Vanushi Sitanjali Walters ( Rajanayagam; born August 1981) is a New Zealand lawyer and politician who served as Member of Parliament in the

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

for the Labour Party representing the

Upper Harbour Upper Harbour may refer to these various places in New Zealand: *Upper Harbour Bridge *Upper Harbour Local Board *Upper Harbour Motorway *Upper Harbour (New Zealand electorate) Upper Harbour is a parliamentary electorate in Auckland that returns ...

electorate from 2020 to 2023. She returned to Parliament as a Labour

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 ...

in May 2025, following the resignation of David Parker.

Early life

Walters was born in August 1981 in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. She is the great-granddaughter of

Ratnasothy Saravanamuttu Sir Ratnasothy Saravanamuttu (; born October 1886) was a Ceylon Tamil physician, politician and the first Mayor of Colombo. Early life and family Saravanamuttu was born in October 1886. He was the son of Vetharniam Saravanamuttu, a physician f ...

, a member of the

State Council of Ceylon The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It ...

and the first native

Mayor of Colombo The Mayor of Colombo is the elected head of the Colombo Municipal Council. The post was created in 1866 when the Colombo Municipal Council was established by the Legislative Council of Ceylon. The mayor is assisted by the deputy mayor and a Munic ...

, and

Naysum Saravanamuttu Luisa, Lady Naysum Saravanamuttu ( Arunachalam; 1897 – 19 January 1941) was a Ceylonese politician. She was the second female member of State Council of Ceylon and the second elected female legislator in Sri Lanka. She was married to Sir R ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

's second female MP. Her second cousin was the murdered Sri Lankan journalist and human rights activist

Richard de Zoysa Richard Manik de Zoysa (; ; 18 March 1958 – 18 February 1990) was a well-known Sri Lankan journalist, author, human rights activist and actor, who was abducted and murdered on 18 February 1990. His murder caused widespread outrage inside th ...

. At the age of five she moved to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, via

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, with her parents Jana Rajanayagam and Prithiva Rajanayagam (née Mather). Walters graduated with conjoint

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degrees from the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

in 2005, and earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

international human rights law International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law is primarily made up of treaties, ag ...

from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

Legal career

Walters is a

human rights lawyer International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law is primarily made up of treaties, ag ...

and has worked in private practice, the public sector and for

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

and community organisations. She was general manager for YouthLaw Aotearoa and a member of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

's International Board. She was a senior manager at the

Human Rights Commission A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights. The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nationa ...

and was a trustee of Foundation North.

Member of Parliament

At the Walters stood for parliament for the Labour Party in the electorate and was ranked 22nd on the

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 c ...

. She won the seat over

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

candidate Jake Bezzant by a final margin of 2,392 votes. She became New Zealand's first Sri Lankan-born MP. Walters delivered her maiden statement on 2 December 2020, announcing an intention to address racism, human rights injustices and climate change and listing Sir Bob Harvey, Chris Carter and

Lecretia Seales Lecretia Anne Seales (4 April 1973 – 5 June 2015) was a New Zealand lawyer who, upon suffering a brain tumour and enduring treatments for it, became an advocate of physician-assisted dying. Background Seales was born in 1973. She received her ...

as her mentors. During her first term in parliament she was deputy chair, and later chair, of the justice select committee. She led the New Zealand delegation to the 2023

International Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; , UIP) is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing g ...

meetings in

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

, where she drafted an emergency resolution condemning

Russia's invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, and

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

. At the 2023 election, Walters once again stood in but was defeated by National's

Cameron Brewer Cameron Eric Brewer (born 8 March 1973) is a New Zealand politician and former journalist. A member of the National Party, Brewer has been a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for Upper Harbour since 2023. He was previousl ...

by 11,192 votes. Walter's list placement was also too low to make it into parliament, making her one of the 14 first-term Labour MPs to lose their seat at the election. Following David Parker's resignation, Walters returned to Parliament as a

on 12 May 2025. She is the Labour Party shadow attorney-general and associate spokesperson on foreign affairs, and a member of the justice select committee.

Personal life

Walters is married to Rhys Walters and has three sons. She lives in

Titirangi Titirangi is a suburb of West Auckland, New Zealand, West Auckland in the Waitākere Ranges (local board area), Waitākere Ranges local board area of the city of Auckland in northern New Zealand. It is an affluent, residential suburb located t ...

, West Auckland.

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walters, Vanushi 1981 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand lawyers 21st-century New Zealand women politicians Alumni of the University of Oxford Human rights lawyers Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand Labour Party MPs New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates New Zealand people of Sri Lankan Tamil descent Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan lawyers Tamil politicians Sri Lankan Tamil women University of Auckland alumni Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2023 New Zealand general election 21st-century New Zealand women lawyers New Zealand list MPs