Tracey Martin

This article is about the politician. For the author, see Tracy Martin.

The Honourable Tracey Martin
Martin in 2014
35th Minister of Internal Affairs
In office 26 October 2017 – 6 November 2020
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by	Peter Dunne
Succeeded by	Jan Tinetti
2nd Minister for Children
In office 26 October 2017 – 6 November 2020
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by	Anne Tolley
Succeeded by	Kelvin Davis
13th Minister for Seniors
In office 26 October 2017 – 6 November 2020
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by	Maggie Barry
Succeeded by	Ayesha Verrall
3rd Deputy Leader of New Zealand First
In office 23 October 2013 – 3 July 2015
Leader	Winston Peters
Preceded by	Peter Brown
Succeeded by	Ron Mark
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for New Zealand First party list
In office 26 November 2011 – 17 October 2020
Personal details
Born	Tracey Anne Martin (1964-07-01) 1 July 1964 (age 60) Levin, New Zealand
Nationality	New Zealander
Political party	New Zealand First (1993–2021)
Spouse	Ben
Children	3

Tracey Anne Martin (born 1 July 1964) is a New Zealand former politician. She was a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives between 2011 and 2020, representing the New Zealand First Party.

Martin was deputy leader of New Zealand First from 2013 to 2015. She served as Minister for Children, Minister for Seniors, Minister of Internal Affairs and Associate Minister of Education from 2017 to 2020.

Early life and career

Tracey Martin was born in Levin on 1 July 1964. Her mother, Anne Martin (née Williams) was a primary school teacher and political activist with the Social Credit Party and New Zealand First, including as secretary and president of New Zealand First.^[1][2] Martin has described her mother as the New Zealander that she most admires as a brave woman who has not been afraid to stand up for her belief and opinions.^[3] Her father was Burnett Martin.^[4] Martin has Māori ancestry through her maternal grandfather, with ties to Ngāti Kahungunu.^[5]

Martin married Ben Dugdale, a winemaker, with whom she has three children.^[6][7][8] Before starting her family, she worked as a debt collector.^[2] For 15 years, Martin was a stay-at-home parent and was active in the Warkworth community. She was involved in parent-based fundraising and volunteer committees for Mahurangi Kindergarten, Warkworth Primary School and Mahurangi College. She served as the chair of the board of trustees at Mahurangi College for over a decade, before resigning when she became the Associate Minister for Education in 2018.^[9]

Political career

Early years

Martin has been involved with New Zealand First since the party started in 1993, and became a member of its board of directors in 2008.^[10] She was selected as a candidate for the 2008 general election, running unsuccessfully in Rodney and ranked 13th on the party list.^[11] She said she decided to get involved with politics due to her dissatisfaction with then-local MP, Lockwood Smith.^[10]

She successfully stood for the Rodney Local Board during the 2010 Auckland Council elections.^[12] Martin continued on the local board until 2013.^[13]

New Zealand Parliament

Years	Term	Electorate	List	Party
2011–2014	50th	List	2		NZ First
2014–2017	51st	List	2		NZ First
2017–2020	52nd	List	3		NZ First

Opposition, 2011–2017

Martin contested the Rodney electorate for a second time in the 2011 general election, where she was defeated by newcomer Mark Mitchell. She had been ranked second on the New Zealand First party list, and was elected when the party secured 6.59% of the vote.^[14][15] In 2013, she was elected the deputy leader of New Zealand First.^[16] After being re-elected to Parliament in 2014,^[17][18] Martin lost the deputy leadership to Ron Mark in 2015.^[19]

In her first and second term, Martin was the party's spokesperson for education, broadcasting, and women's affairs.^[20][21] She was critical of the National government's introduction of charter schools and changes to teacher training.^[2]

In 2012, Martin sponsored the Social Security (Clothing Allowances for Orphans and Unsupported Children) Amendment Bill.^[22] The bill gave unsupported child or orphan clothing allowance parity with foster children and passed unanimously into law in 2015.^[22] Martin advocated for the expansion of this allowance so that it can be accessed by kin carers.^[23]

Minister in Sixth Labour Government, 2017–2020

During the 2017 election, Martin was re-elected on the New Zealand First party list.^[24] The party won 7.2 percent of the vote and nine seats.^[25] Following the formation of a coalition government led by the Labour Party with New Zealand First and the Greens, Martin was appointed as Minister for Children, Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister for Seniors, and Associate Minister of Education.^[26]

Within the coalition, Martin was seen by Labour MPs as a favourite to work with, and was often asked to act as a go-between for other MPs who were having trouble reaching resolutions. Martin also ensured appropriate people were involved in coalition management, including policy adviser and Martin's sister Kirsty Christison. In an interview after the coalition, Martin said, "We realised early in that we needed to get the conversations between NZ First, Labour and the Greens really tight. It had to be people who knew the party's stand and policies and could speak with confidence about what the party was likely to accept and not accept, but were very apolitical. For NZ First, that person ended up being Kirsty."^[27]

