Ruth Dyson

For the English keyboardist, see Ruth Dyson (keyboardist).

New Zealand Parliament

The Honourable Ruth Dyson QSO
Ruth Dyson in 2011
Assistant Speaker of the House of Representatives
In office 3 July 2019 –17 October 2020
Years	Term	Electorate	List	Party
1993 –1996	44th	Lyttelton			Labour
1996 –1999	45th	List	19		Labour
1999 –2002	46th	Banks Peninsula	15		Labour
2002 –2005	47th	Banks Peninsula	22		Labour
2005 –2008	48th	Banks Peninsula	14		Labour
2008 –2011	49th	Port Hills	14		Labour
2011 –2014	50th	Port Hills	5		Labour
2014 –2017	51st	Port Hills	none		Labour
2017 –2020	52nd	Port Hills	24		Labour

Dyson first entered Parliament in the 1993 election, winning the Lyttelton electorate against National's David Carter. ^[4] In the 1996 election, the Lyttelton electorate was abolished, and Dyson stood in Banks Peninsula, losing to Carter, who had in the meantime become an MP through winning the 1994 Selwyn by-election. She became a list MP owing to her position on the Labour Party's list. After the 1996 election Dyson was appointed Labour's spokesperson for ACC and Disability Services by leader Helen Clark. ^[5] In the 1999 election she in turn defeated Carter to win Banks Peninsula. She has remained the MP for the area (later renamed Port Hills) since that time, holding the seat until her retirement in 2020.

Dyson was a senior member of the Labour Party during the Helen Clark-led Fifth Labour Government, serving in a range of health and employment-related portfolios including Minister for Disability Issues (1999–2000; 2001–2008), Minister for ACC (2002–2007), Minister of Labour (2005–2007) and Minister for Social Development and Employment (2007–2008).

Fifth Labour Government, 1999–2008

When the Labour Party won power in the 1999 general election, Dyson was appointed to a number of minor ministerial roles, including Disability Issues and Associate Health and Associate Social Development. However, she resigned them on 31 October 2000 after being caught drink driving. ^[6] She regained most of her ministerial responsibilities on 4 June 2001. ^[7] She acknowledged after her resignation that she had been convicted and fined for possession of cannabis when she was a teenager stating "I find it sickening that some 25 years later someone has anonymously passed this information to journalists." ^[8]

As Minister for Disability Issues, she led the development of what would become the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006, which gave New Zealand Sign Language the status of an official language of New Zealand. In her valedictory statement in 2020, Dyson reflected on the Act: "I regret that it wasn't more prescriptive in its implementation, because its roll-out has been slower than it could have been. That should be fixed." ^[9]

In a reshuffle on 31 October 2007, Dyson was promoted to Minister for Social Development, which she held until the Clark government lost power at the 2008 general election. Despite the swing against Labour at that election, Dyson won the new Port Hills electorate with an increased margin. ^{[10] [11]}

Opposition, 2008–2017

The National Party won the 2008 election, putting Labour in Opposition where it would remain for the next nine years. During this time Dyson held a range of portfolios, including health (2008–2011), internal affairs (2011–2013), conservation and disability issues (2013–2015), Canterbury Earthquake Recovery (2013–2014) and senior citizens (2013–2017). ^{[12] [13]} She was also deputy chair of the Health select committee (2008–2011) and chair of the Government Administration select committee (2011–2017).

In December 2009 Dyson's Resource Management (Requiring Authorities) Amendment Bill, which would amend the Resource Management Act 1991 to reintroduce a public interest test for projects seeking requiring authority, was drawn from the member's ballot. ^[14] The bill was defeated at its first reading. ^[14]

Dyson was criticised in December 2015 for describing National's Speaker David Carter as "incompetent, biased... lazy [and] sexist" on Twitter. ^{[15] [16]}

Sixth Labour Government 2017–2020 and retirement

Dyson had been positioned to be Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives (to Trevor Mallard) if Labour won the 2017 general election. ^[17] While Labour was able to form a Government (in coalition with New Zealand First), the National Party's Anne Tolley was appointed as Deputy Speaker instead. Dyson was put in the role of Labour's Senior Whip. ^[18] However, when the Assistant Speaker Poto Williams was appointed as a Minister outside Cabinet in July 2019, Dyson was named as her replacement. ^[19]

Dyson was also chair of the Abortion Legislation Committee (a special select committee that examined the Abortion Legislation Bill) and a member of the Epidemic Response Committee (which considered the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic). ^[20]

