Nicky Wagner
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Nicola Joanne Wagner (born 23 July 1953) is a former New Zealand politician. After a career in teaching and business, she was a
National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...
member of the
New Zealand House of Representatives The House of Representatives () is the Unicameral, sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes Law of New Zealand, laws, provides Ministers in the New Zealand Government, ministers to form the Cabinet of New Zealand, Cabinet, ...
from 2005 to 2020, when she retired. Wagner represented the
Christchurch Central Christchurch Central is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the South Island city of Christchurch. The electorate was established for the 1946 election and, until 2011 had always been won by the Labour Party. Since 2008, the incumbent ...
electorate from 2011 to 2017. Between 2014 and 2017, she was Minister of Customs, Minister for Disability Issues, Minister supporting Greater Christchurch Regeneration.


Early life and career

Born in
Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
, one of three children to a teacher mother and engineer father, Wagner grew up in Cashmere. Her early education was at Burnside Primary School and St Margaret's College. She received a teaching degree from
Christchurch College of Education The Faculty of Education is a faculty of the University of Canterbury. Formerly the Christchurch College of Education, It was founded in 1877, and in 2007 it was merged with the university and became a fully fledged faculty. The educationalist ...
, a BA from the
University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...
, and an
MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...
from
Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...
. After working for a time as a teacher, she entered the business world, and established a successful fashion marketing company and later an internet marketing business. She was an internet pioneer establishing firstly FashioNZ (a website to support the New Zealand fashion industry) and then GardenNZ. She has two children.


Political career


Early political campaign

Wagner was selected as the
National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...
candidate in
Christchurch Central Christchurch Central is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the South Island city of Christchurch. The electorate was established for the 1946 election and, until 2011 had always been won by the Labour Party. Since 2008, the incumbent ...
for the 2002 general election, and ranked at 37th on the party list. She lost convincingly to the incumbent, Tim Barnett, and National's overall poor result meant she was not elected as a
list MP A list MP is a member of parliament (MP) elected from a party list rather than a geographic electoral district. The place in Parliament is due to the number of votes the party won, not to votes received by the MP personally. This occurs only in ...
.


Local government

Environment Canterbury Environment Canterbury, frequently abbreviated to ECan, is the promotional name for the Canterbury Regional Council. It is the regional council for Canterbury, the largest region in the South Island of New Zealand. It is part of New Zealand's ...
(ECan) councillor Peter Yeoman died in October 2002. Soon after, councillor Neil Cherry resigned shortly over health concerns. Both councillors had represented the Christchurch West constituency. The by-election to fill the vacancies was held in April 2003 and won by Wagner and former
National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...
Member of Parliament
Alec Neill Alexander George Neill (born 22 July 1950 in Dunedin, New Zealand) is a former New Zealand politician. He was a member of parliament for the National Party on three non-consecutive occasions between 1990 and 2002 and was later a member of the ...
. When Wagner received a high list ranking for the 2005 general election, there was concern whether she could do justice to both being a regional councillor and a member of parliament. Wagner was elected to Parliament in retired from ECan at the 2007 local elections.


