Howard, Mabel (1894-1972), became the first female Cabinet minister in New Zealand in 1947. She was the first woman in the Commonwealth of Nations outside the United Kingdom to be appointed to such a post.
Howard was elected to Parliament as a Labour Party politician in 1943. She held Cabinet posts relating to social welfare between 1947 and 1949 and between 1957 and 1960. Howard is remembered as the champion of the elderly, the infirm, and the underprivileged. She was the architect of New Zealand’s first animal protection act.
Mabel Howard was born on April 18, 1894, in Adelaide, South Australia. She retired from politics in 1969. She died in Christchurch, New Zealand, on June 23, 1972.