In March 2019, Dyson indicated that she would not seek re-election at the 2020 general election. ^[21] While the Port Hills electorate was disestablished for that election, Labour's candidate for the replacement electorate of Banks Peninsula was Tracey McLellan. ^[22]

In the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours, Dyson was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order, for services as a member of Parliament and to people with disabilities. ^[23]

In March 2023, Dyson was accused of not being politically impartial in her roles as deputy chair of the Earthquake Commission and Fire and Emergency New Zealand as is the expectation of public servants and government-appointed board members. She admitted to not having read the code of conduct governing her position as a Crown entity board member. She said "I'm prepared to review all my social media engagement and reflect on whether it meets the standard. I haven't done that yet," She had written on Twitter "Oh no. It sounds like some cruel junior staffer gave Mr Luxon the wrong speech! #Waitangi2023," ^{[24] [25] [26] [27] [28]} Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said "I would certainly expect her to be reading it [Code of Conduct] ... my understanding is she has subsequently been in touch with the relevant minister's office to indicate she will read the code of conduct and she will follow it". ^[29]

References

1. Who's Who in the New Zealand Parliament 1996. Wellington: Parliamentary Service. 1996. p. 43.
2. Hewlett, Paul (4 September 1988). "Government sweeps clean at conference". Auckland Star . p. A3.
3. Espiner, Colin (25 July 1992). "Labour chooses Dyson for seat". The Press . p. 1.
4. Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). Chief Electoral Office. 1993.
5. Boyd, Sarah (20 December 1996). "'Govt in waiting' announced". The Evening Post . p. 2.
6. Small, Vernon (1 November 2000). "$9.50 cab ride would have saved Dyson". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 5 September 2009.
7. "Dyson gets all her portfolios back". Television New Zealand . 5 June 2001. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
8. "Dyson sickened by record leak – New Zealand News". NZ Herald. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
9. "Valedictory Statements—Dyson, Ruth". New Zealand Parliament.
10. Port Hills results 2008
11. Decision 08: Port Hills
12. "Dyson, Ruth – New Zealand Parliament". parliament.nz. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
13. Cairns, Lois (11 July 2013). "Two MPs to take over Dalziel's portfolio". Stuff . Retrieved 23 August 2013.
14. "Resource Management (Requiring Authorities) Amendment Bill". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
15. "Labour MP under fire for 'incompetent, lazy, sexist' Twitter comments". 1 NEWS. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
16. "Trauma, humiliation, pain and relief: Former ministers and MPs bow out of politics". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
17. "The Veteran: Ruth Dyson stands again for the Left". Stuff. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
18. Bracewell-Worrall, Anna (30 October 2017). "Ruth Dyson selected as Government whip". Newshub . Archived from the original on 30 October 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
19. "Refreshed Cabinet line-up confirmed". The Beehive. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
20. "Epidemic response". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
21. "Port Hills MP Ruth Dyson to stand down at next election". Stuff . 4 March 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
22. "Labour selects Tracey McLellan as 2020 Port Hills candidate". Stuff. 24 November 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
23. "Queen's Birthday honours list 2021". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 7 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
24. "Former Labour MP Ruth Dyson to 'review' social media over concerns about political tweets while in Fire and Emergency role". Newshub . Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
25. "Concerns formally raised over former minister's social media posts". 1 News. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
26. McConnell, Anna Whyte and Glenn (8 March 2023). "Steve Maharey breached impartiality rule but will keep jobs, as another chair faces scrutiny". Stuff. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
27. "Third senior public servant in trouble over anti-National social media comments". NZ Herald. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
28. "Former Labour MP Ruth Dyson caught up in political neutrality crackdown". RNZ . 8 March 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
29. "Steve Maharey will not lose jobs despite political comments - Hipkins". RNZ . 8 March 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023.

External links

• Parliamentary page
• Labour Party biography
• Port Hills Electorate website

New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Gail McIntosh	Member of Parliament for Lyttelton 1993–1996	Constituencies abolished
Preceded by David Carter	Member of Parliament for Banks Peninsula 1999–2008
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Port Hills 2008–2020
Political offices
Preceded by Lianne Dalziel	Minister for Senior Citizens 2003–2008	Succeeded by John Carter
	Minister for ACC 2002–2007	Succeeded by Maryan Street
Party political offices
Preceded by Rex Jones	President of the Labour Party 1988–1993	Succeeded by Maryan Street
Preceded by Kris Faafoi	Senior Whip of the Labour Party 2017–2019	Succeeded by Michael Wood