Helen Clark
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{{otherpeople|Helen Clark}}
{{Infobox Prime Minister
| honorific-prefix = <small>[[The Right Honourable]]</small><br>
| name = Helen Elizabeth Clark
| honorific-suffix = <br><small>MP, SSI</small>
| image = Prime Minister Helen Clark1.jpg
| imagesize = 225px
| order = [[Prime Minister of New Zealand]]
| term_start = [[05 December]] [[1999]]
| term_end =
| monarch = [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Elizabeth II]]
| governor_general = [[Michael Hardie Boys]]<br>[[Silvia Cartwright]]<br>[[Anand Satyanand]]
| deputy = [[Jim Anderton]]<br>[[Michael Cullen]]
| predecessor = [[Jenny Shipley]]
| successor =
| order2 = [[Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand)|Leader of the Opposition]]
| term_start2 = [[01 December]] [[1993]]
| term_end2 = [[05 December]] [[1999]]
| deputy2 = [[Michael Cullen]]
| predecessor2 = [[Mike Moore]]
| successor2 = [[Jenny Shipley]]
| order3 = [[Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand]]
| term_start3 = [[08 August]] [[1989]]
| term_end3 = [[02 November]] [[1990]]
| primeminister3 = [[Geoffrey Palmer (politician)|Geoffrey Palmer]]<br>[[Mike Moore]]
| predecessor3 = [[Geoffrey Palmer]]
| successor3 = [[Don McKinnon]]
| constituency_MP4 = [[Mount Albert (NZ electorate)|Mount Albert]]
| term_start4 = [[28 November]] [[1981]]
| parliament4 = New Zealand
| predecessor4 = [[Warren Freer]]
| successor4 =
| majority4 = 14,749<ref name="results_2005">{{cite web|url=http://2005.electionresults.govt.nz/electorate-27.html|title= Elections NZ 2005: Official Count Results — Mt Albert}}</ref>
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|02|26|df=y}}
| birth_place = {{flagicon|New Zealand}} [[Hamilton, New Zealand|Hamilton]], [[New Zealand]]
| spouse = [[Peter Davis (New Zealand)|Peter Davis]]
| occupation = [[Politician]]
| religion = [[Agnostic]]<ref name="religion">{{cite web|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3554978|author=[[New Zealand Herald]]|date=[[16 March]] 2004|title=Insults get personal between Clark and Brash|accessdate=2007-07-08}}</ref>
| party = [[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour]]
| signature =
}}
'''Helen Elizabeth Clark'''<!-- SSI<ref>Star of the Solomon Islands, awarded in 2005. See [[#Honours|Honours]].</ref>--> (born [[February 26]], [[1950]]) is the 37th and current [[Prime Minister of New Zealand]]. She is [[New Zealand]]'s second female Prime Minister and has been in office since December 1999, entering her third successive term in 2005. [[As of 2007|In 2007]] ''[[Forbes]]'' magazine ranked her as the 38th most powerful woman in the world.<ref name="Forbes2">
{{cite web|author=[[Forbes]]|url=http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/11/biz-07women_Helen-Clark_EXX3.html|title=The 100 Most Powerful Women|accessdate=2007-09-01
}}
</ref>
== Early life ==
Clark grew up as the eldest of four daughters of a [[Waikato]] farming family. Her mother, Margaret, of Irish birth, worked as a primary-school teacher. Her father, George, a farmer, supported the [[New Zealand National Party|National Party]] at the 1981 election. Clark studied at Te Pahu Primary School, at [[Epsom Girls' Grammar School]] in [[Auckland]] and at the [[University of Auckland]], where she majored in politics and graduated with an MA (Honours) in 1974. Her thesis research focused on rural political behaviour and representation.<ref name=thesis>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.executive.govt.nz/minister/clark/
|title=New Zealand Executive - Helen Clark|accessdate=2006-06-30
}}
</ref>
Helen Clark worked as a junior lecturer in political studies at the [[University of Auckland]] from 1973 to 1975, studied abroad on a University Grants Committee post-graduate scholarship in 1976, and then lectured in political studies at [[University of Auckland|Auckland]] again while undertaking her [[PhD]] (which she never completed) from 1977 until her [[New Zealand General Election 1981|election to Parliament in 1981]].
