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Hilary Calvert
List ACT MP From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Hilary Jane Calvert[1] (born 5 October 1954) is a lawyer and a former member of the New Zealand parliament for the ACT Party. Following the resignation of ACT MP David Garrett in September 2010, she assumed a position in the House of Representatives as the next MP on ACT's list.[2] In 2013 she was elected to the Dunedin City Council, after a failed campaign for mayor.[3] Calvert also served on the Otago Regional Council (ORC) between 2019 and 2022.[4] In 2025, Calvert was re-elected to the ORC as part of the Vision Otago ticket.[5] She subsequently became the Council's chairperson.[6]
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Early years
Before entering Parliament, Calvert was a Dunedin-based lawyer who specialising in property law.[7] She is a former member of the Otago Central Rail Trail Charitable Trust.[8]
Calvert is married to Alistair Broad and has three adult daughters.[9] Both Calvert and Broad are trained lawyers, but have given up their practising certificates. Calvert now manages her property portfolio.[9]
Political career
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In the 2008 general election, she was placed number six on the ACT party list and stood in the Dunedin North electorate where she got 1.8% of the votes.[10]
Parliamentary career, 2010–2011
David Garrett resigned as an ACT list MP over a passport controversy on 17 September 2010.[11] Garrett then resigned from Parliament on 23 September 2010 and Calvert was declared elected to the House of Representatives the next day.[2][12] While an MP, she served on several committees and was the ACT Party Whip.[13]
Calvert did not appear on the party list released for the 2011 general election.
Dunedin City Council, 2013–2016
She challenged incumbent Dave Cull for the Dunedin mayoralty in the 2013 local body elections and also sought a seat on the Dunedin City Council.[14] She contested these elections as an independent, unsure whether or not she was still a member of ACT.[15] While Calvert had no previous local government experience, she finished second to Cull in the mayoral election and was elected to Council with the highest number of first-preference votes.[15][16]
Otago Regional Council, 2019–2022, 2025–present
In the 2019 local elections, she won a seat on the Otago Regional Council (ORC).[17] While Calvert did not run for re-election to the Otago Regional Council during the 2022 regional election,[4] she contested the 2025 regional election as part of the fiscally conservative Vision Otago ticket.[18][19] In mid-October 2025, Calvert and incumbent councillors Michael Laws and Gary Kelliher were elected to the ORC on the Vision Otago ticket.[5]
On 29 October 2025, Calvert was unanimously elected as chair of the Otago Regional Council.[6] As chair of the ORC, Calvert implemented a new portfolio-based governance structure and assumed the strategy and customer portfolio alongside Laws.[20] Calvert also voted in favour of including local Māori mana whenua in the ORC's decision-making process.[20]
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Personal policies
Calvert does not agree with attempts to ban farming chickens in cages, saying "We care about people ahead of silly little chickens."[21]
Notes
- Normally, list MPs do not have individual predecessors or successors, but Garrett resigned during a sitting parliament and therefore was succeeded by Calvert.
References
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