1994, and takes place a ...

, selected to represent Rongotai MP

Annette King Dame Annette Faye King (née Robinson, born 13 September 1947) is a former New Zealand politician. She served as Deputy Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 2008 to 2011, and from 2014 until 1 March 20 ...

. Belich has worked as an employment lawyer, beginning her career at Oakley Moran, a

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

law firm, before moving to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 2009 where she worked for a law firm and later for

Unison In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or per ...

, the largest trade union in the United Kingdom between 2012 and 2016. There, she won acclaim for her role in winning a high-profile case in the

Court of Justice of the European Union The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) (french: Cour de justice de l'Union européenne or "''CJUE''"; Latin: Curia) is the judicial branch of the European Union (EU). Seated in the Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembour ...

about safe working hours. She became an expert on employment discrimination cases and in January 2017 she joined the Wellington employment law firm Bartlett Law as a Senior Associate. She also worked for unions in New Zealand as a barrister and solicitor, firstly on equal pay issues at the

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU or CTU; mi, Te Kauae Kaimahi) is a national trade union centre in New Zealand. The NZCTU represents 360,000 workers, and is the largest democratic organisation in New Zealand. History It was for ...

from 2016 to 2019, and subsequently for the

Public Service Association The Public Service Association ( mi, Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi) or PSA is a democratic trade union that represents over workers in the Aotearoa New Zealand public sector. The aims of the PSA are: * strong public and community services * ...

in Auckland.

Member of Parliament

Belich entered Parliament in the . She ran for the electorate of , finishing second, but became an MP based on her ranking of 30th on the Labour party list.

Personal life

Belich is the granddaughter of former Wellington mayor Sir James Belich and the niece of historian James Belich. She is married to former Labour Party secretary Andrew Kirton and has three children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Belich, Camilla Living people New Zealand Labour Party MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand list MPs 21st-century New Zealand politicians 21st-century New Zealand women politicians Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Year of birth missing (living people) New Zealand Youth MPs