She married [[sociology|sociologist]] [[Peter Davis (New Zealand)|Peter Davis]], her partner of five years at that time, shortly before that election (under pressure from some members of the [[New Zealand Labour Party]] to [[marry]] despite her own feelings about marriage — her biography reports that she cried throughout the ceremony, although she attributes that to a headache).<ref name="marriage">
{{cite book|last=Edwards|first=Brian|year=2001|title=Helen, Portrait of a Prime Minister|id=ISBN 0-908988-20-6|chapter=Campaign '81|pages=144-150
}}
</ref>
Dr Davis [[as of 2006|currently]] works as a professor in medical sociology and heads the Sociology Department at the [[University of Auckland]].
As a teenager Clark became politically active, protesting against the [[Vietnam War]] and campaigning against foreign military bases in New Zealand. She has declared herself [[agnostic]].<ref name="religion" />
Clark has worked actively in the [[New Zealand Labour Party]] for most of her life. She served as a member of the Party's New Zealand executive from 1978 until September 1988 and again from April 1989. She chaired the [[University of Auckland]] Princes Street branch of the [[New Zealand Labour Party| Labour Party]] during her studies, becoming active alongside future [[New Zealand Labour Party| Labour Party]] politicians including [[Richard Prebble]], [[David Caygill]], [[Margaret Wilson]], and [[Richard Northey]]. Clark held the positions of president of the Labour Youth Council, executive member of the Party's Auckland Regional Council, secretary of the Labour Women's Council and member of the Policy Council.
She represented the [[New Zealand Labour Party| New Zealand Labour Party]] at the congresses of the [[Socialist International]] and of the Socialist International Women in 1976, 1978, 1983 and 1986, at an Asia-Pacific Socialist Organisation Conference held in [[Sydney]] in 1981, and at the Socialist International Party Leaders' Meeting in [[Sydney]] in 1991.
== Member of Parliament ==
{| class="prettytable"
|---------- bgcolor=#EEEEEE
|width=10%|<font size=-2>'''Parliament'''</font>
|width=20%|<font size=-2>'''Term'''</font>
|width=25%|<font size=-2>'''Electorate'''</font>
|width=30%|<font size=-2>'''List Position'''</font>
|width=15%|<font size=-2>'''Party'''</font>
|---------- bgcolor=#FFE8E8
|<font size=-2>[[40th New Zealand Parliament|40th]]</font>
|<font size=-2>1981-1984</font>
|colspan="2"|<font size=-2>Mt Albert</font>
|<font size=-2>[[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour]]</font>
|---------- bgcolor=#FFE8E8
|<font size=-2>[[41st New Zealand Parliament|41st]]</font>
|<font size=-2>1984-1987</font>
|colspan="2"|<font size=-2>Mt Albert</font>
|<font size=-2>[[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour]]</font>
|---------- bgcolor=#FFE8E8
|<font size=-2>[[42nd New Zealand Parliament|42nd]]</font>
|<font size=-2>1987-1990</font>
|colspan="2"|<font size=-2>Mt Albert</font>
|<font size=-2>[[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour]]</font>
|---------- bgcolor=#FFE8E8
|<font size=-2>[[43rd New Zealand Parliament|43rd]]</font>
|<font size=-2>1990-1993</font>
|colspan="2"|<font size=-2>Mt Albert</font>
|<font size=-2>[[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour]]</font>
|---------- bgcolor=#FFE8E8
|<font size=-2>[[44th New Zealand Parliament|44th]]</font>
|<font size=-2>1993-1996</font>
|colspan="2"|<font size=-2>Mt Albert</font>
|<font size=-2>[[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour]]</font>
|---------- bgcolor=#FFE8E8
|<font size=-2>[[45th New Zealand Parliament|45th]]</font>
|<font size=-2>1996-1999</font>
|<font size=-2>Owairaka</font>
|<font size=-2>1</font>
|<font size=-2>[[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour]]</font>
|---------- bgcolor=#FFE8E8
|<font size=-2>[[46th New Zealand Parliament|46th]]</font>
|<font size=-2>1999-2002</font>
|<font size=-2>Mt Albert</font>
|<font size=-2>1</font>
|<font size=-2>[[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour]]</font>
|---------- bgcolor=#FFE8E8
|<font size=-2>[[47th New Zealand Parliament|47th]]</font>
|<font size=-2>2002-2005</font>
|<font size=-2>Mt Albert</font>
|<font size=-2>1</font>
