100 Notable alumni of
Victoria University of Wellington
Updated:
The Victoria University of Wellington is 367th in the world, 8th in Oceania, and 2nd in New Zealand by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from the Victoria University of Wellington sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Taika Waititi
- Occupations
- voice actoractorcomediandirectorfilm actor
- Biography
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Taika David Cohen ONZM, known professionally as Taika Waititi, is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian. He has received various accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Grammy Award. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022.
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Karl Urban
- Occupations
- television actorstage actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Karl-Heinz Urban is a New Zealand actor. His career began with appearances in New Zealand films and television series such as Xena: Warrior Princess. His first Hollywood role was in the 2002 horror film Ghost Ship. Since then, he has starred in many high-profile movies, including as Éomer in two films of The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2002–2003), Vaako in two films of the Riddick film series (2004–2013), Leonard McCoy in the Star Trek reboot film series (2009–2016), Kirill in The Bourne Supremacy (2004), John "Reaper" Grimm in Doom (2005), Judge Dredd in Dredd (2012), Gavin Magary in Pete's Dragon (2016), and Skurge in Marvel Studios' Thor: Ragnarok (2017). In 2013, he starred in the sci-fi series Almost Human. Since 2019, he has starred as Billy Butcher in Amazon Prime Video's superhero streaming television series The Boys and voiced a character in The Sea Beast.
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Sam Neill
- Occupations
- film actorfilm directortelevision actoractorwinegrower
- Biography
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Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill is a New Zealand actor. His career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he is regarded as one of the most versatile actors of his generation.
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Melanie Lynskey
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Melanie Jayne Lynskey is a New Zealand actress. Known for her portrayals of complex women and her command of American accents, she works predominantly in independent films and television. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including three Critics' Choice Awards and nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards.
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John Money
- Enrolled in the Victoria University of Wellington
- In 1944 graduated with Master of Arts in philosophy and psychology
- Occupations
- university teacherpsychologistsexologist
- Biography
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John William Money was a New Zealand American psychologist, sexologist and professor at Johns Hopkins University known for his research on human sexual behavior and gender.
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Jane Campion
- Occupations
- screenwriterdirectorfilm directorfilm produceractor
- Biography
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Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion DNZM is a New Zealand filmmaker. Best known for her feature films with themes of rebellion and often focused on women in leading roles who are outsiders in society, Campion is regarded as one of the prominent female filmmakers in women's cinema.
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Bret McKenzie
- Occupations
- comediantelevision producervoice actormusic supervisorfilm screenwriter
- Biography
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Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie ONZM is a New Zealand musician, comedian, music supervisor, and actor. He is best known as one half of musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords along with Jemaine Clement. In the 2000s, the duo's comedy and music became the basis of a BBC radio series and then an oft-lauded American television series, which aired for two seasons on HBO. Active since 1998, the duo released their most recent comedy special, Live in London, in 2018.
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Fran Walsh
- Occupations
- film producerscreenwritercomposerlyricistsongwriter
- Biography
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Dame Frances Rosemary Walsh DNZM is a New Zealand screenwriter and film producer.
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Alexander Gerst
- Enrolled in the Victoria University of Wellington
- In 2003 graduated with Master of Science
- Occupations
- geophysicistvolcanologistastronaut
- Biography
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Alexander Gerst is a German European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut and geophysicist, who was selected in 2009 to take part in space training. He was part of the International Space Station Expedition 40 and 41 from May to November 2014. Gerst returned to space on 6 June 2018, as part of Expedition 56/57. He was the Commander of the International Space Station. He returned to Earth on 20 December 2018. After the end of his second mission and before being surpassed by Luca Parmitano in 2020, he held the record for most time in space of any active ESA astronaut (362 days), succeeding Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli, and German ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter, who formally held the record for the longest time in space for any active or retired ESA astronaut.
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Costa Ronin
- Occupations
- actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Konstantin "Costa" Ronin is a Russian-born Australian actor and cinematographer, best known for appearances in Red Dog, as Gregorovich on the SBS drama East West 101, as Oleg Igorevich Burov in the FX drama The Americans and as Yevgeny Gromov on Homeland.
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Chris Hipkins
- Occupations
- politicianpolitical candidate
- Biography
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Christopher John Hipkins is a New Zealand politician who has served as leader of the New Zealand Labour Party since January 2023 and leader of the Opposition since November 2023. He was the 41st prime minister of New Zealand from January to November 2023, previously serving as the minister for the public service and minister for education from 2017 to 2023, and the minister for health and the COVID-19 response from 2020 to 2022. He has been the member of Parliament (MP) for Remutaka since the 2008 general election.
