Darien Fenton
| Darien Fenton | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Labour party list |
|
|
In office 17 September 2005 – 20 September 2014 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 February 1954 |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Political party | Labour |
| Relations | Frederick Frost (grandfather) |
| Website | darienfenton.org.nz |
Darien Elizabeth Fenton (born 25 February 1954) is a New Zealand politician and was a Member of Parliament from 2005 until her retirement in 2014.
Fenton's grandfather, Fred Frost, was a Labour MP for New Plymouth from 1938 to 1943.
Fenton grew up in a Palmerston North state house. On her entry to parliament in 2005, a newspaper claimed that she might have the "most varied CV of any newcomer to Parliament", including extensive travels, and work as an extra in India in Bollywood movies and as an administrative research assistant to the Tower of London's master of armouries. In 2014 she admitted that her varied experiences in the 1970s had also left her with a heroin addiction, and that the New Zealand health-funded methadone programme '"...saved my life"'.
Before entering parliament she was active in the trade union movement, and held the offices of National Secretary of the Service & Food Workers Union Nga Ringa Tota (SFWU), and vice-president of the Council of Trade Unions. She is also the Vice-President of the Labour Party Union Affiliates Council.
Fenton stood as a list candidate for the Labour Party in the 2005 election, being ranked 43rd, and was elected to Parliament.
In 2006, her Minimum Wage and Remuneration Amendment Bill, which extended the minimum wage to contractors, was drawn from the member's ballot. The bill was sent to select committee, but the committee could not reach agreement on whether it should be passed. It was subsequently voted down by the National coalition government after the 2008 election.
...
Wikipedia