|<font size=-2>[[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour]]</font>
|---------- bgcolor=#FFE8E8
|<font size=-2>[[48th New Zealand Parliament|48th]]</font>
|<font size=-2>2005- </font>
|<font size=-2>Mt Albert</font>
|<font size=-2>1</font>
|<font size=-2>[[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour]]</font>
|}
Helen Clark first gained election to the [[New Zealand House of Representatives]] in the [[New Zealand general election 1981|1981 general election]] as one of four women who entered Parliament on that occasion. In winning the Mount Albert electorate in [[Auckland, New Zealand|Auckland]], she became the second woman elected to represent an Auckland electorate, and the seventeenth woman elected to the New Zealand Parliament. At the [[New Zealand general election, 2005|2005 general election]] Clark won 66% of the electorate votes, or 20,918 votes with a 14,749 majority.<ref name="results_2005" />
During her first term in the House (1981 - 1984), she became a member of the Statutes Revision Committee. In her second term (1984 - 1987), she chaired the [[Select Committee (Westminster System)|Select Committee]] on Foreign Affairs and the Select Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control, both of which combined with the Defence Select Committee in 1985 to form a single committee.
=== Cabinet Minister ===
In 1987, Clark became a Cabinet Minister in the [[Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand|Fourth Labour Government]], led by [[David Lange]] (1984-1989), [[Geoffrey Palmer (politician)|Geoffrey Palmer]] (1989-1990) and [[Mike Moore]] (1990), first as Minister of Housing and as Minister of Conservation, then as Minister of Health and later as [[Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand|Deputy Prime Minister]].
Clark served as Minister of Conservation from August 1987 until January 1989 and as Minister of Housing from August 1987 until August 1989. She became Minister of Health in January 1989 and Minister of Labour and Deputy Prime Minister in August 1989. She chaired the Cabinet Social Equity Committee and became a member of the Cabinet Policy Committee, of the Cabinet Committee on Chief Executives, of the Cabinet Economic Development and Employment Committee, of the Cabinet Expenditure Review Committee, of the Cabinet State Agencies Committee, of the Cabinet Honours Appointments and Travel Committee and of the Cabinet Domestic and External Security Committee.
=== Leader of the Opposition ===
From October 1990 until December 1993 Clark held the posts of Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Opposition spokesperson for Health and Labour and member of the Social Services Select Committee and of the Labour Select Committee. After the [[New Zealand National Party|National Party]] won the [[New Zealand general election, 1993|1993 general election]] with a majority of one seat, Clark challenged [[Mike Moore]] for the leadership of the parliamentary Labour Party and became [[Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand)|Leader of the Opposition]] on [[1 December]] [[1993]]. She led the Opposition during the [[Fourth National Government of New Zealand|National-led Governments]] of [[Jim Bolger]] (1990-1997) and [[Jenny Shipley]] (1997-1999).
== Prime Minister ==
{{mainarticle|Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand}}
[[Image:Helen Clark 2.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Official portrait of Helen Clark <small>(2005)</small>]]
When the [[New Zealand Labour Party]] came into office as part of a coalition following the [[New Zealand general election 1999|1999 election]], Clark became the second female Prime Minister of New Zealand and the first to have won office at an election. (The previous Prime Minister, [[Jenny Shipley]] took office as the result of a mid-term party-leadership challenge.) During her term in office women have held a number of prominent offices in New Zealand, such as the [[Queen of New Zealand|Queen]], [[Governor-General of New Zealand|Governor-General]], [[Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives|Speaker of the House of Representatives]] and [[Chief Justice of New Zealand|Chief Justice]].