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Bill English
- Occupations
- farmerpolitician
- Biography
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Sir Simon William English KNZM is a New Zealand former politician who served as the 39th prime minister of New Zealand from 2016 to 2017 and leader of the National Party from 2001 to 2003 and 2016 to 2018. He had previously served as the 17th deputy prime minister of New Zealand and minister of finance from 2008 to 2016 under John Key and the Fifth National Government.
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Patsy Reddy
- Occupations
- academiclawyer
- Biography
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Dame Patricia Lee Reddy GNZM CVO QSO DStJ is a New Zealand lawyer and businesswoman who served as the 21st governor-general of New Zealand from 2016 to 2021.
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Anthony McCarten
- Occupations
- film directorjournalistwriternovelistfilm producer
- Biography
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Anthony McCarten is a New Zealand writer and filmmaker. He is best known for writing big-budget biopics The Theory of Everything (2014), Darkest Hour (2017), Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), The Two Popes (2019), and Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022). McCarten has been nominated for four Academy Awards, including twice for Best Adapted Screenplay, for The Theory of Everything and The Two Popes.
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Antonia Prebble
- Occupations
- film actor
- Biography
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Antonia Mary Prebble is a New Zealand actress, best known for her role as Loretta West in the hit NZ comedy-drama Outrageous Fortune, as Trudy in The Tribe, as Jane in The Blue Rose, and as Rita West, the grandmother of her character in Outrageous Fortune, on the prequel series Westside. Internationally she's best known for her role as Clare Langtree, the Gatekeeper in the 2006 series Power Rangers Mystic Force.
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Eleanor Catton
- Occupations
- novelistscreenwriterwriter
- Biography
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Eleanor Catton MNZM is a New Zealand novelist and screenwriter. Born in Canada, Catton moved to New Zealand as a child and grew up in Christchurch. She completed a master's degree in creative writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters. Her award-winning debut novel, The Rehearsal, written as her Master's thesis, was published in 2008, and has been adapted into a 2016 film of the same name. Her second novel, The Luminaries, won the 2013 Booker Prize, making Catton the youngest author ever to win the prize (at age 28) and only the second New Zealander. It was subsequently adapted into a television miniseries, with Catton as screenwriter. In 2023, she was named on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list.
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Jerry Collins
- Occupations
- rugby union player
- Biography
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Jerry Collins was a professional rugby union player. Although he was born in Apia, Samoa, he grew up in New Zealand and played for the New Zealand national team, earning 48 caps. At club level, he played for the Hurricanes Super Rugby franchise in New Zealand, Toulon and Narbonne in the Rugby Pro D2, Ospreys in Wales, and Yamaha Júbilo in Japan. He played as a flanker and number eight, and was considered to be one of the hardest tacklers in the sport.
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Christine Leunens
- Enrolled in the Victoria University of Wellington
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in creative writing
- Occupations
- screenwriternovelistwriterphilologistviolinist
- Biography
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Christine Leunens is a New Zealand-Belgian novelist. She is the author of Primordial Soup, A Can of Sunshine, and In Amber's Wake, which have been translated into twenty-five languages. She is best known for her historical novel Caging Skies, which was adapted into the Academy Award-winning film Jojo Rabbit.
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Guy Williams
- Occupations
- comedian
- Biography
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Guy Malachi Jones Williams is a New Zealand comedian and television personality. Since 2019, Williams has been the host of New Zealand Today, a show detailing the lives and events of New Zealand towns and the people who live in them. He was previously a co-host on the satirical news and entertainment television programme Jono and Ben until the show's end in 2018.
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Blair Peach
- Occupations
- trade unionist
- Biography
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Clement Blair Peach was a New Zealand teacher who was killed during an anti-racism demonstration in Southall, London, England. A campaigner and activist against the far right, in April 1979 Peach took part in an Anti-Nazi League demonstration in Southall against a National Front election meeting in the town hall and was hit on the head, probably by a member of the Special Patrol Group (SPG), a specialist unit within the Metropolitan Police Service. He died in hospital that night.
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Chiam See Tong
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Chiam See Tong is a Singaporean former politician and lawyer who was serving as secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), between 1980 to 1993, and later served as secretary-general of the Singapore People's Party (SPP) between 2011 to 2019 and as chairman of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) from 2001 to 2011. Chiam was the de facto Leader of the Opposition from 1986 to 1993 and again from 1997 to 2006. Throughout his parliamentary career, he had represented Potong Pasir from 1984 to 2011.
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Ahmad Maslan
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Ahmad bin Maslan is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Deputy Minister of Works under Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi since December 2023 and previously served as the Deputy Minister of Finance I from December 2022 to December 2023 in the Unity Government administration under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pontian since March 2008. He also had served as the Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry, Deputy Minister of Finance and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under former Prime Minister Najib Razak and former Ministers Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Najib Razak, Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, Mustapa Mohamed and Ong Ka Chuan from April 2009 to the collapse of the BN administration in May 2018. He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of the BN coalition. He has also served as State Deputy Chairman of UMNO of Johor and Division Chief of UMNO of Pontian since March 2023. He also served as the Secretary-General of UMNO from March 2020 to March 2023 and also of BN from January 2021 to June 2021 as well as Division Deputy Chief of UMNO of Pontian from 2008 to his promotion to the division chief in March 2023.
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Georgina Beyer
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Georgina Beyer MNZM JP was a New Zealand Labour Party politician who represented Wairarapa in the Parliament of New Zealand from 1999 to 2005, after serving as mayor of Carterton from 1995 to 1999. Beyer was the world's first openly transgender mayor, and the world's first openly transgender member of parliament. As a member of the Labour Party Beyer supported progressive policies including prostitution law reform, civil unions, anti-discrimination laws, and the promotion of Māori rights. She resigned in 2007, and, in 2014, unsuccessfully stood for election on behalf of the Mana Party.
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Conrad Smith
- Occupations
- rugby union player
- Biography
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Conrad Gerard Smith MNZM is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, who played predominantly at centre. He captained the Hurricanes in Super Rugby, and played for New Zealand from 2004 until 2015. He was a key member of New Zealand's 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cup winning teams. Following the 2015 World Cup he retired from international rugby and took up a contract with Pau in France, before retiring in 2018.
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Andrew Little
- Occupations
- political candidatelawyerpoliticiantrade unionist
- Biography
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Andrew James Little is a New Zealand politician. He has served as mayor of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, since 17 October 2025.
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Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Afioga Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa is a Samoan politician and High Chief (matai) who served as the seventh Prime Minister of Samoa from 2021 to 2025. She has led the Samoa Uniting Party (SUP) since 2025.
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Kiri Allan
- Enrolled in the Victoria University of Wellington
- Studied law
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Kiritapu Lyndsay Allan is a New Zealand lawyer and former politician. She was a member of Parliament (MP) in the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023, representing the Labour Party in the East Coast electorate.
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Witi Ihimaera
- Occupations
- novelistacademicwriter
- Biography
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Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler DCNZM QSM is a New Zealand author. Raised in the small town of Waituhi, he decided to become a writer as a teenager after being convinced that Māori people were ignored or mischaracterised in literature. He was the first Māori writer to publish a collection of short stories, with Pounamu, Pounamu (1972), and the first to publish a novel, with Tangi (1973). After his early works, he took a ten-year break from writing, during which he focused on editing an anthology of Māori writing in English.
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Victor Vito
- Occupations
- rugby sevens playerrugby union player
- Biography
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Victor Vasefanua Junior Vito is a retired New Zealand rugby player and All Black who last played blindside flanker for French team La Rochelle. He was a star of New Zealand Sevens, and captained the 2006 New Zealand Under 19 Rugby team. Also in 2006 Vito was nominated for the IRB Under 19 Player of the Year Award. He was a key member of 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cup winning teams, becoming one of only 44 players who have won the Rugby World Cup on multiple occasions.
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James Shaw
- Occupations
- politicianpolitical candidate
- Biography
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James Peter Edward Shaw is a New Zealand climate activist, businessman and former politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 2014 to 2024 and a co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand from 2015 to 2024.
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Dai Henwood
- Occupations
- comedianfilm actor
- Biography
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Dafydd Morgan "Dai" Henwood ONZM is a New Zealand stand-up comedian and television host. Henwood first performed comedy when he was studying Theatre and Film at Victoria University of Wellington. His career in television began in 1999 when he appeared on the TV2 comedy show Pulp Comedy. He then went on to tour internationally as a stand-up comedian in 2004 and to host the television show Insert Video Here on C4.
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Alan MacDiarmid
- Occupations
- university teacherchemistengineer
- Biography
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Alan Graham MacDiarmid, ONZ FRS was a New Zealand-American chemist, and one of three recipients of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2000.
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Ronald Syme
- Occupations
- historianuniversity teacherclassical scholartranslator
- Biography
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Sir Ronald Syme, OM, FBA was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman Empire since Edward Gibbon. His great work was The Roman Revolution (1939), a masterly and controversial analysis of political life in the Roman Republic following the assassination of Julius Caesar, offering critical views about Octavian in particular that challenged widely accepted views in contemporary academia.
