Marian Hobbs

Hobbs was raised in Christchurch and was educated at St Dominic's College, Dunedin. Before entering politics, Hobbs worked as a teacher at Aranui High School and was the principal of Avonside Girls' High School in Christchurch. She helped to establish the Chippenham commune in Christchurch and is by religious affiliation a Friend (Quaker).[1] In 1993, Hobbs was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal.[2]

After leaving school she renounced her Catholic beliefs, later becoming a Quaker. At university she was a student radical and joined the Communist Party. Hobbs marched with HART in the 1981 Springbok tour to oppose Apartheid. After the tour she developed a strong interest in Māori issues and became fluent in the language. In May, 1996, she was offered the position of principal of Wellington Girls' College, but never ended up taking the job, instead moving into Parliament on the Labour list.[3]

Hobbs stood unsuccessfully in the 1994 Selwyn by-election where she came a distant third.[4] She contested the Kaikoura electorate in the 1996 election and came second to National Party's Doug Kidd, but entered Parliament via the Labour list, where she was ranked 12th.[5][6]

In the 1999 election, Hobbs won the Wellington Central electorate, defeating the incumbent member, ACT Party leader Richard Prebble.

After Labour's electoral victory in 1999, Hobbs joined the Cabinet, becoming Minister for the Environment, Minister of Biosecurity, Minister of Broadcasting, and Minister Responsible for the National Library of New Zealand and Archives New Zealand. In February 2001, she briefly resigned from Cabinet while an enquiry investigated her allowance-claims; she returned in late March after receiving official clearance.[7]

Following the 2002 General Election, Hobbs functioned as the Minister for the Environment, Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control, Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade with responsibility for Official Development Assistance, Associate Minister for Biosecurity, Associate Minister of Education, Minister Responsible for the National Library, Minister Responsible for Archives New Zealand, and Minister Responsible for Urban Affairs.

In 2004, Hobbs told Prime Minister Helen Clark that she did not expect to seek a post in Cabinet again after the 2005 election, and she made this decision public during the negotiations to form a government in October 2005.

As Minister of Broadcasting, Hobbs set a code of practice for New Zealand commercial radio, specifying that 20 percent of music played should have New Zealand origins. After resigning from Cabinet, Hobbs served briefly as Labour's party Vice-President.[8]

Hobbs held the Electorate seat of Wellington Central until the 2008 election. At the 2005 general election she retained her seat with a 6,180 majority over the National Party candidate, Mark Blumsky.[9] In March 2008, she became the Assistant Speaker of the House, after Ann Hartley resigned.

In December 2006 Hobbs announced (during a radio-interview) that she would not seek re-election at the 2008 general election, confirming much speculation to that effect. She signalled her intention to work as a teacher in the United Kingdom, in compensation for never having made a traditional working-holiday as a young woman.

She spent two years as the Headteacher at Prince William School in Oundle, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom.

Hobbs stood as a Labour candidate for the Otago Regional Council at the 2019 local elections and was successful.[10][11] On 23 October, she was elected as chair, with Michael Laws as her deputy.[12] In a vote on 8 July 2020, she lost the role and was replaced by councillor Andrew Noone.[13]