Clark has held the positions of Prime Minister and of Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage from 1999 until [[as of 2007|the present]]. She also has ministerial responsibility for the [[New Zealand Security Intelligence Service]] and for Ministerial Services. Her particular areas of interest include social policy and international affairs.
As Leader of the [[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour Party]], Clark negotiated the formation of successive minority coalition governments. The first such coalition (1999-2002) linked the Labour Party with the [[Alliance (New Zealand political party)|Alliance]] Party (1999). The coalition with the [[Alliance (New Zealand political party)|Alliance Party]] collapsed in 2002. In consequence, Clark called an early election and then went into coalition with [[Jim Anderton]]'s [[New Zealand Progressive Party|Progressive Party]], a spin-off of the [[Alliance (New Zealand political party)|Alliance Party]] (2002, with parliamentary supply and confidence coming from [[United Future New Zealand|United Future]] and a "good-faith" agreement with the [[Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand|Green Party]]). In 2005, following the election of that year, the [[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour Party]] and the [[New Zealand Progressive Party|Progressive Party]] renewed their coalition, gaining supply-and-confidence support from both [[New Zealand First]] and [[United Future New Zealand|United Future]] in exchange for giving the leaders of those parties ministerial positions outside [[New Zealand Cabinet|Cabinet]].
{{Rquote|right|I think it's inevitable that New Zealand will become a republic and that would reflect the reality that New Zealand is a totally sovereign-independent 21st century nation 12,000 miles from the United Kingdom| Prime Minister Helen Clark|<ref name="clarkrepublic">{{cite|author=Vernon Small|title=Republic "inevitable" says Clark|publisher=The Evening Post|date=2002-02-23}}</ref>}}
Clark, like some other MPs and many New Zealanders (including some Labour Party members), supports New Zealand becoming a [[Republicanism in New Zealand|republic]]. Some critics of Clark's government have derided her support for a republic, arguing that the Prime Minister has no mandate for such a change.<ref name="mlqcquote">
{{cite web|author=[[Monarchist League of New Zealand]]|title=Queen's Counsel consigned to scrapheap|url=http://www.geocities.com/cox_nz/180306.htm|date=18 March 2006|accessdate=2007-07-08}}
</ref>
However, Clark's predecessor, [[New Zealand National Party|National]] Prime Minister [[Jim Bolger]] also publicly indicated his support for a republic in 1994, during his tenure as Prime Minister. Clark's term in office has seen a number of alleged moves towards a republic, under her government's policy of building [[national identity]]. Examples include the abolition of appeals to the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council|Privy Council]] and the setting up of the [[Supreme Court of New Zealand]], the abolition of titular Knighthood and Damehood honours, and the abolition of the title "Queen's Counsel" (replaced by "Senior Counsel").
On [[10 January]] [[2007]], Clark passed Sir [[Joseph Ward]] to become New Zealand's seventh-longest serving Prime Minister. On [[24 July]] [[2008]] she will pass Sir [[Robert Muldoon]] to become the sixth-longest-serving Prime Minister.<ref name="jamesarticle">
{{
cite web
|url=http://www.colinjames.co.nz/herald/Herald_2007/Herald_column_07Jan09.htm
| title= Colin James: Clark heading for fifth place but is that her limit?
| accessdate=2007-01-10
}}
</ref>
Should a Clark government win re-election at the [[New Zealand general election, 2008]] Clark could serve until November 2011, passing Sir [[Keith Holyoake]] to become New Zealand's third-longest serving Prime Minister. Clark would need to stay in office until [[17 January]] [[2013]] (slightly over thirteen years) to become the longest-serving Prime Minister in New Zealand's history. (See [[List of New Zealand Prime Ministers by term]].) On February 8 2008, Clark became the longest serving leader of the [[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour Party]] in its history (although some dispute exists over when [[Harry Holland]] became leader), having served for 14 years, 69 days<ref name="nzh_labour_leader">{{cite web|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10491916|title=Clark beats record of longest-serving Labour leader - probably|author=Audrey Young|date=12 February 2008|publisher=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|accessdate=2008-02-12}}</ref>.
