Sarah Jean Pallett is a New Zealand politician and the current

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

for Ilam in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

for the Labour Party.

Early life and career

Pallett was born in

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey ...

and spent her early years in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Her mother died of breast cancer when Pallett was 21. She came to New Zealand with her husband and two daughters. Since divorced, she was a midwife for 10 years, working as a rural midwife and then at

Christchurch Women's Hospital Christchurch Hospital is the largest tertiary hospital in the South Island of New Zealand. The public hospital is in the centre of Christchurch city, on the edge of Hagley Park, and serves the wider Canterbury region. The Canterbury District Heal ...

. She became a midwifery lecturer at

Ara Institute of Canterbury Ara Institute of Canterbury, often simply referred to as Ara, is an institute of technology in Canterbury, New Zealand. It was formed in 2016 from the merger of Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) and Aoraki Polytechnic. Ara ...

, and also served as president of the majority union of academic staff at Ara.

Political career

Pallett founded and later chaired the Canterbury Women's Branch of the Labour Party. During the , Pallett won the seat of by a final margin of 3,463 votes, ousting incumbent National Member of Parliament

Gerry Brownlee Gerard Anthony Brownlee (born 4 February 1956) is a New Zealand politician of the New Zealand National Party. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1996, was Leader of the House, Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery and Minister of ...

. Dominic Harris of news website ''

Stuff Stuff, stuffed, and stuffing may refer to: *Physical matter *General, unspecific things, or entities Arts, media, and entertainment Books *''Stuff'' (1997), a novel by Joseph Connolly *''Stuff'' (2005), a book by Jeremy Strong Fictional cha ...

'' called it "perhaps the most unlikely of election night coups". Pallett voted for cannabis reform in the

2020 New Zealand cannabis referendum The 2020 New Zealand cannabis referendum was a non-binding referendum held on 17 October 2020 in conjunction with the 2020 general election and a euthanasia referendum, on the question of whether to legalise the sale, use, possession and produ ...

and for the

End of Life Choice Act 2019 The End of Life Choice Act 2019 is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand that seeks to give people with a terminal illness the option of receiving assisted dying. The Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Health confirmed that, "The Bill uses “a ...

to come into force in the

2020 New Zealand euthanasia referendum The New Zealand End of Life Choice referendum was a binding referendum held on 17 October 2020, with early voting taking place from 3 October, in conjunction with the 2020 general election and cannabis referendum, on the question of whether t ...

. Pallett said after her election that she felt it was “really time to move forward” on cannabis leglisation and that the law disproportionately affected Māori and Pasifika. In 2021 she expressed support for a student-led campaign for discounted bus fares in Canterbury. Pallett is a member of the Health Select Committee and Deputy Chairperson of the Petitions Select Committee.

Personal life

Pallett was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 36, but was diagnosed early and survived it stating she is "one of the lucky ones". Pallett lives in Ilam with her husband Andy, whom she married on 9 July 2021 in the halls of parliament. Her son-in-law, Matthew Grace, was her campaign manager.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pallett, Sarah Living people Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates 21st-century New Zealand politicians 21st-century New Zealand women politicians Jersey expatriates Jersey emigrants to New Zealand Candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election Candidates in the 2023 New Zealand general election Year of birth missing (living people)