Marie Bernadine Hasler (born 1948) is a former New Zealand politician. She was a member of Parliament for the National Party from 1990 to 1993, and then again from 1996 to 2002.

Early life

Hasler was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. She came to New Zealand while young, and was educated at

Auckland University , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn ...

. Before entering politics, she was employed in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

, and also worked in the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

Member of Parliament

Hasler was first elected to Parliament in the 1990 election as MP for

Titirangi Titirangi is a suburb of West Auckland in the Waitākere Ranges local board area of the city of Auckland in northern New Zealand. It is an affluent, residential suburb located 13 kilometres (8 miles) to the southwest of the Auckland city centr ...

, but was defeated in the 1993 election by Labour's Suzanne Sinclair. In 1993, Hasler was awarded the

New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal The New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 was established by Royal Warrant on 1 July 1993. It was created to commemorate Women's suffrage in New Zealand and to recognize those New Zealand and Commonwealth citizens who had made a significant ...

. In the 1996 election, she returned to Parliament as MP for Waitakere when she in turn beat Sinclair. In the 1999 election, however, she was defeated by Labour's

David Cunliffe David Richard Cunliffe (born 30 April 1963) is a New Zealand management consultant and former politician who was Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from September 2013 to September 2014. He was Member of Parlia ...

in , although she remained in Parliament as a

list MP A list MP is a member of parliament (MP) elected from a party list rather than from by a geographical constituency. The place in Parliament is due to the number of votes that the party won, not to votes received by the MP personally. This occurs ...

. In the

2002 election The following elections occurred in the year 2002. * 2002 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2002 Comorian presidential election * 2002 East Timorese presidential election * 2002 Fijian municipal election * 2002 Hong Kong Chief Executive election * ...

, Hasler was only ranked thirty-second on National's

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

, and as she did not manage to win back Waitakere, she left Parliament.

Political views

In 1998, as Minister of Cultural Affairs, Hasler called for a debate on whether the New Zealand flag should change. Hasler said at the time that for some years she believed New Zealand's existing flag no longer caught the essence of contemporary New Zealand. She also argued that the flag is indistinguishable from the Australian flag, and that it reflects New Zealand's former colonial status. The then-

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Jenny Shipley Dame Jennifer Mary Shipley (née Robson; born 4 February 1952) is a New Zealand former politician who served as the 36th prime minister of New Zealand from 1997 to 1999. She was the first female prime minister of New Zealand, and the first woma ...

, supported Hasler's view that a new flag for New Zealand could be the

Silver fern flag A silver fern flag is any flag design that incorporates a silver fern, and is usually a white silver fern on a black background. The silver fern motif is associated with New Zealand, and a silver fern flag may be used as an unofficial flag of N ...

Later years

Hasler unsuccessfully stood as a Citizens & Ratepayers candidate on the Waitākere Ward of the

Auckland Council Auckland Council ( mi, Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau) is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is a ...

in the 2010 Local government elections.

Public relations manager

Hasler joined the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) after a 12-year political career as Member of Parliament for Waitakere, and Minister of the Crown. She has been with EMA since 2004, first as a learning contractor, before joining the membership team for a couple of years, followed by her appointment as Public Relations Manager.Movers & Shakers
''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspaper ...

'', 22 August 2006 Her role includes generating public awareness of EMA's role and activities within the business and wider community and promoting EMA's extensive range of services to members; providing PR support to EMA business units; public speaking engagements; liaison with media, and facilitating opportunities for lawmakers to hear the concerns of EMA members through forums, seminars and business events.

References

External links

New Zealand Executive – Profile of Marie Hasler
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasler, Marie 1948 births Living people New Zealand people of Irish descent New Zealand National Party MPs Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand list MPs Politicians from County Dublin Unsuccessful candidates in the 1993 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2002 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates 21st-century New Zealand politicians 21st-century New Zealand women politicians Recipients of the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993