Olive Smuts-Kennedy


Olive Evelyn Smuts-Kennedy was an activist and local politician in Wellington, New Zealand.

Biography

Early life

Olive Smuts-Kennedy was born on 23 March 1925. Her grandfather, Fortunatus Evelyn Wright was an early New Zealand settler, having arrived from England aboard the ship Samarang in 1852. In 1945 she married Arthur Edward Smuts-Kennedy and had one son and two daughters. She attended Auckland University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1951 and later a Bachelor of Law in 1955. She was admitted to the Bar that same year. She was involved with the women's rights organisation The Council for Equal Pay and Opportunity serving as its chairperson from 1960 to 1964. In 1965 she became a SEATO research fellow.

Political career

Smuts-Kennedy stood for election to the New Zealand House of Representatives for the Labour Party in four consecutive elections. She stood in in, in, in and in. She came in second place on every occasion. Additionally she was approached to stand for Labour in the 1967 Petone by-election, however she was not selected as a candidate. She also served as the President of the Wellington Labour Representation Committee.
In 1965 Smuts-Kennedy won a seat on the Wellington City Council on a Labour ticket which she was to hold until 1973 when she resigned. During her time as a councillor she was chairperson of the cultural, libraries and public relations committees.

Later life

In the 1990 Queen's Birthday Honours, Smuts-Kennedy was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services.
She died 19 December 2013.