Joanne Gay Goodhew (born 1961) is a New Zealand politician. She served as a member of

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 ...

between 2005 and 2017.

Early years

Goodhew grew up in

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

, and attended

Timaru Girls' High School "Knowledge is Power" , type = State, Girls, Secondary (Year 9-15), with boarding facilities , established = 1880 , address = Cain Street, Timaru, New Zealand , coordinates = , principal = Deb Hales , roll = ) , decile ...

. She holds a qualification in

nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

from

Otago Polytechnic Otago Polytechnic was a public New Zealand tertiary education institute, centred in Dunedin with additional campuses in Cromwell and Auckland. Otago Polytechnic provided career-focused education and training, offering a range of New Zealand accr ...

and had a career in nursing before working as health sciences tutor at

Aoraki Polytechnic Aoraki Polytechnic was a public New Zealand tertiary education institution. Aoraki Polytechnic's main campus was based in central Timaru, South Canterbury, South Island. It also had campuses offering a variety of programmes in Ashburton, Oamar ...

. Before entering politics she was involved in a variety of health organisations in the

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

region.

Member of Parliament

In the 2005 election, Goodhew was a candidate for the National Party, standing in the

Aoraki Aoraki / Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. Its height, as of 2014, is listed as . It sits in the Southern Alps, the mountain range that runs the length of the South Island. A popular tourist destination, it is also a favourite ...

electorate and being ranked 31st on 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 ...

. She won the Aoraki seat and entered Parliament. In the 2008 election, most of Aoraki was moved to the new Rangitata electorate. It was suggested that this could make the electorate vulnerable to capture by

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

; however, Goodhew won the new electorate with an increased majority. Goodhew was elected National Party junior whip in 2009, after Internal Affairs minister Richard Worth resigned and was replaced by senior whip

Nathan Guy Allen Nathan Guy (born 1970) is a New Zealand former politician of the National Party. He was elected to Parliament in 2005 as a list MP and represented the electorate of Ōtaki after the 2008 election. He served as Minister of Immigration ...

(who was in turn replaced by junior whip

Chris Tremain Christopher James Tremain (born 1966) is a New Zealand businessman and retired politician. He served as member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the National Party from until his retirement in 2014. Family and personal life ...

). Goodhew was returned as MP for Rangitata at the 2011 general election, though with a slightly reduced majority. Goodhew was additionally made a minister outside of Cabinet, holding the Community and Voluntary Sector,

Senior Citizens Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human biological life cycle, life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage ...

and Women's Affairs portfolios. In the , Goodhew more than doubled her majority over Labour's Steve Gibson. She was reappointed as a minister, retaining the Community and Voluntary Sector portfolio and additionally becoming Minister for Food Safety and an associate minister with responsibility for social development and primary industries. On 20 December 2016, Goodhew lost her ministerial portfolios in a reshuffle after the resignation of Prime Minister John Key. Although she had originally signalled her intention to recontest the Rangitata electorate, she announced on 25 January 2017 she would retire at the . She was succeeded as National's candidate and Rangitata MP by Andrew Falloon.

Later career

After leaving Parliament, Goodhew contested and was elected to the

South Canterbury District Health Board The South Canterbury District Health Board (South Canterbury DHB or SCDHB) was a district health board with the focus on providing healthcare to the Timaru, Mackenzie, Waimate districts in New Zealand. In July 2022, it was merged into the natio ...

in the 2019 local elections.

References

External links

Official website
* * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodhew, Jo 1961 births Living people New Zealand National Party MPs Women government ministers of New Zealand New Zealand nurses People from Timaru Government ministers of New Zealand Women's ministers New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives People from Temuka Otago Polytechnic alumni People educated at Timaru Girls' High School New Zealand women nurses 21st-century New Zealand politicians 21st-century New Zealand women politicians Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives