Elizabeth Dorothy Craig (born 1967) 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 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 Labour Party. As a public health physician, she has become known for her research work on

child poverty Child poverty refers to the state of children living in poverty and applies to children from poor families and orphans being raised with limited or no state resources. UNICEF estimates that 356 million children live in extreme poverty. It's estima ...

Early life and family

Craig was born in 1967 and received her secondary education at

Spotswood College Spotswood College is a co-educational state secondary school in Spotswood, New Plymouth, New Zealand. It was founded in 1960 and celebrated its 50th Jubilee in 2010. It was formerly New Zealand's largest school. It is New Plymouth's only co-e ...

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

. She left New Plymouth at the age of 18 to attend medical school in Auckland. She was married to David Craig for 27 years, with whom she has two children. In January 2020 she married Philip Melgren. Prior to the , she lived in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. For the 2014 election, the family split its time between Dunedin and Romahapa in

The Catlins The Catlins (sometimes referred to as The Catlins Coast) comprises an area in the southeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The area lies between Balclutha and Invercargill, straddling the boundary between the Otago and Southlan ...

. In 2016, when her selection for the Invercargill electorate was confirmed, she started looking for a house in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

and has lived there since.

Public health career

Craig is a public health doctor and

advocate. In 2009, she won a $50,000

Dunedin School of Medicine The Dunedin School of Medicine is the name of the School of Medicine that is based on the Dunedin campus of the University of Otago. All University of Otago medical students who gain entry after the competitive Health Sciences First Year prog ...

's research development investment award, and she established a child and youth health policy research unit with that funding. She was the director of the New Zealand Child and Youth Epidemiology Service of the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

. In 2012, she warned that New Zealanders had to get used to poor children suffering from

Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...

diseases. She was part of a group that compiled an annual child poverty monitor, and the group has been credited with making the issue one of the core topics of the . Craig resigned as director from the research group, and as editor of the child poverty monitor, prior to the 2014 election.

Political career

Craig stressed that her political views were formed through her work on child poverty, and "not the other way around". She joined the Labour Party in 2010 and was a contributing author of Labour's children's policies for the 2011 and 2014 elections. She stood for Labour in the electorate in the , placing second. Ranked 32 on the

Labour list LabourList is a British news website supportive of, but independent of, the Labour Party, launched in 2009. Describing itself as Labour's "biggest independent grassroots e-network", the site's content includes news, commentary, interviews, campa ...

, she was not returned on the list either. In May 2016, she was selected unopposed to contest the electorate at the . Craig was placed 31 on Labour's party list. Craig lost the electorate to incumbent

Sarah Dowie Sarah Maree Dowie (born 1974) is a New Zealand former politician of the National Party. She was the Member of Parliament for Invercargill from 2014 to 2020. Early life and career Dowie's parents, Ann and Alan Dowie, were both police officers. ...

, but entered parliament via the

Party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

. In her first term, she was a member of the health, environment and regulations review committees. During the 2020 election, Craig contested the Invercargill electorate but lost to National candidate

Penny Simmonds Penelope Elsie Simmonds is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the National Party. She previously served as the chief executive of the Southern Institute of Technology. Early life and career Si ...

by 224 votes. Craig had trailed by 685 votes in the preliminary results, causing speculation that she could win the seat when the special votes were counted. Despite this defeat, Craig was able to remain in Parliament via the Labour Party list. Craig was chair of the health select committee from 2020 to 2022 when she was appointed the Parliamentary Private Secretary for Health. She is standing in Invercargill a third time in the

2023 New Zealand general election The 2023 New Zealand general election to determine the composition of the 54th Parliament of New Zealand is planned to be held on 14 October 2023, after the currently elected 53rd Parliament is dissolved or expires. Voters will elect 120 memb ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, Liz 1967 births Living people New Zealand Labour Party MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives 21st-century New Zealand women politicians New Zealand list MPs Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Unsuccessful candidates in the 2014 New Zealand general election Candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election Candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election People educated at Spotswood College