Olive Evelyn Smuts-Kennedy (née Wright, 23 March 1925 – 19 December 2013) was an activist and local politician in

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 me ...

, New Zealand.

Biography

Early life

Olive Smuts-Kennedy was born on 23 March 1925. Her grandfather, Fortunatus Evelyn Wright was an early New Zealand settler, having arrived from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

aboard the ship ''Samarang'' in 1852. In 1945 she married Arthur Edward Smuts-Kennedy and had one son and two daughters. She attended

Auckland University The University of Auckland is a public university, public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest, most comprehensive and highest-ranked university in New Zealand and consistently places among the top 100 universit ...

and graduated with 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 ...

in 1951 and later a

Bachelor of Law Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1955. She was admitted to the Bar that same year. She was involved with the women's rights organisation The Council for Equal Pay and Opportunity (affiliated with the National Council of Women) serving as its chairperson from 1960 to 1964. In 1965 she became a

SEATO The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was an international organization for collective defense in Southeast Asia created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, or Manila Pact, signed in September 1954 in Manila, the Philipp ...

research fellow.

Political career

Smuts-Kennedy stood for election to the

New Zealand House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes Law of New Zealand, laws, provides Ministers of the New Zealand Government, ministers to form Cabinet of New Zealand, Cabinet, and supervises the ...

for the Labour Party in four consecutive elections. She stood in in , in , in and in . She came in second place on every occasion. Additionally she was approached to stand for Labour in the 1967 Petone by-election, however she was not selected as a candidate. She also served as the President of the Wellington Labour Representation Committee. In

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

Smuts-Kennedy won a seat on the

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...

on a Labour ticket which she was to hold until 1973 when she resigned. During her time as a councillor she was chairperson of the cultural, libraries and public relations committees.

Later life

In the 1990 Queen's Birthday Honours, Smuts-Kennedy was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

for public services. She died 19 December 2013.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smuts-Kennedy, Olive 1925 births 2013 deaths New Zealand women lawyers University of Auckland alumni Wellington City Councillors New Zealand Labour Party politicians Companions of the Queen's Service Order Unsuccessful candidates in the 1960 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1963 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1966 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1969 New Zealand general election 20th-century New Zealand lawyers