Paula Bennett

She had been ranked at 41st on the party list prior to the election and the social development portfolio had previously been held by senior MP Judith Collins.

It was expected that Bennett's background as a former beneficiary would give the portfolio a "softer face" than under Collins, who was instead appointed Minister of Police and Minister of Corrections.

Bennett faced criticism in enacting welfare reform during her first and second terms in government, especially around her previous use of government support programs.

Scrutiny came from both members of parliament and from people on government incomes.

In particular, the Training Incentive Allowance (TIA) was abolished under her leadership, after she had received this allowance herself as a student, and the requirement for single parents in receipt of the domestic purposes benefit was changed, with beneficiaries having to look for part-time work when their child turned six instead of eighteen.

Bennett had her first child at 17 and was at times on a domestic purposes benefit.

Paula Lee Bennett (born 9 April 1969) is a New Zealand former politician who served as the 18th deputy prime minister of New Zealand between December 2016 and October 2017.

Bennett was born on 9 April 1969 in Auckland, New Zealand, the daughter of Bob Bennett and Lee Bennett.

She has Tainui ancestry through her Māori paternal grandmother, Ailsa Bennett.

Her father had a flooring business in Auckland, then in 1974 bought the village store at Kinloch, near Taupō.

Bennett attended Taupo-nui-a-Tia College in Taupō.

At 17 she gave birth to a daughter, Ana, and raised her alone while working in hospitality and tourism-industry jobs or, at times, receiving the Domestic Purposes Benefit.

In 1992 Bennett moved to Auckland, where she worked in a rest home, first as a kitchenhand and then as a nurse aide.

She began studying social work at the Albany campus of Massey University in 1994.

She became the welfare officer of the Massey University at Albany Students' Association, then, in 1996, the president, which she said gave her a taste for politics.

She discontinued the social work component of her course of study, leaving simply social policy, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.

After graduating, Bennett worked as an electorate secretary for Murray McCully, National Party member of Parliament for East Coast Bays, until the 1999 general election.

She then worked as a recruitment consultant for several years and assisted McCully in the 2002 general election campaign.

In the 2005 general election Bennett stood as the National Party candidate for the Waitakere seat, with a ranking of 45th on National's party list.

She failed to win Waitakere, but entered Parliament as a list MP.

National did not have sufficient parliamentary support to form a government.

In opposition, Bennett was appointed National's associate spokesperson for welfare and liaison to the community and voluntary sector under Don Brash from 2005 to 2006 and associate spokesperson for education (early childhood education) under John Key from 2006 to 2008.

In the 2008 election, she unseated Waitakere MP Lynne Pillay, winning the seat with a majority of 632.

Bennett was appointed to several cabinet roles in the new National-led government.

As a senior minister in the Fifth National Government, Bennett was best known for leading social welfare reforms as Minister of Social Development from 2008 to 2014.

During that time she was also Minister of Youth Affairs (2008–2013), Minister for Disability Issues (2008–2009), and Associate Minister of Housing (2013–14).

Bennett's appointment as Minister of Social Development and Employment after the 2008 election was regarded by some commentators as a "surprise."

In the 2011 election, Bennett again stood for the Waitakere seat, and secured an election night majority of 349 votes.

After the routine counting of special votes 10 days later, the result had swung towards Labour candidate Carmel Sepuloni.

Bennett was subsequently declared the winner after a judicial recount.

Carmel Sepuloni was not placed high enough on Labour's list to remain an MP and was ousted from Parliament as a result of her loss.

In response to criticisms, Bennett said that times were different 25 years later, and that beneficiaries get more (in 2012) than they did when she was in similar need.

The 2013/14 electoral boundary review saw Bennett's Waitakere electorate abolished in favour of two new electorates in western Auckland, Kelston and Upper Harbour.

Bennett previously represented the electorate of Waitakere, which was abolished prior to the 2014 general election.

In the government's third term, she was Minister of State Services (2014–2017), Minister of Social Housing (2014–2016), Associate Minister of Finance (2014–2016), Minister of Local Government (2014–2015) and Minister for Climate Change Issues (2015–2017) before becoming Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Women, Minister of Police, and Minister of Tourism (2016–2017).

At the 2014 election, Bennett stood for the Upper Harbour seat and won with a majority of 9,692 votes.

National won a third term of government in 2014.

She served as the deputy leader of the National Party from 2016 to 2020 and as MP for Upper Harbour from 2014 to 2020.

She held the Cabinet portfolios of State Services, Women, Tourism, Police, and Climate Change Issues in the fifth National Government until 2017.

She retired from Parliament at the 2020 general election.