Following an attempted "uplifting" by Oranga Tamariki social workers of a child in Hastings in June 2019, Martin (as Minister for Children) met with local iwi Ngāti Kahungunu and the Māori Council.^[28] She also announced that the Government would be conducting a review into the Hawkes Bay attempted uplifting incident.^[29][30] In early August 2019, Martin announced that the Government would be scrapping its Children's Teams task forces in response to the uplifting controversy but rejected comparisons with the Australian "Stolen Generations".^[31]

According to media reports, Martin participated in several months of negotiations with the Labour Party over the Government's proposed Abortion Legislation Bill, which seeks to remove abortion from the Crimes Act 1961. Despite initially ruling out a referendum, NZ First leader Winston Peters surprised both Martin and Labour by demanding a binding referendum on abortion reform in return for supporting the legislation through Parliament. Peters' actions were criticised by both the Minister of Justice Andrew Little, who initiated the legislation, opposition National MP Amy Adams, and left-wing blogger Martyn "Bomber" Bradbury.^{[32][33][34][35][36]} Martin voted in favour of the Government's abortion legislation bill, which passed its first reading on 8 August 2019.^[37]

On 14 March 2020, it was reported that Martin was one of the first New Zealand MPs to be self-isolating and tested for the COVID-19 virus after meeting with Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, during a Five Eyes ministerial meeting in Washington, D.C. the previous week.^[38][39]

During the 2020 New Zealand general election held on 17 October, Martin contested Ōhāriu, coming fifth place.^[40] She and her fellow NZ First MPs lost their seats after the party's vote dropped to 2.6%, below the five percent threshold needed to enter Parliament.^[41][42]

On 9 November 2020, Martin was granted retention of the title "The Honourable" for life, in recognition of her term as a member of the Executive Council.^[43]

Post-parliamentary life

In late January 2021, Martin along with fellow former MP Jenny Marcroft left New Zealand First, stating that the party needed to return to its roots and rebuild.^[44] In a 2022 interview Martin revealed she felt relief at New Zealand First's failure to be re-elected as she was contemplating leaving the party due to increasing policy differences. She stated that she was now far closer to Labour politically than the majority of the New Zealand First caucus.^[45] She described Labour as having moved "to where [her] belief structure was", rather than a realignment of her own values.^[45]

Martin was appointed to a number of governance roles by the Labour Government, including as the chair of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority^[46] and a board member for the NZ Transport Agency.^[45][47] She was chair of the Strong Public Media business case governance group and Public Media Entity establishment board.^[48] In 2021, she was appointed a residents' representative on the governing group of the Retirement Villages Association.^[49] In 2023, Martin finished a two-year term as independent chair of the Wellington Regional Leadership Committee.^[50]

Political and social views

Along with all other New Zealand First MPs, Martin voted against the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill, which legalised same-sex marriage in New Zealand, in 2013.^[51] New Zealand First requested that the bill become a referendum issue however the request was denied. Five years later, Martin said she maintained the view that a referendum should have been required.^[52]

Martin took a pro-choice stance on abortion, supporting efforts to remove it from the Crimes Act 1961. Martin's views on abortion were affected by the death of her grandmother Beverley Williams during a backstreet abortion.^[53][54] In October 2020, The Spinoff online magazine described her as a liberal feminist and potential successor to Winston Peters who could broaden the party's appeal to women.^[42]

