Moana Mackey joins mother Janet in Parliament

Twenty-nine-year-old Moana Mackey entered the House of Representatives as a Labour Party list MP, replacing Graham Kelly, who had resigned to become New Zealand’s High Commissioner in Canada.

She joined her mother, Janet Mackey, who had been a Labour MP since 1993, representing the seats of Gisborne, Māhia and then East Coast. They were the first mother and daughter to serve together in New Zealand’s Parliament – and possibly the first to do so anywhere in the world.

Janet Mackey retired from Parliament at the 2005 election. Moana unsuccessfully contested her mother’s old seat, but continued to serve as a list member until the 2014 election, when Labour’s poor performance saw only five list MPs returned. By that time the Mackeys had served in the House for a combined total of 23 years. 

Three pairs of father and son have served in the House of Representatives at the same time: Edward Gibbon and Edward Jerningham Wakefield in 1854–5, William and George Hutchison between 1893 and 1896, and Norman and Roger Douglas between 1969 and 1975.