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Hilary Barry
- Years
- 1969-.. (age 57)
- Occupations
- news presentertelevision personalityjournalist
- Biography
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Hilary Ann Barry is a New Zealand journalist and television personality who co-hosts Seven Sharp with Jeremy Wells on TVNZ 1. She was a newsreader on TV3 for many years and until 2016, presented the 6 pm Newshub show with Mike McRoberts. She also worked on the Paul Henry morning TV show since its launch, reading the news. Barry resigned from these roles in April 2016.
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Stefan Rahmstorf
- Occupations
- climate activistuniversity teacherphysicistclimatologistoceanographer
- Biography
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Stefan Rahmstorf is a German oceanographer and climatologist. Since 2000, he has been a Professor of Physics of the Oceans at Potsdam University. He studied physical oceanography at Bangor University and received his Ph.D. in oceanography from Victoria University of Wellington (1990). His work focuses on the role of ocean currents in climate change. He was one of the lead authors of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report.
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Mufi Hannemann
- Occupations
- basketball playerpolitician
- Biography
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Muliufi Francis Hannemann is an American politician, businessman, and non-profit executive. He was elected twice as Mayor of Honolulu in 2004 and 2008. Hannemann has served as a special assistant in Washington, D.C., with the Department of the Interior, where he was selected for a White House fellowship in the Reagan administration under Vice President George H. W. Bush. He also served as chairman of the Honolulu City Council. He is the first person of Samoan descent and the second member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to serve as Mayor of Honolulu (Neal Blaisdell was the first).
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Tufuga Efi
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Tui Ātua Tupua Tamasese Tupuola Tufuga Efi is a Samoan paramount chief, politician and statesman. He heads one of Samoa's two royal families, the Sā Tupua (descendants of Queen Salamasina), through the family's maximal lineage title, Tupua Tamasese. He also holds the ancient pāpā title of Tui Ātua (sovereign of Atua).
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Trevor Mallard
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Sir Trevor Colin Mallard KNZM is a New Zealand politician and diplomat. Between February 2023 and August 2025, he served as Ambassador of New Zealand to Ireland. He was a Member of Parliament from 1984 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2022. He served as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2017 until 2022.
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Paul Holmes
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
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Sir Paul Scott Holmes KNZM was a New Zealand broadcaster who gained national recognition through his high-profile radio and television journalism. Holmes fronted one of first major prime time current affairs shows of the 1980s, Holmes, which ran on TV One from 1989 to 2004. Holmes hosted the Newstalk ZB breakfast show from 1985 to 2008, and the Saturday morning show from 2009 to 2012.
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Ernest Marsden
- Occupations
- nuclear physicistphysicist
- Biography
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Sir Ernest Marsden CMG CBE MC FRS was an English-New Zealand physicist. He is recognised internationally for his contributions to science while working under Ernest Rutherford, which led to the discovery of new theories on the structure of the atom. In Marsden's later work in New Zealand, he became a significant member of the scientific community, while maintaining close links to the United Kingdom.
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Priyanca Radhakrishnan
- Enrolled in the Victoria University of Wellington
- In 2012 graduated with Master of Development Studies
- Occupations
- politicianpolitical candidate
- Biography
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Priyanca Radhakrishnan MP is a New Zealand politician who has been elected to the New Zealand parliament since the 2017 general election as a representative of the New Zealand Labour Party and was Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector from 2020 to 2023.
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Marilyn Waring
- Occupations
- women's rights activisteconomistuniversity teacherfarmerenvironmentalist
- Biography
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Dame Marilyn Joy Waring DNZM is a New Zealand public policy scholar, international development consultant, former politician, environmentalist, feminist and a principal founder of feminist economics.
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Gareth Morgan
- Occupations
- economist
- Biography
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Gareth Huw Morgan is a New Zealand businessman, economist, investment manager, philanthropist, public commentator and former political figure.
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Margie Abbott
- Occupations
- businessperson
- Biography
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Margaret Veronica Abbott is a New Zealand businesswoman best known as the wife of Tony Abbott, the 28th prime minister of Australia (2013–2015). She runs a childcare centre in Sydney.
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Rod Drury
- Occupations
- businessperson
- Biography
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Sir Rodney Kenneth Drury KNZM is a New Zealand technology entrepreneur, predominately known for his association with accounting software company, Xero. Drury was CEO of Xero until 2018, after founding the company in 2006.
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Nicola Willis
- Occupations
- politicianpolitical candidate
- Biography
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Nicola Valentine Willis is a New Zealand politician who has been deputy leader of the National Party since 2021. She is also the Minister of Finance, the Minister for Social Investment, the Minister for Economic Growth, and was also the Minister for the Public Services in the Sixth National Government.
