Pacific Women MPs Inspired by PM Ardern
Pacific women MPs say New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is a real inspiration for them. Countries in the region have some of the worst records of women’s representation in Parliament in the world. Among the group visiting the Beehive this week were the only two women MPs in Tonga’s newly elected Parliament. One, the reelected MP for Vavau 16 Akosita Lavulavu echoed the sentiments of her colleague MPs from Fiji and Niue after a meeting with the Prime Minister on Tuesday morning.
“What I learned from her is you know you have to be yourself. She is herself and she has got everything prepared and she is ready to move New Zealand to a better place. And she is my inspiration as the youngest female MP in parliament she is a role model to me and not only to me but also to other women and I believe her experiences what she shared with us is something we can take back home,” said Akosita Lavulavu. New Zealand’s assistant parliamentary speaker and Labour MP Poto Williams met with the Pacific delegation on Monday. She said women MPs in New Zealand have a vital role to play in supporting current and aspiring women leaders in the Pacific region.
“It is not just about being members of parliament it is also about being clerks and it is about being speakers and its about you know flooding those spaces with women to create women friendly environments.
“When you have got parliaments around the Pacific where they have one or maybe no women its really really difficult to bolster the numbers because the infrastructure and the social infrastructure just isn’t there,” said Ms Poto Williams.
At least two of the visiting MPs are first time politicians, Tonga’s Losaline Ma’asi in particular said this was only her second week in the job and described being being able to observe the New Zealand parliament in action and speak to her counterparts in Wellington as an invaluable experience.
The Pacific delegation concluded their visit to New Zealand, under the auspices of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians.