Jacqueline Isobel Dean (née Hay, born 13 May 1957) is a
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
politician and the current
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 ...
for the
Waitaki electorate, where she represents the
National Party.
Early career
Dean was born in
Palmerston North
Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...
. She has worked in several roles, including professional acting. She hosted ''
Play School'', a children's television programme. She has also acted on stage, been a radio announcer, and worked in the education sector.
Early in Dean's political career, she served on the
Waitaki District Council, representing the
Oamaru
Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the rai ...
ward. She also unsuccessfully contested the mayoralty.
Member of Parliament
In the
2005 election, she was the
National Party's successful candidate for the
Otago seat, a traditional National stronghold which had unexpectedly been taken by the
Labour Party's
David Parker. For this election, Dean campaigned on water issues, saying in her maiden speech to parliament that she believed water to be the "single most important issue facing New Zealand today". Dean won Otago by a margin of 1,995 votes.
She was returned to Parliament in
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
and
2011 for the geographically similar
Waitaki electorate.
Dean was confirmed as Waitaki's representative in the . During the 2014 election, Dean retained Waitaki by a margin of 16,668 votes.
During the
2017 New Zealand general election
The 2017 New Zealand general election took place on Saturday 23 September 2017 to determine the membership of the 52nd New Zealand Parliament. The previous parliament was elected on 20 September 2014 and was officially dissolved on 22 August 20 ...
, Dean retained Waitaki by a margin of 12,816 votes.
In
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
, the Waitaki electorate returned Dean by a margin of 3,281 votes. Following the election, she was appointed an Assistant Speaker.
In late November 2021, National Party leader
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 ...
demoted fellow National MP
Simon Bridges for alleged "serious misconduct" involving sexist comments that the latter had made during a party function in 2016. Dean had laid a complaint with then National Party leader and
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Bill English
Sir Simon William English (born 30 December 1961) is a New Zealand former National Party politician who served as the 39th prime minister of New Zealand from 2016 to 2017 and as the 17th deputy prime minister of New Zealand and minister of f ...
. Dean subsequently raised the matter in 2021 with Collins as part of the Francis review of Parliament's workplace culture. Collins' demotion of Bridges led the National Party's parliamentary caucus to remove Collins as party leader following a vote of no-confidence. Deputy Leader
Shane Reti was appointed as interim leader prior to a
scheduled leadership vote. In response to the fallout, Dean expressed surprise and disappointment that her actions had led to these events. She said that it was not her intention and opined that "several issues were conflated." Dean also confirmed that she had accepted Bridges' apology for his remarks.
Drug policy
Dean has been vocal on drug-related issues in New Zealand although she has no official role in this capacity.
[ New Zealand Parliament MPs – Jacqui Dean.]
'Party pills'
In 2007, Dean campaigned for the banning of the sale of "
party pills
Party pills, also known as "herbal highs", "pep pills" "dance pills" and "natural power", is a colloquialism for a type of recreational drug whose main ingredient was originally benzylpiperazine (BZP), but has expanded to a wide range of compound ...
", namely
benzylpiperazine
Benzylpiperazine (BZP) is a recreational drug with euphoriant and stimulant properties. The effects produced by BZP are comparable to those produced by amphetamine. Adverse effects have been reported following its use including acute psychosis ...
(BZP), over which Associate Health Minister
Jim Anderton
James Patrick Anderton (born Byrne; 21 January 1938 – 7 January 2018) was a New Zealand politician who led a succession of left-wing parties after leaving the Labour Party in 1989.
Anderton's political career began when he was elected to th ...
(leader of the
Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to:
Active parties
* Progressive Party, Brazil
* Progressive Party (Chile)
* Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus
* Dominica Progressive Party
* Progressive Party (Iceland)
* Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...
) accused her of indulging in political grandstanding, saying, "Perhaps Mrs Dean doesn't subscribe to the idea that any Government must balance the need to act promptly with its responsibilities to act fairly and follow due process, particularly where its actions affect those who are currently acting within existing legal constraints."
[ Anderton 2007.] Dean's press releases refer to BZP as either "cattle drench" or a "worming agent". BZP was developed for this use, but has never been commercially used as a wormer or drench.
[ EMCDDA 2007.]EMCDDA , News releasesEvidence that Dean has used to promote the BZP ban (such as the MRINZ report on BZP) has been criticized as consisting of flawed research which does not meet peer review requirements.