Member of Parliament

Wagner was re-selected for National in Christchurch Central in the 2005 general election and given an improved list rank of 28. This was the third-highest placement for candidates who were not already members of Parliament, behind
Tim Groser Timothy John Groser (born 6 March 1950) is a New Zealand former politician and diplomat. A member of the New Zealand National Party, Groser was a Member of Parliament between 2005 and 2015. He held the offices of Minister of Trade, Minister of ...
and
Chris Finlayson Christopher Francis Finlayson (born 1956) is a New Zealand lawyer and former Member of Parliament, representing the National Party. He was elected to Parliament in 2005. In the Fifth National Government, from 2008 to 2017, he was Attorney-G ...
. When National won 39.1% of the party vote, Wagner was elected as a
list MP A list MP is a member of parliament (MP) elected from a party list rather than a geographic electoral district. The place in Parliament is due to the number of votes the party won, not to votes received by the MP personally. This occurs only in ...
. Prior to her election, Wagner had endorsed the NZ Flag.com Trust's campaign for a referendum on New Zealand's flag, stating "Our flag should celebrate our nation's identity and our special foot-print on this earth. We will always respect and cherish our links with the past that are represented in our present flag but a young country needs to create a strong vision for its future." In her maiden statement, delivered on 22 November 2005, Wagner said: "Strong countries built this country, but we, the present generation, are free-riding on the efforts of those who have gone before." In Wagner's first term in Parliament she sat on the Justice and Electoral select committee from 2005 to 2008 and, the final two months of the term, the Local Government and Environment committee. At the 2008 election, in which she lost in her electorate to new Labour candidate Brendon Burns, Wagner reduced Labour's majority by nearly 7,000 votes but was returned for a second term as a list MP. In her second term, she was deputy chair of the Local Government and Environment committee and also sat on the Health committee and the Emissions Trading Scheme Review committee. Wagner had a mostly conservative voting record on social issues. In 2005, she voted for the Marriage (Gender Clarification) Amendment Bill, a bill which would have amended the Marriage Act to define marriage as only between a man and a woman. In 2009, she voted against the Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill, a bill aimed at amending the Misuse of Drugs Act so that cannabis could be used for medical purposes. However, in 2012 and 2013 she voted in support of the
Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill The Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013 is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand, which since 19 August 2013, allows same-sex couples to legally marry. The Act was proposed as a member's bill by MP Louisa Wall in May 2012, and ...
, which passed and legalised same-sex marriage in New Zealand. At the 2011 election, the contest in Christchurch Central was tied on election night. Special votes, counted later, gave Wagner a 47-vote majority. This marked the first time National had ever held the Christchurch Central electorate since its creation in 1946. In her third term, Wagner chaired the Local Government and Environment committee and sat on the Māori Affairs committee. In 2013 she was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery,
Gerry Brownlee Gerard Anthony Brownlee (born 4 February 1956) is a New Zealand politician and the 32nd speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. He was first elected as a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for Ilam (New Zealand elec ...
, and to the Minister of Conservation, Nick Smith. In May 2014, Wagner became a Minister outside Cabinet, succeeding
Maurice Williamson Maurice Donald Williamson (born 6 March 1951) is a New Zealand politician and former diplomat. Williamson had a 30-year career as the National Party Member of Parliament for Pakuranga in the New Zealand House of Representatives. During this p ...
as Minister of Customs, Minister of Statistics, Associate Minister of Conservation, and Associate Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery. The boundaries of the Christchurch Central electorate were redrawn for the . When the draft boundaries were published for consultation, Wagner declared the electorate as more Labour-focussed and "unwinnable" due to the proposed loss of more affluent suburbs. However, she stood again and won an improved majority of 2,420. During the election period Wagner defended employing Simon Lusk, a controversial political strategist mentioned in '' Dirty Politics'', claiming New Zealand's grassroots campaigning is "very much amateurish". After the election, she was reappointed to the ministry as Minister of Customs, Minister for Disability Issues, Associate Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery, and Associate Minister of Conservation. She became an associate minister in the health and tourism portfolios in December 2016. In a May 2017 reshuffle, she relinquished the customs portfolio and became Minister supporting Greater Christchurch Regeneration. On 14 June 2017, Wagner made a comment on Twitter that she'd "rather be out on the harbour" while mentioning that she was attending disability meetings, attracting online criticism. Labour and Green politicians commented on the issue, stating "It really makes me question her commitment to the disability community if she'd rather be out on the harbour than in meetings with them." After losing her seat in the 2017 election to Labour's
Duncan Webb Duncan Alexander Webb (born 1967) is a former law professor in New Zealand and now a politician. He was elected as a Member the New Zealand House of Representatives for Christchurch Central, representing the Labour Party, in the 2017 general ...
, she stayed on as a list MP, but decided not to stand again for the 2020 election. She was the National Party opposition spokesperson for disability issues from November 2017 to March 2018, and for arts, culture and heritage and greater Christchurch regeneration from March 2018 to February 2020. In 2024, Wagner was appointed a member of the Nelson Marlborough conservation board.


References


External links


Nicky Wagner MP
official site
Profile
at National party {{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Nicky 1953 births Living people New Zealand National Party MPs University of Canterbury alumni Massey University alumni New Zealand women in business Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand list MPs New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives 21st-century New Zealand women politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 2002 New Zealand general election Candidates in the 2011 New Zealand general election Candidates in the 2014 New Zealand general election Candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election Christchurch College of Education alumni Canterbury regional councillors