Weekly Review No. 306 (1947)
Channel: Archives New Zealand
Date: 2012-09-20

New Zealand National Film Unit presents Weekly Review No. 306 (1947)

On May 13 1947 Mabel Howard became the first woman cabinet minister in New Zealand, when she was made Minister of Health and Minister in charge of Child Welfare in the Labour Government of 1946-1949.

Mabel Howard was born in Bowden, near Adelaide, Australia on 18 April 1894. She moved to New Zealand with her father (Ted Howard) and sisters after her mother, Harriett Garard Goring, died in 1903. Howard joined the Christchurch Socialist Party when still at the Christchurch Technical Institute. She entered the Trades Hall in 1911 as an office assistant for the Canterbury General Labourers' Union. In 1933, at the age of 39, she became the first woman to become secretary of a predominantly male union in New Zealand.

Between 1933 and 1968, Howard was a councillor for Christchurch City Council for a total of 19 years: 1933--1935, 1938--1941, 1950--1959 and 1963--1968. Howard also served on the Christchurch Drainage Board and North Canterbury Hospital Board. Her father, Ted Howard, was Member of Parliament for Christchurch South from 1919 until his death in 1939. Mabel Howard hoped to be chosen to stand for the 1939 by-election after her father's death, and although she had local support, the Labour Party chose Christchurch mayor Robert Macfarlane.

In 1943, Mabel Howard was elected Member of Parliament for Christchurch East at a by-election, becoming the fifth female MP. Howard became a Cabinet Minister only four years after entering Parliament. In 1947, she became Minister of Health and Child Welfare; the first woman Cabinet Minister in the Commonwealth outside of Britain. When the Labour Party was returned to office in 1957, Howard again achieved Cabinet rank as Minister of Social Security and Child Welfare and Minister in charge of Women and Children. Howard died in June 1972 and is buried with her father, Ted Howard, at Bromley Cemetery in Christchurch.

This film clip from Weekly Review 306, produced by the National Film Unit shows a speech Mabel Howard gave on her first day in Parliament as the first woman cabinet minister. The National Film Unit was established to publicise New Zealand's participation and achievements during the Second World War. After 1945 the Film Unit expanded from producing weekly newsreels to making documentaries and films to the order of Government Departments. During its existence the Film Unit produced films for national organisations as well as many films on its own initiative. The private film industry in New Zealand relied heavily on the National Film Unit's extensive film processing facilities.

For updates on our On This Day series and news from Archives New Zealand, follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/ArchivesNZ     
Material from Archives New Zealand
Film Censor's Certificate No. U14751 (11 July 1947) Release Date: 11.7.47

DV File of Beta SP Telecine (Tape 58) of 35mm film- 200,078

=======================

PARLIAMENT.... FIRST WOMAN MINISTER 140 ft. MASTERTON.... AID FOR EUROPE'S CHILDREN 55 ft. STORM.... FLOODS IN WAIRARAPA 101 ft. ELECTRIC POWER.... CRISIS IN SOUTH ISLAND