Salvia divinorum
In November 2007 Dean called for the government to take action against ''
Salvia divinorum'', saying, "Salvia divinorum is a hallucinogenic drug, which has been banned in Australia, and yet here in New Zealand it continues to be sold freely" and "We’re dealing with a dangerous drug here, with the minister's wait and see approach like playing Russian Roulette with young people's lives." In March 2008 she was reportedly pleased on hearing about plans for action against salvia but saying she was not hopeful it would be fast, given that it had taken the Government two-and-a-half years to move on BZP. Her concern about salvia was that people were self-medicating with it and combining it with other drugs including alcohol. "I don’t think we understand the long-term effects of Salvia divinorum", she said.
Opponents of prohibitive Salvia restrictions argue that such reactions are largely due to an inherent prejudice and a particular cultural bias rather than any actual balance of evidence, pointing out inconsistencies in attitudes toward other more toxic and addictive drugs such as alcohol and nicotine. While not objecting to some form of regulatory legal control, in particular concerning the sale to minors or sale of enhanced high-strength extracts, most Salvia proponents otherwise argue against stricter legislation.
Alcohol and tobacco
When questioned by
Māori Party
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
MP
Tariana Turia
Dame Tariana Turia (born 8 April 1944) is a New Zealand politician. She was first elected to Parliament in 1996. Turia gained considerable prominence during the foreshore and seabed controversy in 2004, and eventually broke with the Labour P ...
on why she was unwilling to take the same prohibitory line on
smoking cigarettes and
drinking alcohol
Alcohol, sometimes referred to by the chemical name ''ethanol'', is a depressant drug that is the active ingredient in drinks such as beer, wine, and distilled spirits (hard liquor). It is one of the oldest and most commonly consumed recreat ...
as she took on BZP, Dean said, "Alcohol and tobacco have been with our society for many, many years." Dean's Otago electorate is also home to approximately 5% of New Zealand's wine production, described by the New Zealand Wine Growers Association as a new but aggressively expanding wine area, which is now New Zealand's seventh-largest wine region.
[ NZ Wine Growers 2006.]
Dihydrogen monoxide hoax
In August 2007, as a result of emails from
ACT on Campus
Young ACT, formerly known as Prebble's Rebels, ACTivists and ACT on Campus, is a youth group affiliated with ACT New Zealand, a classical-liberal political party in New Zealand. It has supported the party for over two decades though has disag ...
members based loosely around the well-known
dihydrogen monoxide hoax, she sent a letter to Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton, asking if there were any plans to ban "
dihydrogen monoxide", apparently not realising that it is the chemical name of
water
Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...
.
[ Stuff 2007-09-13 (Media story).]
In September 2007, the Social Tonics Association of New Zealand (STANZ) called for Dean to step down from speaking on drug issues after she demonstrated "a lack of credibility in calling for the ban of dihydrogen monoxide (water)". STANZ Chairman Matt Bowden said, "The DHMO hoax played on the member this week is not a joke, it highlights a serious issue at the heart of drug policymaking. Ms Dean demonstrated a 'ban anything moderately harmful' reflex. This approach is just downright dangerous." "Jacqui Dean has clearly demonstrated a lack of credibility in her requests to the Minister to consider banning water; She has also seriously embarrassed her National Party colleagues who can no longer have confidence in her petitions to ban BZP or anything else."
[ Social Tonics Association 2007-09-15 (Media story).]
When interviewed on the radio by Marcus Lush on 14 September 2007, she referred to the members of
ACT on Campus
Young ACT, formerly known as Prebble's Rebels, ACTivists and ACT on Campus, is a youth group affiliated with ACT New Zealand, a classical-liberal political party in New Zealand. It has supported the party for over two decades though has disag ...
as "left-wingers". She also suggested that there were no lessons to be learned from her attempts to call for a ban on water.
Notes
Citations
References
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Table 2 Global burden of disease and injury attributable to selected risk factors, 1990.
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External links
Official site
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Jacqui
Local politicians in New Zealand
New Zealand National Party MPs
1957 births
Living people
People from Palmerston North
People from Oamaru
Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
People educated at Freyberg High School
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates
21st-century New Zealand politicians
21st-century New Zealand women politicians
Candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election
Candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election
Women legislative deputy speakers