[[Image:Helen Clark welcomed to Hoani Waititi Marae 2006-02-06.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Welcoming Helen Clark onto [[Hoani Waititi Marae]], [[Waitangi Day]] 2006]]
=== Social policy ===
Clark's government has brought in significant changes to the New Zealand welfare system, such as introducing [[child tax credit]]s in the ''[[Working for Families]]'' package. Her government has also changed [[Labour and employment law|industrial-relations law]] and raised the [[minimum wage]] six times in as many years. Changes have also occurred in tertiary-education financing, with the abolition of interest on student-loans — firstly for those currently studying, then extended to all borrowers living in New Zealand. Other changes introduced during Clark's term in office include legal provision for [[civil unions]], the introduction of 14 weeks' paid parental leave, and the Property (Relationships) Act, which treats property division after the breakup of ''de facto'' relationships the same as after the breakup of legal marriages.<ref name="achievements">
{{
cite web
|url=http://www.labour.org.nz/achievements/index.html
| title= Labour Party of New Zealand -Achievements
| accessdate=2006-05-11
}}
</ref>
Some of these measures, though initiated by other members of parliament or political parties, nevertheless gained the government support.
=== Economic growth ===
Some commentators have praised Helen Clark (along with the Minister of Finance [[Michael Cullen]]) for overseeing a period of sustained and stable economic growth{{Fact|date=August 2007}}, with an increase in employment that has seen a gradual lowering of the unemployment rate to 3.6%.<!-- as of when ? --> Although her critics acknowledge these factors{{Fact|date=July 2007}}, many such critics{{Fact|date=July 2007}} maintain that the growth has come about as the result of wider economic factors, and that increases in the sickness benefit have caused (at least in part) the decrease in unemployment. On the other hand, total beneficiary numbers (a measurement that includes both unemployment- and sickness- beneficiaries) have shrunk during Helen Clark's time in office. Other economic concerns for Clark's government include a persistently high [[current account deficit|current-account deficit]] and an unofficial poverty-rate of about twenty percent.{{Fact|date=July 2007}}
=== Stable government ===
{{Rquote|right|Our prime minister has been rather unique in being a great lover of the out of doors and she's always off climbing something, doing something exciting and I think that New Zealanders admire that. That is sort of the way of life that they have come to accept in our little old island in the south seas. But Helen as been particularly strong in this respect. So long may she reign.|- Sir [[Edmund Hillary]]<ref>http://www.stuff.co.nz/3935328a11.html</ref>}}
Even though some commentators{{Fact|date=July 2007}} saw <!-- when ? --> stable government within the [[Electoral reform in New Zealand|relatively new]] [[Electoral system of New Zealand|MMP electoral system]] as unlikely, Clark's supporters{{Fact|date=July 2007}} credit her with maintaining two terms of stable MMP government, as well as with forming the current government given the relatively close [[New Zealand general election, 2005|election-result]]. In 2005, [[Forbes]] ranked Clark as number 24 of "The 100 Most Powerful Women" in the world,<ref name="100 women">
{{
cite web|url=http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/11/EXX3.html
| title= Helen Clark, The Most Powerful Women
| accessdate=2006-05-11
}}
</ref> and then higher at number 20 in 2006<ref name="Forbes2" />.
