Munokoa Poto Williams (born 7 January 1962) 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 ...
Labour Party politician and 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 of ...
. She was elected in
a 2013 by-election and is currently
Minister of Conservation and
Minister for Disability Issues in the
Sixth Labour Government.
Early life and education
Williams is of Cook Islander descent. Her parents, Nahora and Marion Williams, migrated to New Zealand in the 1950s. She was born 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 ...
and grew up in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, where she attended Beresford Street School and
Auckland Girls' Grammar
"Through trials to triumph"
, colours = gold, navy blue
, type = State single-sex girls' secondary school (Years 9–13)
, established = 1878
, address = Howe Street, Newton, Auckland
, coordinates =
, principal = Ngaire Ashmore ...
.
Williams graduated from
Southern Cross University
Southern Cross University (SCU) is an Australian public university, with campuses at Lismore and Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales, and at Coolangatta, the most southern suburb of the Gold Coast in Queensland.
It is ranked in the top ...
in Australia with an
MBA
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
.
Professional career
Williams has a background working on family and sexual violence issues.
She has worked for the
Ministry of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
, BirthRight, Healthcare NZ and disability agencies.
She has served as a member of the Community Child Protection Review Panel, was involved in the Waitakere Community Law Service and Community Waitakere, and was part of the Living Wage Campaign and the LIFEWISE Big Sleepout.
She moved from Auckland to Christchurch's suburb of
New Brighton in January 2013 to take up a position as regional manager of the St John of God Hauora Trust but resigned from that role to run for Parliament later that year.
Political career
Christchurch East
Christchurch East, originally called Christchurch City East, is a current New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It was first created for the and was abolished for two period, from 1875–1905 and again from 1946–1996. It was last created for ...
MP
Lianne Dalziel
Lianne Audrey Dalziel (; born 7 June 1960) is a New Zealand politician and former Mayor of Christchurch. Prior to this position, she was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for 23 years, serving as Minister of Immigration, Commerce, Minister ...
resigned in October 2013 to contest the
Christchurch mayoralty, triggering
a by-election. Williams won selection as Labour's candidate over five other candidates including future Christchurch city councillor
Deon Swiggs
Deon William Swiggs (born 6 September 1986) is a New Zealand politician serving as the Environment Canterbury Councillor representing the Christchurch West/Ōpuna Regional Constituency. He previously served as the Christchurch City Councillor ...
and James Caygill (son of former Labour
Finance Minister
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
David Caygill
David Francis Caygill (born 15 November 1948) is a former New Zealand politician. Caygill was born and raised in Christchurch. He entered politics in 1971 as Christchurch's youngest city councillor at the age of 22. He served as a Member of Pa ...
). She convincingly defeated National's candidate
Matt Doocey
Matthew Maurice Doocey (born 1972) is a New Zealand politician who was elected to the New Zealand Parliament at the 2014 general election as a representative of the New Zealand National Party. He was re-elected in 2017 with a majority increase ...
, securing 61 per cent of the vote.
On 28 January 2014, Williams was sworn in as a member of 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 first time. After
Alfred Ngaro
Alfred Ngaro (born 1966) is a New Zealand politician. He was a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2011 to 2020. He is a member of the National Party and the first Cook Islander who was elected to Parliament in New Zealand. ...
, she is the second Cook Islander to be a New Zealand MP.
Williams held her electorate over National candidate
Jo Hayes
Joanne Kowhai Hayes (born 1959) is a former New Zealand politician who served as a New Zealand National Party List MP in the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2014 to 2020.
Early life and career
Hayes' whakapapa is to the Whanganui- Ra ...
by 4,073 votes in the
2014 general election. She defeated Hayes again in 2017, by 7,480 votes, and new National candidate Lincoln Platt in 2020 by 17,336 votes.
Opposition, 2013–2017
In her first year as an MP, Williams was appointed to the Health Committee and was Labour's associate spokesperson for social development, the community and voluntary sector, and housing (Christchurch).
After the election she nominated
Andrew Little to succeed
David Cunliffe
David Richard Cunliffe (born 30 April 1963) is a New Zealand management consultant and former politician who was Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from September 2013 to September 2014. He was Member of Parli ...
as Labour leader.
In the 2014–2017 term, Williams served on the Health and Social Services committees and was Labour's spokesperson on disability issues and the community and voluntary sector.
She became Labour's junior whip when
Jacinda Ardern
Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician who has been serving as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the member of ...
became leader in September 2017.
Sixth Labour Government, 2017–present
On 19 October 2017, a
Labour-led coalition government was formed with support from
New Zealand First and the
Green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...
parties. Williams was nominated and elected an Assistant
Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
. The National Party challenged her nomination for the office because Williams had not been sworn in as a member of Parliament for that term yet. Speaker
Trevor Mallard
Trevor Colin Mallard (born 17 June 1954) is a New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party. First elected to Parliament in 1984, he was Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2017 until 2022.
Mallard was a Cabinet m ...
dismissed the challenges because it is not a requirement for members of Parliament to be sworn in to be nominated as a presiding officer.
Following a
cabinet reshuffle
A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parli ...
in late June 2019, Williams was appointed as a minister outside Cabinet, becoming Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector as well as an Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Social Development and Immigration.
When Labour was returned to government in the 2020 general election, she was transferred into the roles of
Minister of Police and
Minister for Building and Construction and also became an associate minister in the children and public housing portfolios.
Williams' appointment as police minister came as a surprise to some commentators as she was seen to be a contrast with her predecessor,
Stuart Nash
Stuart Alexander Nash (born August 1967) is a politician from New Zealand. He was a list member of the House of Representatives for the Labour Party from to 2011, and was re-elected in the as representative of the Napier electorate. He ente ...
. Through 2022, Williams was under pressure in the role as a surge of
gang activity caused conflict between the Tribesmen and Killer Beez gangs in Auckland.
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 is not ...
Jacinda Ardern
Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician who has been serving as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the member of ...
acknowledged that "focus" in the police portfolio had been lost and, in a reshuffle on 13 June 2022, reassigned Willilams to be
Minister of Conservation and
Minister for Disability Issues.
On 13 December 2022, Williams announced that she would not be contesting the
2023 New Zealand general election and would step down at the end of the 2020–2023 term. While describing her job as an MP and Cabinet as an "extraordinary and amazing privilege," Wiliams stated that the Christchurch East electorate needed "someone with fresh eyes and fresh energy."
Political positions
In May 2017, Williams suggested removing the presumption of innocence afforded to alleged perpetrators of sexual assault. She voted in favour of the
Abortion Legislation Bill in March 2020 and against the
End of Life Choice Bill
The End of Life Choice Act 2019 is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand that seeks to give people with a terminal illness the option of receiving assisted dying. The Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Health confirmed that, "The Bill uses “a ...
in December 2019.
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Poto
1962 births
New Zealand people of Cook Island descent
New Zealand Labour Party MPs
Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates
People educated at Auckland Girls' Grammar School
Southern Cross University alumni
People from Wellington City
Living people
21st-century New Zealand politicians
21st-century New Zealand women politicians
Candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election