Rona Stevenson
Rona Miriel Stevenson MBE JP (13 February 1911 – 4 September 1988) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party.
New Zealand Parliament | ||||
Years | Term | Electorate | Party | |
1963–1966 | 34th | Taupo | National | |
1966–1969 | 35th | Taupo | National | |
1969–1972 | 36th | Taupo | National |
Born in Wellington in 1911, she served on the executives of the Women's Division of Federated Farmers, the YWCA and the Presbyterian Church.[1]
She represented the Taupo electorate from 1963 to 1972, when she retired.[2] In the 1966 election, she narrowly beat (by 258 votes) Labour's Barry Gustafson.[3] The Taupo seat was a marginal one and the women's section of the National Party raised a large sum of money to ensure her re-election.[4] Also in 1966 she also called for the names of women in 'so-called rape cases' to have their names published on the grounds that they may have been provocative, a move that may not have gained her support from women voters.[4]
Stevenson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the community, in the 1976 Queen's Birthday Honours.[5] She died on 4 September 1988, and her ashes were buried at Taupo Public Cemetery.[6]
Notes
- Gustafson 1986, p. 344.
- Wilson 1985, p. 236.
- Gustafson 1986, p. 91.
- Wallace, Sandra (1993). "Members for Everywoman? The campaign promises of women parliamentary candidates" (PDF). NZJH. 27 (2): 187–98.
- "No. 46921". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 12 June 1976. p. 8057.
- "Deceased details". Taupō District Council. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
References
- Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand parliamentary record, 1840–1984 (4 ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Women in Parliamentary Life 1970–1990: Hocken Lecture 1993 by Marilyn Waring, page 35 (Hocken Library, University of Otago, 1994) ISBN 0-902041-61-4