Louisa Wall

Louisa Hareruia Wall (born 17 February 1972) is the New Zealand Member of Parliament for Manurewa, having stood for the New Zealand Labour Party. She has represented New Zealand in both netball as a Silver Fern and rugby union as a member of the Black Ferns.

Louisa Wall

MP
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Manurewa
Assumed office
12 April 2011
Preceded byGeorge Hawkins
Majority8,374
Personal details
Born (1972-02-17) 17 February 1972
Taupo, New Zealand
NationalityNew Zealand
Political partyLabour
Rugby career
Rugby union career
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
1995–2001 New Zealand 16
Medal record
Representing  New Zealand
Women's rugby union
World Cup
1998 Amsterdam Rugby
Netball career
Years National team(s) Caps
1989–1992 New Zealand 28

Early and personal life

Born in Taupo, Wall has Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngati Hineuru and Waikato ancestry. She was named after her father's cousin Louis, who died on the day she was born.[1]

She attended secondary school at Taupo-nui-a-Tia College and earned qualifications from the Waikato Institute of Technologyand the University of Waikato (Certificate and Diploma in Sport and Recreation) and Massey University (Bachelor of Social Policy and Social Work; M. Phil (Social Policy)). She worked in the health field.[2] She is openly lesbian[3] and is a strong advocate for human rights.

Political career
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2008 48th List 46 Labour
2011 49th List 43 Labour
2011–2014 50th Manurewa none Labour
2014–2017 51st Manurewa 12 Labour
2017–present 52nd Manurewa 26 Labour

In the 2005 election Wall stood unsuccessfully in the Port Waikato electorate and occupied the 46th position on the Labour list.

Wall became a Labour Party member of parliament on 4 March 2008 to replace retiring list MP Ann Hartley. In the 2008 election, she unsuccessfully stood in Tāmaki Makaurau, against Māori Party leader Pita Sharples.

Wall returned to Parliament as a Labour List MP after Darren Hughes resigned, as she had been selected in December 2010 to represent Labour in Manurewa due to the retirement of George Hawkins. Serving in the 49th New Zealand Parliament,[4] she subsequently won the Manurewa electorate in the 2011 election and returned to the 50th New Zealand Parliament.[5] She continued to hold Manurewa by a comfortable margin in both the 2014 and 2017 elections.[6][7]

Wall was nominated by the Manurewa Local Electorate Committee for reselection as the Labour candidate for Manurewa at the 2020 general election. Arena Williams and Ian Dunwoodie challenged Wall for the party selection.[8] Dunwoodie had previously run for selection in 2010, but lost to Wall. Arena Williams, who was mentored by Grant Robertson, submitted her nomination after the advertised deadline. [9] The selection was scheduled to be held on 21 March 2020, but was delayed due to the late nomination of Arena Williams and a challenge by Ian Dunwoodie to the Local Electorate Committee participation on the Selection Panel. On 9 May 2020 the NZ Council of the Labour Party accepted Arena William's nomination and removed the Local Electorate Committee representation from the Selection Panel. Wall sought legal advice which she shared with the NZ Council and suggested internal resolution. However the NZ Council rescheduled the selection for 30 May and following discussions with the Party over the legal issues, Wall withdrew her nomination as a candidate for the Manurewa electorate to run as a list only candidate confirmed at number 29.[9]

In 2013 Wall lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission over two cartoons by Al Nisbet published by Fairfax NZ Ltd relating to the extension of the Government's breakfast in schools programme. The Human Rights Commission took no action and Wall referred the matter to the Human Rights Review Tribunal which found the cartoons insulting in their depiction of Maori and Pasifika but did not amount to a breach of s.61 of the Human Rights Act 1993. Wall appealed the decision which was the first time the High Court had considered s.61. While the High Court did not overturn the Tribunal's decision it found the cartoons were objectively offensive and observed there should be a cause for reflection by Fairfax and their editorial teams. The Court found Wall had raised important issues of public interest and no costs award was made.[10]

Same-sex marriage

In May 2012, Wall submitted a Bill to legalise same-sex marriage in New Zealand to the Member's bill ballot. it was subsequently drawn and introduced to Parliament in late July 2012.[11]

On 29 August 2012, the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill passed its first reading with a vote of 80–40. On 17 April 2013, the Bill was passed into law by 77 votes to 44, making New Zealand the 13th nation to allow same-sex marriage. The Bill came into effect on 19 August 2013, since then married same sex couples in New Zealand have been able to adopt children jointly.

At the third reading, Wall gave a speech[12] likening the passing of the Bill to Treaty of Waitangi settlement acts previously passed by the New Zealand Parliament.[13] She stated the passing of the Bill was like winning a "World Cup final".[14]

Sporting career

Wall was named in the Silver Ferns 1989 team, aged 17, having been an outstanding athlete and scholar at Taupo-nui-a-Tia College.[15]

Inspired by watching the All Blacks on TV with her father as a child, Wall made the Black Ferns in 1995. This team would go on to win the first ever Women's Rugby World Cup.[16] The team won their first game against Germany 134–6, and the final against the USA 44–12.[17]. In 1997 Wall was NZ Women's Player of the Year

Wall had been banned from playing at her dad's club as a girl at the age of 5. After winning the World Cup in 1998, she returned to New Zealand and gave her medal to her dad. On 30 November 2019 Wall was inducted into the Maori Sports Hall of Fame.

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References
  1. Hewitson, Michele (9 April 2011). "Michele Hewitson interview: Louisa Wall". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  2. "Louisa Wall's biography". New Zealand Labour Party. Archived from the original on 2 November 2008. Retrieved 2 November 2008.
  3. "MP Louisa Wall sworn in". Television New Zealand. 4 March 2008.
  4. "Louisa Wall back in Parliament". The New Zealand Herald. 6 April 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
  5. "Final Results for the 2011 New Zealand General Election and Referendum". New Zealand Parliament. 29 March 2012. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  6. "The 2014 New Zealand General Election: Final Results and Voting Statistics". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 19 September 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  7. "2017 General Election list of successful candidates" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  8. Fonseka, Dileepa (12 February 2020). "Labour's Louisa Wall faces challenge for Manurewa selection". Newsroom. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  9. "Labour's Louisa Wall pulls out of Manurewa selection". The New Zealand Herald. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  10. Wall v Fairfax New Zealand Limited [2018]NZHC 104
  11. Davison, Isaac; Shuttleworth, Kate (26 July 2012). "MP's to vote on gay marriage". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  12. "Wall introduces bill for last time". 3 News NZ. 17 April 2013.
  13. "MPs vote to legalise same sex marriage". Television New Zealand. 17 April 2013.
  14. "Vote like a 'World Cup final' – Wall". 3 News NZ. 18 April 2013. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  15. "Front and Centre at Taupo Netball Centre". Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  16. Little, Paul (21 July 2017). "Louisa Wall's most significant year of her life". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  17. "A brief history of the Women's Rugby World Cup". All Blacks. Archived from the original on 13 April 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by
George Hawkins		 Member of Parliament for Manurewa
2011–present		 Incumbent
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