Barbara Edmonds

Barbara Edmonds (born 1981) is a New Zealand politician. She was elected as the Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Mana, representing the Labour Party, in 2020. She served as the Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister for Pacific Peoples, Minister of Revenue and Minister for Economic Development in the final year of the Sixth Labour Government.

Background

Edmonds was educated at Carmel College, where she was head girl in 1998. Her school was next door to North Shore Hospital where members of her family were working in the kitchen, laundry and as cleaners. After a period studying physiotherapy and working for a private insurance company, she graduated with a conjoint degree of a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Auckland in 2008. She married Chris Edmonds, whom she met at age 16 and with whom she shares eight children. Edmonds was a parent elected member of the Board of Trustees of Mana College.

Edmonds is a specialist tax lawyer, and before entering Parliament, worked in both the private and public sectors. In 2016, she was seconded from Inland Revenue to work as a private secretary to Michael Woodhouse and Judith Collins, as National Party Ministers of Revenue. In 2017, she was appointed as a political adviser to Labour's revenue and police minister Stuart Nash.She received praise for her work on the Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines, and Parts) Amendment Bill, which was passed following the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings.