Hon Maggie Barry
National MP
Maggie was first elected as the Member of Parliament representing North Shore in 2011 and re-elected in 2014 and 2017. She now holds the National Party spokesperson roles for Seniors, Veterans, and Associate Health, and is the Deputy Chair of the Justice Select Committee. She also served three years as a Minister inside Cabinet with responsibilities for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Conservation, and Seniors.
Prior to becoming an MP, Maggie had a 30-year career in the media as a radio and television news and current affairs presenter and interviewer. Building on her horticulture studies at Lincoln, she was the presenter and co-producer of the popular and long-running “Maggie’s Garden Show” and was honoured to have a hybrid tea rose named after her by internationally renowned rose breeder Sam McGredy. Maggie was appointed to the Order of NZ Merit for services to broadcasting in the 1996 New Years Honours.
A senior feature writer for the Listener magazine for five years, in 2009 Maggie was named best senior feature writer at the Qantas Journalism Awards and won the Helen Paske Award the same year for her extensive piece on Sir Edmund Hillary, his final interview which was published after his death.
Maggie lives in the historic suburb of Devonport on Auckland's North Shore with her husband Grant, a lawyer and avid collector of contemporary New Zealand photography. Her son Joe is a university student.