Margaret Austin

Who is Margaret Austin?

Margaret Elizabeth Austin, CNZM is a former New Zealand politician. She was born in Dunedin on 1 April 1933.

She was an MP from 1984 to 1996, representing first the Labour Party and then briefly United New Zealand. Prior to this she was Senior Mistress at Riccarton High School.

She was first elected to Parliament in the 1984 elections as the MP for Yaldhurst, an electorate in western Christchurch. During her time in Parliament, Austin served as a Minister of Research and Development, Internal Affairs and of Arts, Culture and Heritage. She held the seat for the Labour Party until 1995 when the seat was abolished, in preparation for the changeover to MMP, and she joined with six other MPs to found the centrist United New Zealand Party. Like all United New Zealand MPs, however, Austin was not re-elected in the 1996 elections.

She later became Chancellor of Lincoln University.