This story is from Stuff
Current and former women Parliamentarians have come together to celebrate achieving a 50/50 gender split in Parliament, for the first time in New Zealand history.
Current MPs and an array of former women MPs posed for photos to mark the occasion on Wednesday. The mood was jovial and chatty, with Stuff photojournalist Robert Kitchin creating the shots in the Parliamentary library.
The images mirror a 1905 photo in the library of an all-male MP line-up, which was recreated in 2018 for Suffrage Day.
The first photo taken on Wednesday included all the former female MPs who were able to attend, including former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, the second was current and former female MPs, and the third was female MPs from Parliament who could make it.
Parliament saw women outnumber men for the first time on October 25 when new MP Soraya Peke-Mason was sworn in.
Prior to Peke-Mason’s swearing in, Parliament held an equal number of men and women after Gaurav Sharma announced his resignation earlier in October – bringing the split down to 59-59.
Peke-Mason’s arrival brought it to 60 women and 59 men. She was the 177th woman to enter Parliament.
Parliament firsts
Elizabeth McCombs was the first woman to enter Parliament in 1933.
Iriaka Rātana entered Parliament in 1949 and was sworn in the next year as the first wahine Māori MP. Rātana was also the first MP to give birth in December 1949.
Whetū Tirikātene-Sullivan was the first Cabinet Minister to give birth in 1974. Four years earlier, she was the first MP to give birth during a Parliamentary term, returning with her baby two weeks after.
Helen Clark was the first woman to be deputy prime minister, leader of the Opposition and hold the role as acting prime minister.
Pansy Wong was the first Asian MP to enter Parliament in 1996.
Dame Jenny Shipley held the role of first female prime minister in 1997 and Ruth Richardson was the first female finance minister in 1990.
Dame Catherine Tizard was the first female governor-general in 1990, while Margaret Wilson was the first female Speaker in 2005.
The first Pacific Island woman MP was Luamanuvao Dame Winnie Laban in 1999.
Jacinda Ardern was the first prime minister to give birth while in office in 2018.
