Hon Jenny Shipley

• Minister of Health
• Minister of Women's Affairs
• MP, Rakaia

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Biography
Jenny Shipley has been a senior Cabinet Minister in the National Government since 1990, holding the key portfolios of Social Welfare, Health and Womens Affairs.

Mrs Shipley is currently ranked fifth in the New Zealand Cabinet, holding the portfolios of Health and Womens Affairs. She was appointed the Minister of Health in 1993 and has had the responsibility for overseeing the radical reform of the delivery of publicly funded health care in New Zealand since that time. The purchasing and provision of health services was separated in a funder/provider split to initiate improvements in the effectiveness and efficiency in the health sector.

The overall strategy of the health reforms has been to ensure the most effective system of health delivery that will improve the health status of all New Zealanders.

As Minister of Health, Mrs Shipley has been responsible for legislative changes and initiatives such as the creation of a Health and Disability Commission which will be responsible for safeguarding patient rights.

Mrs Shipley has been Minister of Womens Affairs since 1990 and she is currently the only woman in the New Zealand Cabinet of 20 members. In the five years that she has been Minister of Womens Affairs she has actively promoted legislative changes that have greatly enhanced equal opportunity for women. Legislative initiatives include tough new pornography laws and domestic violence protection laws.

As Minister of Social Welfare between 1990 and 1993, Mrs Shipley oversaw the restructuring of New Zealands welfare system which realigned benefit payment levels to create greater equity between paid employment and benefit payments. The total Government-paid welfare fell from $11.1 billion to $9.8 billion in 1993 as a result of this restructuring. In association with this, the government department responsible for the delivery of welfare was completely restructured into three separate businesses. These changes have contributed significantly to New Zealands dramatically improving economic and social performance.

Mrs Shipley was first elected to Parliament in 1987 for the Ashburton seat. The electorate is now known as the Rakaia Electorate.

In Opposition Mrs Shipley has been the Associate Spokesperson for Education and Social Welfare and has served on a number of Select Committees, including production and productivity and education and science. She has a background in Education and Agriculture.

She is married to Burton Shipley and they have two children, Anna and Ben.