=== Crime-rate ===
[[New Zealand Police]] statistics report a drop in the rate of recorded offences by population over the period of Clark's premiership, which continued the trend shown in years prior to her becoming Prime Minister.<ref name="police">
{{
cite web
| url=http://www.police.govt.nz/service/statistics/2005/calendar/
| title= Crime Statistics for calendar year ending [[31 December]] 2005| accessdate=2006-11-25
}}
</ref>
This corresponds with a [[Victim study|survey of victims of crime]], which reported very little change in the number of victims of crime between 1995 and 2000, despite a slight increase in population.<ref name="victimisation">
{{cite web
|url=http://www.justice.govt.nz/pubs/reports/2003/victims-survey/summary.html
|title=New Zealand National Survey of Crime Victims 2001 - Summary
|accessdate=2006-11-25
}}
</ref>
New Zealand crime-figures for 2005/2006 showed an increase in a recorded crime over the previous financial year, but rates remained lower than in 1999.<ref name="police2">
{{
cite web
|url=http://www.police.govt.nz/service/statistics/2006/fiscal/
| title= Crime Statistics for fiscal year ending 30 June 2006 |accessdate=2006-10-02
}}
</ref>
=== Foreign policy ===
{{main|Foreign relations of New Zealand}}
[[Image:Deputy Secretary of Defense.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Clark with [[Paul Wolfowitz]] at the [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]].]]
New Zealand has, during Clark's terms of office, pursued what she and her supporters call an independent foreign policy. New Zealand retains a [[New Zealand's nuclear-free zone|nuclear-free zone]] status, a stance also taken by the opposition National Party, (possibly at the cost of a [[free trade|free-trade]] agreement with the [[United States of America]]), and refused to participate in the [[2003 Invasion of Iraq|Iraq invasion]] without [[United Nations actions regarding Iraq|UN sanction]].
In March 2003, referring to the U.S. led coalition's actions in the [[Iraq War]], Clark told the newspaper ''[[Sunday Star Times]]'' that, "I don't think that [[September 11, 2001 attacks|September 11]] under a [[Al Gore|Gore]] presidency would have had this consequence for [[Iraq]]." She later sent a letter to Washington apologising for any offence that her comment may have caused.<ref name="Iraq apology">
{{
cite web
|url=http://uncorrectedtranscripts.clerk.govt.nz/Documents/20030409.htm
| title= Questions for Oral Answer, Wednesday, 9 April 2003
| accessdate=2006-05-11
}}
</ref>
In a report in the ''[[People's Daily]]'', Chinese President [[Jiang Zemin]] referred to Clark as an "old friend". He hoped to "establish bilateral long-term and stable overall cooperative relations with a healthy development geared to the 21st century", and "broad prospects for bilateral economic cooperation". Clark had strongly supported China's entry into the [[WTO]].<ref name="Jiang Zemin">
{{
cite web
|url=http://english.people.com.cn/200104/21/eng20010421_68231.html
| title= President Jiang Meets New Zealand PM
| accessdate=2006-05-11
}}
</ref>
== Controversies ==
<!---There should not be a picture of Prebble, or any other critics here--->
In 2000, Labour MP [[Chris Carter (politician)|Chris Carter]] investigated the background of one of Clark's Cabinet colleagues, Māori Affairs Minister [[Dover Samuels]]. During the investigation, Clark referred to [[John Yelash]] as a murderer. However, the court system had convicted Yelash of manslaughter. Yelash sued Clark for defamation, resulting in an out-of-court settlement.
Clark signed a painting for a charity-auction that someone else had painted. A political controversy arose about it, and after it emerged that she had not painted it, Opposition politicians referred the matter to the New Zealand Police. The Police found evidence for a ''[[prima facie]]'' case of forgery, but determined that it was not in the public interest to prosecute.<ref name="Painting">
{{
cite web
|url=http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rn/2002-03/03rn09.htm
| title= Research Note no.9 2002-03
| accessdate=2006-05-11
}}
</ref>
A staff member <!-- member of what? -->bought the painting back and destroyed it.