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Alan Gibbs
- Occupations
- art collector
- Biography
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Alan Timothy Gibbs is a New Zealand-born businessman, entrepreneur and former public servant.
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Michael Hardie Boys
- Occupations
- lawyerjudge
- Biography
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Sir Michael Hardie Boys GNZM GCMG QSO KStJ PC was the 17th governor-general of New Zealand from 1996 to 2001. A lawyer and jurist by profession, Hardie Boys was put forward as governor-general by Prime Minister Jim Bolger, in part for his understanding of constitutional law. This was an important factor, as in 1996 the country was about to hold its first election under mixed-member proportional representation (MMP).
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Barbara Ewing
- Occupations
- writeractor
- Biography
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Barbara Ewing is a New Zealand actress, playwright and novelist based in the UK. In the 1980s Ewing played the character Agnes Fairchild in British comedy series Brass. Ewing's novel The Petticoat Men was shortlisted for the Ngaio Marsh Award in 2015.
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Hosea Gear
- Occupations
- rugby union player
- Biography
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Hosea Emiliano Gear is a former New Zealand rugby union player who played as a wing. He has also played 14 international matches for New Zealand.
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Bryan Charles Gould
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Bryan Charles Gould CNZM is a New Zealand-born British former politician and diplomat. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 to 1979, and again from 1983 to 1994. He was a member of the Labour Party's shadow cabinet from 1986 to 1992, and stood unsuccessfully for the leadership of the party in 1992.
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James K. Baxter
- Occupations
- poetwriter
- Biography
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James Keir Baxter was a New Zealand poet and playwright. He was also known as an activist for the preservation of Māori culture. He is one of New Zealand's most well-known and controversial literary figures. He was a prolific writer who produced numerous poems, plays and articles in his short life, and was regarded as the preeminent writer of his generation. He suffered from alcoholism until the late 1950s. He converted to Catholicism and established a controversial commune at Jerusalem, New Zealand, in 1969. He was married to writer Jacquie Sturm.
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Jack Marshall
- Occupations
- diplomatlawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Sir John Ross Marshall GBE CH ED PC was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. He entered Parliament in 1946 and was first promoted to Cabinet in 1951. After spending eleven years as the deputy prime minister of New Zealand, he served as the 28th prime minister from February until December 1972.
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John Campbell
- Occupations
- television presenter
- Biography
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John James Campbell is a New Zealand journalist and radio and television personality. Since 2018 he has been a presenter and reporter at TVNZ. He will start as a presenter on Radio New Zealand's daily Morning Report programme in 2026.
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Derek Freeman
- Occupations
- anthropologist
- Biography
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John Derek Freeman was a New Zealand anthropologist known for his criticism of Margaret Mead's work on Samoan society, as described in her 1928 ethnography Coming of Age in Samoa. His attack "ignited controversy of a scale, visibility, and ferocity never before seen in anthropology."
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Michael Galvin
- Occupations
- actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Michael Galvin is a New Zealand actor, singer and playwright, well known for his role as Chris Warner on the soap opera Shortland Street, a character he has played almost since the show's debut in 1992 until 1996 and again from 2000 to present, and remains as of 2025, the only original cast member. He is the longest serving television soap opera actor in New Zealand.
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David Thodey
- Occupations
- entrepreneurchief executive officer
- Biography
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David Ingle Thodey is an Australian businessman who is a former chief executive officer of Telstra and current chairman of accounting software company Xero. He became chancellor of the University of Sydney in July 2024.
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Sam Hayes
- Occupations
- news presenter
- Biography
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Samantha Hayes is a New Zealand journalist and newsreader, best known for co-anchoring Three's flagship news programme Newshub Live at 6pm.
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Chris Kraus
- Occupations
- film directorwriterart critic
- Biography
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Chris Kraus is an American and New Zealand writer, critic, editor, filmmaker, performance artist, and educator. Her work includes the novels I Love Dick, Aliens and Anorexia, and Torpor, which form a loose trilogy that navigates between autobiography, fiction, philosophy, critical theory, and art criticism. She has also written a sequence of novels dealing with American underclass experience, beginning with Summer of Hate. Her approach to writing has been described as ‘performance art within the medium of writing’ and ‘a bright map of presence’. Kraus' work often blends intellectual, political, and sexual concerns with wit, oscillating between esoteric referencing and parody. Her work has drawn controversy for equalizing high and low culture, mixing critical theory with colloquial language, and graphic representations of sex.
