Marian Hobbs
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Marian Leslie Hobbs (18 December 1947 - ) is a New Zealand politician and Labour MP for the Wellington Central electorate.
Hobbs stood unsuccessfully in the Selwyn by-election of 1994, but was subsequently elected to Parliament as a list MP in the 1996 elections (having unsuccessfully contested the Kaikoura seat against National's Doug Kidd). In the 1999 elections, Hobbs won the Wellington Central electorate, defeating the incumbent member, ACT party leader Richard Prebble.
After Labour's electoral victory in 1999, Hobbs joined the Cabinet, becoming Minister for the Environment, Minister of Biosecurity, Minister of Broadcasting, and Minister Responsible for the National Library of New Zealand and Archives New Zealand. In February 2001, she briefly resigned from Cabinet while an enquiry investigated her allowance claims; she returned in late March after being cleared.
Following the 2002 General Election, Hobbs functioned as the Minister for the Environment, Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control, Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade with responsibility for Official Development Assistance, Associate Minister for Biosecurity, Associate Minister of Education, Minister Responsible for the National Library, Minister Responsible for Archives New Zealand, and Minister Responsible for Urban Affairs.
In 2004, Hobbs told Prime Minister Helen Clark that she did not expect to seek a post in Cabinet again after the 2005 election, and she made this decision public during the negotiations to form a government in October 2005.
As Minister of Broadcasting, Hobbs set a code of practice for New Zealand commercial radio that 20 percent of music played was of New Zealand origin.
Hobbs still holds the Electorate seat of Wellington Central.
Before entering politics, Hobbs worked as a teacher and as a school principal. She is also a former Communist and helped to establish the Chippenham commune in Christchurch. She is a practising Quaker.
