Pauline Mona Gardiner (née Wayman, born 27 September 1947) is a former New Zealand

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 ...

, first for New Zealand National Party and then for

United New Zealand United New Zealand was a centrist political party in New Zealand founded in 1995. It merged with the Christian-based Future New Zealand party to form the United Future New Zealand party in 2000. History Formation United was founded on 28 June 1 ...

. She was married to soldier, writer and public servant Wira Gardiner.

Early life

Pauline Wayman was born in Christchurch in 1947. She received her education at New Brighton School (1952–1960) and

Christchurch West High School Christchurch West High School (originally Christchurch Academy then High School of Christchurch and then West Christchurch Borough School) existed prior to 1966 on the site of Hagley College in Hagley Avenue, in Christchurch, New Zealand. In that ...

(1961–1963). After school, she joined the New Zealand Women's Royal Army Corps (NZWRAC) for three years.

Member of Parliament

Gardiner contested the electorate for National in the against

Fran Wilde Dame Frances Helen Wilde (née Kitching, born 11 November 1948) is a New Zealand politician, and former Wellington Labour member of parliament, Minister of Tourism and Mayor of Wellington. She was the first woman to serve as Mayor of Welling ...

, the incumbent of the Labour Party. On election night, Gardiner had a lead, but Wilde won when the special votes had been counted. Wilde was elected

Mayor of Wellington The Mayor of Wellington is the head of the municipal government of the City of Wellington. The mayor presides over the Wellington City Council. The mayor is directly elected using the Single Transferable Vote method of proportional representat ...

in 1992, and her resignation from parliament caused the 1992 Wellington Central by-election. Gardiner again contested the seat, but was beaten by Labour's Chris Laidlaw by a vote margin of just over 1%. In the , Gardiner in turn defeated Laidlaw in the new Wellington-Karori electorate. This was the only seat Labour lost at this election, which allowed National to govern with a majority of one. In 1995, Gardiner left the National Party to join six other MPs in the establishment of centrist party

. Like all United MPs but

Peter Dunne Peter Francis Dunne (born 17 March 1954) is a retired New Zealand politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ōhāriu. He held the seat and its predecessors from 1984 to 2017—representing the Labour Party in Parliament from 1984 ...

, she was defeated in the 1996 election; she contested the Wellington Central electorate, where she came fourth. In 1998 she ran for United in the Taranaki-King Country by election following the resignation of

Jim Bolger James Brendan Bolger ( ; born 31 May 1935) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who was the 35th prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997. Bolger was born to an Irish immigrant family in Ōpunake, Taran ...

. She came a distant ninth place with less than 1% of the votes.

Interest outside parliament

Gardiner is most well known for her campaign against drug abuse. She is particularly critical of New Zealand's

harm minimisation Harm reduction, or harm minimization, refers to a range of public health policies designed to lessen the negative social and/or physical consequences associated with various human behaviors, both legal and illegal. Harm reduction is used to de ...

policy, which was introduced in 1990, and during this time, the country has become one of the highest users of drugs.

Family

Gardiner has three children by her former husband Wira Gardiner. Their daughter Ainsley Gardiner is a film producer who became well known through her 2010 film ''

Boy A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy is ...

''. She now lives in Whakatane. She is now married to real estate agent Gordon Fridge.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardiner, Pauline 1947 births Living people United New Zealand MPs New Zealand National Party MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Unsuccessful candidates in the 1990 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1996 New Zealand general election People educated at Christchurch West High School New Zealand MPs for Wellington electorates People from Christchurch New Zealand military personnel