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Paul Reeves
- Occupations
- politicianAnglican priest
- Biography
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Sir Paul Alfred Reeves ONZ GCMG GCVO QSO KStJ was a New Zealand clergyman who served as Archbishop and Primate of New Zealand from 1980 to 1985 and as the 15th governor-general of New Zealand from 1985 to 1990. He was the first governor-general of Māori descent. He also served as the third Chancellor of Auckland University of Technology, from 2005 until his death in 2011.
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Augusta Xu-Holland
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Augusta Xu-Holland is a New Zealand actress.
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Tory Whanau
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Tory Awatere Whanau is a New Zealand politician. She was elected mayor of Wellington at the 2022 election, but did not seek re-election in 2025. Previously she served as the parliamentary chief of staff for the Green Party.
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Lloyd Jones
- Occupations
- writernovelist
- Biography
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Lloyd David Jones is a New Zealand author. His novel Mister Pip (2006) won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
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Chris Finlayson
- Occupations
- authorlawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Christopher Francis Finlayson KC is a New Zealand lawyer and former Member of Parliament, representing the National Party.
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David Gascoigne
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
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Sir David Rendel Kingston Gascoigne KNZM CBE QSO CStJ is a New Zealand lawyer and former judicial conduct commissioner. He is the husband of Dame Patsy Reddy, who served as the 21st governor-general of New Zealand from 2016 to 2021.
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Andrew Coster
- Born in
-
New Zealand - Occupations
- police officer
- Biography
-
Andrew David Coster is a New Zealand senior public servant and former police officer. He served as Commissioner of Police from 3 April 2020 to 10 November 2024 and was subsequently appointed Secretary for Social Investment and chief executive of the Social Investment Agency, before resigning from that role in November 2025 following an Independent Police Conduct Authority report into police handling of allegations against former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming.
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Tom Williams
- Enrolled in the Victoria University of Wellington
- Graduated with Bachelor of Commerce
- Occupations
- Catholic priestCatholic bishop
- Biography
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Thomas Stafford Williams ONZ ChStJ was a New Zealand cardinal in the Catholic Church and the fifth Archbishop of Wellington from 1979 to 2005.
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Albert Wendt
- Occupations
- painterpoetwriteruniversity teacherplaywright
- Biography
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Albert Tuaopepe Wendt ONZ CNZM is a Samoan poet and writer who lives in New Zealand. He is one of the most influential writers in Oceania. His notable works include Sons for the Return Home, published in 1973 (adapted into a feature film in 1979), and Leaves of the Banyan Tree, published in 1979. As an academic he has taught at universities in Samoa, Fiji, Hawaii and New Zealand, and from 1988 to 2008 was the professor of New Zealand literature at the University of Auckland.
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Moana Jackson
- Occupations
- academiclawyerlecturerconference speaker
- Biography
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Moana Jackson CRSNZ was a New Zealand lawyer specialising in constitutional law, the Treaty of Waitangi and international indigenous issues. He was an advocate and activist for Māori rights, arguing that the New Zealand criminal justice system was discriminatory and leading work on constitutional reforms. In 1987 he co-founded Ngā Kaiwhakamarama i Ngā Ture (the Māori Legal Service). He also supported the rights of indigenous people internationally – for example, through leading the working group that drafted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and sitting as a judge on the International Tribunal of Indigenous Rights in the 1990s.
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Stella Duffy
- Occupations
- writerplaywright
- Biography
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Stella Frances Silas Duffy OBE is a London-born writer and theatremaker. Born in London, she spent her childhood in New Zealand before returning to the UK.
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Nicky Hager
- Enrolled in the Victoria University of Wellington
- Studied physics and philosophy
- Occupations
- investigative journalist
- Biography
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Nicolas Alfred Hager ONZM is a New Zealand investigative journalist. He has produced seven books since 1996, covering topics such as intelligence networks, environmental issues and politics. He is one of two New Zealand members of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
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Charles R. Pellegrino
- Occupations
- scientistnovelistwriterarchaeologistscience fiction writer
- Biography
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Charles R. Pellegrino is an American writer and the author of several books related to science and archaeology including Her Name, Titanic (1988); Ghosts of the Titanic (2000); and To Hell and Back: The Last Train from Hiroshima (2015).
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Joseph Cheng
- Years
- 1949-.. (age 77)
- Occupations
- university teacherjustice of the peacepoliticianpolitical scientistpolitical activist
- Biography
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Joseph Cheng Yu-shek, JP is a Hong Kong political scientist and democracy activist. He was the secretary general of the Civic Party and convenor of pro-democratic groups including Power for Democracy and Alliance for True Democracy.
