Jacqueline Jill White (born 22 February 1941) is a former

New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party ( mi, Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa), or simply Labour (), is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descr ...

politician, and a registered nurse.

Early life and career

White was born in

Feilding Feilding ( mi, Aorangi) is a town in the Manawatū District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 54, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North. The town is the seat of the Manawatū District Council. Feilding has w ...

in 1941. She attended Manchester Street Primary School and Feilding Agricultural High School before attending

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

where she gained a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

and then Canterbury Teachers' College. She later completed a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

. She first worked as a secondary school teacher in New Zealand from 1965, and later

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 Island, Manono an ...

via

Volunteer Service Abroad Volunteer Service Abroad - Te Tūao Tāwāhi (VSA) a New Zealand-based volunteering agency working in international development. Operations VSA volunteers share skills with people in the wider Pacific. VSA's work is diverse and driven by the ...

, before becoming a nurse in 1972. White also worked in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

as a nurse before returning to New Zealand in 1979 where she became a community and public nurse before retiring in 1988.

Local body politics

White was a councillor on

Palmerston North City Council 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 ...

from 1983 to 1992. This was followed by some years in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, a role from which she resigned in 1998 to become

Mayor of Palmerston North The Mayor of Palmerston North is the head of the municipal government of Palmerston North, New Zealand, and presides over the Palmerston North City Council. The current mayor is Grant Smith, who became mayor in a February 2015 by-election. This ...

. She held that post until 2001. She was the first woman to hold the position. In 1989, she was elected a member of the Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council, remaining a member until 1994 when she resigned. She was later a Horizons Regional Councillor from 2007 until 2013. White's community involvement was with the

Girl Guides Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

, District Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse and the National Council of Women.

Member of Parliament

From 1993 to 1998, she was a member of Parliament for the Labour Party, first as MP for Manawatu and then as a

list MP A list MP is a member of parliament (MP) elected from a party list rather than from by a geographical constituency. The place in Parliament is due to the number of votes that the party won, not to votes received by the MP personally. This occurs ...

. In 1996, she had stood in Rangitīkei unsuccessfully.

Notes

References

Works cited

* *''Ministers and Members in the New Zealand Parliament'' by G.A. Wood (University of Otago Press, 2nd edition 1996) * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:White, Jill 1941 births Living people Mayors of Palmerston North New Zealand Labour Party MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Women mayors of places in New Zealand Palmerston North City Councillors New Zealand nurses New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates New Zealand list MPs New Zealand women nurses Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives