Both Marcroft's parents died during her childhood leaving her an orphan at 16. She then lived with a violent step-father in Rotorua who motivated her to run away from home. She is part Māori on her father's side and identifies as Ngāpuhi. Marcroft's mother was a family friend of former Deputy-Prime Minister Don McKinnon, who supported her entry into politics.
Broadcasting career
Marcroft had a career spanning over 30 years in the broadcasting industry, mostly reading the news on the radio for Independent Radio News, however she also read the news on television for TV3 at times. During her career she worked to ensure her pronunciation of Māori names was correct, receiving criticism for doing so. During the 1990s as a newsreader she was told not to say "kia ora" at the beginning of bulletins, but decided to persist anyway.
Political career
Member of parliament
In Marcroft stood for New Zealand First in the electorate and was placed ninth on New Zealand First's party list. She duly entered parliament via the party list. Following the formation of a Labour-led coalition government on 19 October 2019, Marcroft was designated as New Zealand First's spokesperson on the Accident Compensation Corporation, arts, culture and heritage, broadcasting, communication IT, conservation, environment, health and human rights. On 15 November 2017, she was appointed to Parliament's environment select committee. On 24 October 2018, Marcroft was appointed to Parliament's health select committee. On 30 June 2019, Marcroft was appointed to the Parliamentary Service Commission's artworks committee. On 23 October 2019, Marcroft successfully secured an amendment into David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill that the Government hold a binding referendum on decriminalising euthanasia. In justifying her call for a referendum on euthanasia, Marcroft stated that "this issue basically, directly affects the fabric of society and so we believe that temporarily empowered politicians … we alone should not decide on the bill." Parliament voted by a tight margin of 63 to 57 to incorporate the referendum amendment into the Bill.
