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 and Chris Finlayson. When National won 39.1% of the party vote, Wagner was elected as a list MP.
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." [9] 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." [1]
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. [10] 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. [10]
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. [11] 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. [12] However, in 2012 and 2013 she voted in support of the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill, which passed and legalised same-sex marriage in New Zealand. [13] [14] [15]
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. [10] In 2013 she was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery, Gerry Brownlee, and to the Minister of Conservation, Nick Smith. [16] In May 2014, Wagner became a Minister outside Cabinet, succeeding Maurice Williamson as Minister of Customs, Minister of Statistics, Associate Minister of Conservation, and Associate Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery. [17]
The boundaries of the Christchurch Central electorate were redrawn for the 2014 election. 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. [18] 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". [19] 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. [10]
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." [20]
After losing her seat in the 2017 election to Labour's Duncan Webb, she stayed on as a list MP, but decided not to stand again for the 2020 election. [21] 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. [10]
In 2024, Wagner was appointed a member of the Nelson Marlborough conservation board. [22]