References

1. Moir, Jo (31 July 2015). "NZ First president Anne Martin won't seek re-election". Stuff. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
2. "Meet the backbenchers: Tracey Martin". NZ Herald. 27 November 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
3. "Rodney candidates unplugged: Tracey Martin of New Zealand First". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
4. "Martin, Tracey: Address in Reply – New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
5. "Tracey Martin, New Zealand First: Maiden Speech | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2022. My maternal grandfather and his second wife Maude Mohi have provided me with the gift of blood ties to Ngati Kahungunu of Taupunga Marae at Waimarama in the Heretaunga.
6. Walters, Laura (29 October 2017). "Climbing the political ladder can take its toll on family life". Stuff. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
7. "'I felt frightened': Tracey Martin reflects on controversial tenure as Minister for Children". Newshub. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
8. Mahurangi College. "Tracey Martin". Mahurangi College News and Events. Archived from the original on 25 January 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
9. "Movers, shakers & policy makers – Tracey Martin, Associate Minister of Education — EducationHQ New Zealand". Nz.educationhq.com. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
10. Carroll, Joanne. "Peters' new kid plunges into fray". NZ Herald. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
11. "Peters' new kid plunges into fray". New Zealand Herald. 4 February 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
12. "Rodney Local Board". Local Boards. Auckland Council. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
13. "NZ First MP gives up local body role". RNZ. 29 March 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
14. "'Big boys' trying to keep me out – Peters". New Zealand Herald. 24 November 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
15. "Official Count Results – Successful Candidates – 2011 general election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
16. Rutherford, Hamish (24 October 2013). "NZ First elects deputy leader". Stuff. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
17. "Official Count Results – Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
18. "2014 general election – official result". Electoral Commission. 17 October 2020. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
19. Jones, Nicholas (3 July 2015). "Ron Mark new NZ First deputy leader". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
20. "Martin, Tracey – New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
21. "Four NZ First MPs (and Winston) grab plumb jobs in government line-up". Newshub. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
22. "Social Security (Clothing Allowances for Orphans and Unsupported Children) Amendment Bill – New Zealand Parliament". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
23. Owen, Lisa (12 November 2017). "The Nation: Lisa Owen interviews Tracey Martin". The Nation. Scoop. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
24. "2017 General Election – Successful candidates". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
25. "2017 General Election – Overall Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
26. "Hon Tracey Martin". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
27. Trevett, Claire (13 December 2020). "Agent of chaos: The inside story of the Labour/NZ First coalition government". The Spinoff. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
28. Collins, Simon (15 June 2019). "Children's Minister steps into Oranga Tamariki baby uplift case". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
29. "Inquiry announced into handling of attempted uplift of a baby in Hawke's Bay last month by Oranga Tamariki". 1News. 16 June 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
30. Martin, Tracey (18 June 2019). "Oranga Tamariki Review". New Zealand Government. Scoop. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
31. Vance, Andrea (4 August 2019). "Tracey Martin on uplift controversy: Oranga Tamariki 'believed the child was in danger'". Stuff. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
32. Patterson, Jane (8 August 2019). "Abortion legislation: 'It wasn't part of our coalition agreement so why is it there' – Winston Peters". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
33. Jancic, Boris (6 August 2019). "NZ First blindsides Andrew Little with talk of abortion referendum". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
34. Cooke, Henry (6 August 2019). "Winston Peters suggests NZ First want binding referendum on abortion". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
35. Moir, Jo (7 August 2019). "Abortion reform: "no deal" on NZ First referendum call". Radio New Zealand. Scoop. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
36. "Wow – what NZ First just did to Tracey Martin was the coldest most spiteful political kneecapping in NZ history". The Daily Blog. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
37. Whyte, Anna (8 August 2019). "Abortion law reform easily passes first reading in Parliament". 1News. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
38. "NZ First MP Tracey Martin self-isolating, being tested for coronavirus". 1News. 14 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
39. Cooke, Henry (14 March 2020). "Coronavirus: Tracey Martin met with infected Australian Minister Peter Dutton six days ago". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
40. "Ōhāriu – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
41. "2020 General Election and Referendums – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
42. Van Veen, Josh (18 October 2020). "Where to now for Winston Peters and New Zealand First?". The Spinoff. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
43. "Retention of the title "The Honourable"". New Zealand Gazette. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
44. Lynch, Jenny (29 January 2021). "Former New Zealand First MPs Tracey Martin, Jenny Marcroft quit party, citing different values". Newshub. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
45. "Former NZ First MP Tracey Martin reveals election defeat relief". 1News. 13 March 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
46. "Appointments to the New Zealand Qualifications Authority". Beehive.govt.nz. 7 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
47. "Northland's Ken Rintoul sent packing from NZTA board". NZ Herald. 27 November 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
48. "Public Media entity Establishment Board appointments". The Beehive. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
49. Steeman, Marta (20 July 2021). "Former seniors minister Tracey Martin is a new voice for retirement village residents". Stuff. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
50. "Tracey Martin thanked by Wellington Regional Leadership Committee for leadership". Greater Wellington. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
51. "Marriage equality bill: How MPs voted". The New Zealand Herald. 29 August 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
52. Yeoman, Greta (14 October 2019). "Marriage equality, five years on: we ask opposing MPs if they'd still vote no". The Spinoff. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
53. Jancic, Boris (9 August 2019). "NZ First MP Tracey Martin tells of backstreet abortion that killed her grandmother". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
54. Bracewell-Worrall, Anna (9 August 2019). "NZ First MP Tracey Martin shares tragic personal connection to backstreet abortion". Newshub. Retrieved 19 August 2019.

External links

• Profile on New Zealand Parliament website
• Profile on NZ First website

Political offices
Preceded by Peter Dunne	Minister of Internal Affairs 2017–2020	Succeeded by Jan Tinetti
Preceded by Maggie Barry	Minister for Seniors 2017–2020	Succeeded by Ayesha Verrall
Preceded by Anne Tolley	Minister for Children 2017–2020	Succeeded by Kelvin Davis
Party political offices
Preceded by Peter Brown	Deputy leader of New Zealand First 2013–2015	Succeeded by Ron Mark