Jenny Marcroft

Jennifer Lyn Marcroft (born 1963) is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the New Zealand First party.

Jenny Marcroft

MP
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for New Zealand First party list
Assumed office
23 September 2017
Personal details
Born1963 (age 56–57)
Political partyNew Zealand First

Early life

Both Marcroft's parents died during her childhood leaving her an orphan at 16. She then lived with a violent step-father in Rotorua who motivated her to run away from home.[1] She is part Māori on her father's side and identifies as Ngāpuhi.[1] Marcroft's mother was a family friend of former Deputy-Prime Minister Don McKinnon, who supported her entry into politics.[1]

Broadcasting career

Marcroft had a career spanning over 30 years in the broadcasting industry, mostly reading the news on the radio for Independent Radio News, however she also read the news on television for TV3 at times.[2] During her career she worked to ensure her pronunciation of Māori names was correct, receiving criticism for doing so. During the 1990s as a newsreader she was told not to say "kia ora" at the beginning of bulletins, but decided to persist anyway.[1]

Political career

Member of parliament
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2017–present 52nd List 9 NZ First

In 2017 election Marcroft stood for New Zealand First in the Tāmaki electorate and was placed ninth on New Zealand First's party list.[3][2] She duly entered parliament via the party list.[4]

Following the formation of a Labour–led coalition government on 19 October 2019, Marcroft was designated as New Zealand First's spokesperson on the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), arts, culture and heritage, broadcasting, communication IT, conservation, environment, health and human rights. On 15 November 2017, she was appointed to Parliament's environment select committee. On 24 October 2018, Marcroft was appointed to Parliament's health select committee. On 30 June 2019, Marcroft was appointed to the Parliamentary Service Commission's artworks committee.[5]

On 23 October 2019, Marcroft successfully secured an amendment into David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill that the Government hold a binding referendum on decriminalising euthanasia. In justifying her call for a referendum on euthanasia, Marcroft stated that "this issue basically, directly affects the fabric of society and so we believe that temporarily empowered politicians … we alone should not decide on the bill." Parliament voted by a tight margin of 63 to 57 to incorporate the referendum amendment into the Bill.[6][7]

References
  1. Young, Audrey (2 January 2017). "Meet the backbencher: Jenny Marcroft". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  2. "Newsreader announced as NZ First candidate". NewsHub. 23 August 2017. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  3. "The NZ First Party list for the 2017 General Election". Scoop.co.nz. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  4. "Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  5. "Jenny Marcroft". New Zealand Parliament. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  6. Jancic, Boris (23 October 2019). "Euthanasia bill to go to referendum after knife-edge vote in Parliament". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  7. Cooke, Henry (23 October 2019). "Euthanasia referendum on the cards after tight vote in Parliament". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
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