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James Belich
- Occupations
- historianuniversity teacher
- Biography
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James Christopher Belich ONZM is a New Zealand historian, known for his work on the New Zealand Wars and on New Zealand history more generally. One of his major works on the 19th-century clash between Māori and Pākehā, the revisionist study The New Zealand Wars (1986), was also published in an American edition and adapted into a television series and DVD.
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Helen Kelly
- Occupations
- teachertrade unionist
- Biography
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Helen Kelly was President of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions from 2007 to 2015.
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Jonathan Sarfati
- Occupations
- chess playerchemist
- Biography
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Jonathan David Sarfati is a New Zealand young Earth creationist who writes articles for Creation Ministries International (CMI), a non-profit Christian apologetics ministry. Sarfati has a PhD in chemistry, and was New Zealand national chess champion in 1987 and 1988.
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Geoffrey Palmer
- Occupations
- politicianuniversity teacherlawyerjudgeenvironmentalist
- Biography
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Sir Geoffrey Winston Russell Palmer KCMG AC KC PC is a New Zealand lawyer and former politician who was a member of Parliament from 1979 to 1990. He served as the 33rd prime minister of New Zealand for a little over a year, from August 1989 until September 1990, leading the Fourth Labour Government. As minister of justice from 1984 to 1989, Palmer was responsible for considerable reforms of the country's legal and constitutional framework, such as the creation of the Constitution Act 1986, New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, Imperial Laws Application Act 1988, and the State Sector Act 1988. He served as president of the New Zealand Law Commission, from 2005 to 2010.
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Elizabeth Kerekere
- Enrolled in the Victoria University of Wellington
- Graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- artistpolitician
- Biography
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Elizabeth Anne Kerekere is a New Zealand politician and LGBTQ activist and scholar. She was elected a member of parliament for the Green Party in 2020, but resigned from the Greens on 5 May 2023, following allegations of bullying within the party. Kerekere remained in parliament as an independent until the 2023 election.
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Ieremia Tabai
- Years
- 1949-.. (age 77)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Ieremia Tienang Tabai GCMG AO is an I-Kiribati politician who served as the first president of Kiribati from 1979 to 1991. He previously served in the equivalent role, chief minister, under the colonial government from 1978 to 1979. Tabai returned to the House of Assembly in 1998 and represented Nonouti as of his re-election in 2024.
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Bruce Murray
- Occupations
- historiancricketer
- Biography
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Bruce Alexander Grenfell Murray QSO was a Test cricketer for New Zealand who played 13 Tests as a right-handed opening batsman between 1968 and 1971. He was a school principal in the Wellington area from 1981 to 2002, and the author of several geography textbooks. After retiring from teaching, he was a cricket administrator in Wellington and a historian.
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Brian Sutton-Smith
- Occupations
- university teacherpedagoguepsychologist
- Biography
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Brian Sutton Smith, better known as Brian Sutton-Smith, was a play theorist who spent his lifetime attempting to discover the cultural significance of play in human life, arguing that any useful definition of play must apply to both adults and children. He demonstrated that children are not innocent in their play and that adults are indeed guilty in theirs. In both cases play pretends to assist them in surmounting their Darwinian struggles for survival. His book Play As Emotional Survival is a response to his own deconstruction of play theories in his work, The Ambiguity of Play (1997, Harvard University Press).
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Edith Campion
- Occupations
- writeractor
- Biography
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Edith Campion MBE was a New Zealand actor, writer, and a co-founder of the New Zealand Players theatre company.
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Anna Fifield
- Occupations
- editorediting staffjournalist
- Biography
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Anna Fifield is a New Zealand journalist who is currently the Asia-Pacific editor at The Washington Post. Previously she was the editor of The Dominion Post based in Wellington, New Zealand and the Beijing bureau chief for The Washington Post where she focused her attention on news and issues of Japan, North Korea and South Korea. She has been to North Korea a dozen times.
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David Hill
- Occupations
- novelistwriterjournalistplaywrightchildren's writer
- Biography
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Clive David Hill CNZM is a New Zealand author, especially well known for his young adult fiction. His young fiction books See Ya, Simon (1992) and Right Where It Hurts (2001) have been shortlisted for numerous awards. He is also a prolific journalist, writing many articles for The New Zealand Herald.
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Jonathan Wyatt
- Occupations
- athletics competitor
- Biography
-
Jonathan Craig Wyatt is a New Zealand runner. He is a six-time world mountain running champion and an eight-time winner of the world mountain running grand prix series.
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Clare Curran
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Clare Elizabeth Curran is a New Zealand former politician who served as a member of the New Zealand Parliament for Dunedin South from 2008 to 2020. She was the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications, and Digital Media and Associate Minister for the Accident Compensation Corporation in the Sixth Labour Government of New Zealand. Curran retired from politics at the 2020 general election.
