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Story: Gender inequalities

New Zealand women leaders

New Zealand women leaders

During the early 2000s and late 2010s there was a concentration of women in 'top jobs'. Shown here in the grounds of Parliament in 2001 are Helen Clark, prime minister, and Dame Silvia Cartwright, who is about to be sworn in as governor-general. Dame Sian Elias was Chief Justice, and still held this position when Dame Patsy Reddy was sworn in as governor-general in 2016 and Jacinda Ardern became prime minister in 2017.

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by Barry Durrant

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How to cite this page

Anne Else, Gender inequalities – Politics and citizenship, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/28637/new-zealand-women-leaders (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Anne Else, published 26 April 2011.

Comments

Dr. Shirley Motleke Mahlase
18 July 2023
I would like to read about female leaders in New Zealand. I have been to New Zealand twice when I was a Chief Director in the South African government. I was impressed by the meritocratic society that New Zealand has become. I have not heard much about female leaders in New Zealand, a subject I am currently researching in South Africa. This will give me an opportunity to learn about how female leaders have fared within the New Zealand political system.