For release: 5 April 2018

New Zealand MPs elected to leading Inter-Parliamentary Union roles

New Zealand MPs have been elected to two significant roles at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the global body that brings together over 170 national parliaments.

President of the New Zealand Group of the IPU, Rt Hon Trevor Mallard, congratulated former Speaker Rt Hon David Carter MP and Deputy Speaker Anne Tolley MP on their election last week in Geneva.

Rt Hon David Carter was elected to the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians. The committee is a watchdog body within the IPU, which investigates and reports on human rights abuses against members of Parliament. Recently returned from a mission to the Maldives, and with a solid reputation in the IPU for fair arbitration and a commitment to human rights, Mr Carter was unanimously supported by the membership for this post.

“It is an honour for me and for New Zealand to be one of a committee of ten people, charged with protecting the rights of fellow Parliamentarians from around the world”, he said.

Deputy Speaker Anne Tolley was elected to the Bureau of the Women Parliamentarians. This body leads IPU’s work to increase women’s participation in political leadership and ensure the needs of women and girls are on global and domestic policy agendas. It was noted that this year, New Zealand is celebrating 125 years since New Zealand women were the first to win the right to vote and this made her election all the more significant.

“With New Zealand now achieving 40% women in our Parliament, this role gives me the opportunity to support the rest of the world to catch up,” she said.

Speaker, Rt Hon Trevor Mallard said, “Their elections are indicative of the respect the international parliamentary community have for New Zealand MPs promotion of rights and democratic ideals. I know that they will contribute hugely to the IPU and its membership to improve the lives of the citizens we serve”.

Learn more about the work of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians here.
Learn more about the work of the Bureau of Women Parliamentarians here.

ENDS

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