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Chris Bishop
- Occupations
- politicianpolitical candidate
- Biography
-
Christopher Bishop is a New Zealand politician for the National Party. He was first elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives in 2014 as a list MP. Bishop won the Hutt South electorate in 2017 but lost the seat in 2020. He returned to Parliament as a National list MP and served as National spokesperson for Housing and Infrastructure and was the Shadow Leader of the House. He was the Chairperson of National's 2023 Election Campaign. He is the current MP for Hutt South. He is a former lobbyist for tobacco company Phillip Morris. He has been an influential figure in the Sixth National Government, having been described as a "minister for everything" and a potential successor to Christopher Luxon as party leader.
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Todd Barclay
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Todd Keith Barclay is a former New Zealand politician. A member of the National Party, he was elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives in 2014 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Clutha-Southland. In 2017, Barclay resigned from parliament in disgrace after a scandal involving secret recordings he made.
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Crawford Falconer
- Occupations
- economist
- Biography
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Sir Crawford Dunlop Falconer KCMG is a British diplomat who served as the United Kingdom's Chief Trade Negotiation Adviser, based at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). He was recruited to the Civil Service in 2017 during the run-up to Brexit. He also led trade negotiation and served as the Second Permanent Secretary for DBT from 2023 to 2024.
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Diamond Jenness
- Occupations
- diaristanthropologistphotographer
- Biography
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Diamond Jenness, CC FRCGS was one of Canada's greatest early scientists and a pioneer of Canadian anthropology.
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Tipene O'Regan
- Occupations
- kaumātuabusinesspersonactivisteducatoracademic
- Biography
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Sir Stephen Gerard "Tipene" O'Regan ONZ CRSNZ is a New Zealand academic, company director and former chairman of the Ngāi Tahu Māori Trust Board.
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Linda Olsson
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Linda Olsson is a Swedish-born novelist who lives in Auckland, New Zealand. Published in 2005, her first novel Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs, an international best seller, has been translated into 15 languages. She writes in both English and Swedish.
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Elizabeth Knox
- Occupations
- novelist
- Biography
-
Elizabeth Fiona Knox CNZM is a New Zealand writer. She has authored several novels for both adults and teenagers, autobiographical novellas, and a collection of essays. One of her best-known works is The Vintner's Luck (1998), which won several awards, has been published in ten languages, and was made into a film of the same name by Niki Caro in 2009. Knox is also known for her young adult literary fantasy series, Dreamhunter Duet. Her most recent novels are Mortal Fire and Wake, both published in 2013, and The Absolute Book, published in 2019.
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Paul Callaghan
- Occupations
- physicist
- Biography
-
Sir Paul Terence Callaghan GNZM FRS FRSNZ was a New Zealand physicist who, as the founding director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology at Victoria University of Wellington, held the position of Alan MacDiarmid Professor of Physical Sciences and was President of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance.
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Darren Hughes
- Years
- 1978-.. (age 48)
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
-
Darren Colyn Hughes is a New Zealand former Member of Parliament between 2002 and 2011, first elected at the age of 24. He represented the Labour Party and was a Minister outside Cabinet in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand.
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Derek Handley
- Occupations
- businessperson
- Biography
-
Derek Handley is a New Zealand entrepreneur, speaker, and author who was born in Hong Kong. With his brother Geoffrey Handley, he co-founded the global mobile marketing and media company The Hyperfactory and the mobile advertising network Snakk Media, which subsequently failed. He is the founder and managing partner of Aera VC, and founder of Wiser Conversations, "a series of virtual conversations designed to help us reflect and respond to our new surreality", created as a response to the pandemic.
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Wu Hongbo
- Enrolled in the Victoria University of Wellington
- Studied in 1978-1980
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
-
Wu Hongbo is a Chinese diplomat who served as the special representative of the Chinese government for European affairs from November 2019 to February 2025.
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Fran Wilde
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Dame Frances Helen Wilde DNZM QSO is a New Zealand politician. She was elected mayor of South Wairarapa in October 2025.
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Gareth Hughes
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Gareth Thomas Llewelyn Hughes is a New Zealand activist and a former politician of the Green Party. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for eleven years, from 2010 to 2020. He first took a seat part way through the 49th Parliament as the next person on the Green party list following the retirement of Jeanette Fitzsimons in February 2010. He did not stand for re-election in the 2020 general election.
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Simon O'Neill
- Occupations
- opera singer
- Biography
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Simon O'Neill ONZM is a New Zealand operatic tenor internationally recognised for his performances of the major Heldentenor roles in the operas of Richard Wagner.
