Ingrid Leary

Ingrid Leary (born 1967 or 1968) is a New Zealand politician. In 2020 she was elected as a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the Labour Party.

Early life and career

Leary completed secondary schooling at Macleans College in Auckland before studying law at the University of Otago. She worked as a lawyer, parliamentary press secretary, university lecturer and broadcaster before entering Parliament. She helped to set up the journalism school in the University of the South Pacific in 1997, and lectured there on journalism. When she resigned in 1999 to take up a role in TV production in New Zealand, she was critical of the Fiji government's approach to the media.

In 2009, as a producer for Campbell Live, Leary was summonsed by the New Zealand Police to appear before a depositions hearing about the theft of 96 medals from the National Army Museum in Waiouru. Campbell Live had broadcast an interview with a man who claimed to have participated in the burglary; the police sought the identity of the programme's informant. Lawyers for Leary and four other staff argued that journalists should not have to reveal sources unless the circumstances were exceptional, because it could discourage potential future sources from coming forward, and that the threshold for this was not met in that case. Judge Tony Randerson decided that public interest in a successful prosecution outweighed a journalist's right to protect a source; Campbell Live presenter John Campbell later agreed to assist police without naming his source.

Leary was press secretary for National MP Maurice Williamson, and she later served as the director of the British Council New Zealand from 2008 to 2020.

Fabian connection

Ingrid Leary with Craig Renny.

Environment Labor

Ingrid Leary, Steve Walker, Rachel Brooking, David Clark.

Clare Curran connection

Ingrid Leary with Clare Curran.

2021 Worker Memorial Day

Steve Walker, Ingrid Leary, Christine Garey, Rachel Brooking, Ricardo Menendez March, Marian Hobbs.

Trotskyist connections

Pay Equity protest

May 10, 2025, in Dunedin, members from unions across a variety of sectors including First Union, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation and the Public Service Association gathered in the Exchange to stand in solidarity against the amendment to the Equal Pay Act.

Speakers from the unions and Labour MPs Ingrid Leary and Rachel Brooking led the chants.

PSA organiser Jen Wilson said the rally was a fairly spontaneous uprising of anger and disgust by women and people who cared about women.

She could not believe the Pay Equity Amendment Bill was passed on Wednesday.

"I was shocked."

The changes were not about equity and were about making cuts for the Budget, she argued.

Although the process was not perfect it had been delivering pay increases and gender fair pay to women over the past few years.

"For some claimants it will be impossible to make a payment successfully".

Dunedin Workers Memorial

Scott Willis, Rachel Brooking, Ingrid Leary, Andrew Tait.

Thank you Unions Otago

Tangihaere Gardiner connection

Ingrid Leary with Tangihaere Gardiner.

'Thank you International Socialists'

'Stand by your Trans'

Oscar Bartle, International Socialist Organisation, NZ, Rachel Anne Hannan, Ingrid Leary.

Hannan connections

Ingrid Leary is very close to her good friend Otago socialist Rachel Anne Hannan.

Close friends

Campaign supporter

'Buller Declaration'

Ingrid Leary, Rachel Anne Hannan.

Rachel Anne Hannan, Ingrid Leary.

Helping Southern Socialists

Arena Williams, Ingrid Leary, David Parker, Rachel Anne Hannan, Chris Hipkins, Rachel Brooking, Barbara Edmonds.

Dining comrades

Living Wage Aotearoa

Jan Tinetti March 31, 2025.

Ingrid Leary, Reuben Davidson, Camilla Belich, Jan Tinetti.

'Take Cuba off the List'

In 2024, New Zealand MPs Celia Wade-Brown, Arena Williams, Hon Phil Twyford, Ingrid Leary, Megan Woods, Teanau Tuiono, signed a Progressive International letter to 'Take Cuba off the List'.

We, the undersigned parliamentarians from across the globe, condemn the designation of Cuba as a “state-sponsor of terrorism” and call on our respective governments to take immediate action to advocate for its removal.

The United Sates’ designation of Cuba as a “state-sponsor of terrorism” is cynical, cruel, and a clear violation of international law....

With this letter, we underline the urgency of removing Cuba from the list of “state-sponsors of terrorism” in the name of dignity, decency, and the integrity of the UN Charter — and call on our governments to use all diplomatic means to redress this grave ongoing injustice.

Myanmar connection

Ingrid Leary with Aung Myo Min.

Ingrid Leary, Phil Twyford, Aung Myo Min, Priyanca Radhakrishnan, Rachel Boyack, Jenny Salesa.