Agnes Loheni

Agnes Loreta Loheni (born 1972) is a New Zealand politician and a former Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the New Zealand National Party. She was declared elected on 31 January 2019, following the resignation of Chris Finlayson.

Agnes Loheni
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for National Party party list
In office
31 January 2019 – 17 October 2020
Preceded byChris Finlayson
Personal details
Born1972 (age 48–49)
Auckland, New Zealand
Political partyNational
Spouse(s)Ward Kamo
Children5

Early life and career

Loheni was born in 1972 in Auckland, spending her formative years in Mount Albert.[1] She lived in a state house with as many as 15 family members in just three bedrooms, and was educated at Marist College, Auckland.[2] Loheni is a Samoan New Zealander. She is the eldest daughter of Fepulea'i Pelasio Loheni and Filomena Mata'utia Loheni (Mena Loheni). She also has three sisters named Jackie, Gina and Charlene. Agnes, her mother Mena, and her sisters ran a local Samoan fashion brand called MENA.[3][4]

She is married and has five children.[1] Loheni has a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Auckland.[3] After graduating she had a two-year OE based in London and then returned to New Zealand where she focused on running the family business selling contemporary Pasifika fashion.[2]

Political career
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2019–2020 52nd List 49 National

In 2017 election Loheni stood for the National Party in the Māngere electorate and was placed 49 on National's party list.[5] She was defeated by the incumbent Labour Member of Parliament William Sio, who won by a margin of 14,597 votes.[6] Loheni was not ranked high enough on National's party list to be allocated a seat in parliament. In February 2018 Loheni and several other "next in line" list candidates attended National's parliamentary caucus meeting to help ease their transition into parliament should they enter during the course of the parliamentary term.[7]

Loheni became a Member of Parliament on 31 January 2019, following the retirement of National MP Chris Finlayson, and was sworn in on 12 February.[8][9] She was appointed as National's associate spokesperson for small business and associate spokesperson for Pacific people by leader Simon Bridges.[10][11]

In November 2019 she stood for the National nomination in the safer seat of Botany, but lost to former Air New Zealand CEO Christopher Luxon.[12] In May 2020 she indicated that she was seeking the National nomination for the new seat of Takanini,[13] but a month later the party announced Rima Nakhle as its candidate.[14] Loheni was instead selected to contest Māngere for a second time.[15]

During the 2020 New Zealand general election, Loheni contested Māngere a second time but was defeated by the Labour incumbent William Sio by a final margin of 19,396 votes.[16] Due to National's landslide defeat, Loheni lost her seat in Parliament since she did not rank highly on the party list.[17]

Views

Loheni has taken an anti-abortion stance. She served on the Abortion Legislation Select Committee to consider the Abortion Legislation Act 2020. Loheni wrote a minority report for the committee criticising the bill for what she considered its lack of safeguards on late-term abortions and foetal abnormalities.[18][19][20]

References
  1. "Getting candid with Agnes Loheni". Stuff. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  2. Cheng, Derek (29 January 2019). "Meet Parliament's new MP: Agnes Loheni, National Party list MP". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  3. "Agnes Loheni steps into political arena". Samoa Observer. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  4. "About Us". MENA. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  5. "National releases 2017 party list". New Zealand National Party. 30 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  6. "Māngere - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  7. "National caucus presents united front". Radio New Zealand. 8 February 2018. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  8. "New list MP for the New Zealand National Party". Electoral Commission. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  9. "Resignations, list member vacancy, & members sworn". Hansard. New Zealand Parliament. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  10. "National announces spokesperson for Drug Reform". National Party. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  11. Young, Audrey (22 January 2019). "Simon Bridges kicks off political year with reshuffle and a new job for deputy Paula Bennett". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  12. Block, George (4 November 2019). "National chooses former Air NZ boss Christopher Luxon as Botany MP candidate". Stuff. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  13. "National MP Sets Sights On Takanini Seat". Scoop. 12 May 2020.
  14. "Rima Nakhle National's Candidate In Takanini". Scoop. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  15. "National Selects Māngere And Manurewa Candidates". Scoop. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  16. "Māngere - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  17. Whyte, Anna (18 October 2020). "Analysis: The winners, losers, new faces and goodbyes of election 2020". 1 News. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  18. Dreaver, Charlie (14 February 2020). "Select committee delivers report on abortion Bill". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  19. Wade, Amelia (18 March 2020). "Abortion law reform passes third reading". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  20. Loheni, Agnes (15 February 2020). "Read MP Agnes Loheni's Minority Report on Labour's Abortion Bill". Voice for Life. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
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