In 2000, the then Police Commissioner, Peter Doone, resigned after the ''[[Sunday Star-Times]]'' alleged he had prevented the [[Driving under the influence|breath testing]] of his partner Robyn, who had driven the car they occupied, by telling the officer "that won't be necessary". Both Doone and the officer involved denied this happened. Doone sued the ''Sunday Star-Times'' for [[defamation]] in 2005 but the paper revealed they had checked the story with Clark. She confirmed this, but denied that she had made attempts to get Doone to resign and defended being the source as "by definition I cannot leak". Helen Clark also responded by saying that [[New Zealand National Party|National's]] friends had funded Mr Doone's defamation-suit.<ref name="Peter Doone">
{{
cite web
|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=289&ObjectID=10124904
| title= PM confirmed story, says editor
| accessdate=2006-05-11
}}
</ref>
Opinion on the significance of this incident varied.<ref name="Peter Doone opinion">
{{
cite web
|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10125421
| title= The PM'S slow leak
| accessdate=2006-05-11
}}
</ref>
In 2005, a motorcade involving police, Diplomatic Protection Squad, and Ministerial Services staff reached speeds of up to 172 km/h when taking Clark and Cabinet Minister [[Jim Sutton]] from [[Waimate]] to [[Christchurch International Airport|Christchurch Airport]] so she could attend a [[rugby union]] match in [[Wellington]]. The courts subsequently convicted the drivers involved for driving offences, but appeals resulted in the quashing of these convictions in December 2005 and August 2006.<ref name="Quashed convictions">
{{
cite web
|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10399036
| title= Motorcade police officers' convictions quashed
| accessdate=2006-08-31
}}
</ref>
Clark said that she was busy working in the back seat and had no influence or role in the decision to speed and did not realise the speed of her vehicle.<ref name="Motorcade">
{{
cite web
|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10339446
| title= PM 'enjoyed' convoy ride
| accessdate=2006-05-11
}}
</ref>
Some observers{{Fact|date=July 2007}} criticised Clark for some of Labour's election-campaign spending during the [[New Zealand general election, 2005|2005 election campaign]]. Investigations found that the [[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour Party]], like all parties represented in Parliament except for [[Jim Anderton|Jim Anderton's]] [[New Zealand Progressive Party|Progressives]], had illegally spent parliamentary funds on its election campaign. Labour had spent $768,000 illegally, and this meant Labour also exceeded the legal limits for campaign-spending, the only party to have done so. Despite disagreeing with the Auditor-General's conclusion, Clark announced Labour would refund the public purse and it did so in 2007. See [[2005 New Zealand election funding controversy]].
In 2007, Clark's Government introduced the [[Electoral Finance Act]], which placed restrictions on the spending of [[lobby group|lobby-groups]], who must now register with a government agency if they are spending over a certain amount<ref>[http://www.stuff.co.nz/sundaystartimes/4161572a22678.html]</ref>.
So far, the Act has been highly controversial and has attracted severe criticism from organizations such as the [[New Zealand Herald]] for its alleged attack on freedom of speech.<ref>
{{
cite web
|author=[[New Zealand Herald]]
|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10475416
|title=Democracy Under Attack
|date=12 November 2007
|accessdate=2007-11-16
}}
</ref>
==Honours==
The government of the [[Solomon Islands]] awarded Clark (together with [[John Howard]]) the [[Star of the Solomon Islands]] in 2005 in recognition of New Zealand's role in restoring law and order in the Solomon Islands.<ref>
Website of the NZ government: [http://www.beehive.govt.nz/ViewDocument.aspx?DocumentID=23419 PM awarded the Star of the Solomon Islands]. Retrieved on 2006-09-24
</ref>
This award allows her to use the post-nominal letters "SSI".<ref>
[http://medals.org.uk/solomons/solomons001.htm Medals of the World - Solomon Islands: Star of the Solomon Islands]. Retrieved on 2006-09-24
</ref>
In January 2008 Clark won the [[United Nations Environment Programme]] [[Champions of the Earth]] award in recognition of the government’s promotion of sustainability initiatives.
<ref>{{cite web
| last =
| first =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Prime Minister honoured by UN environment award
| work =
| publisher = [[New Zealand Government]]
| date = 2008-01-28
| url = http://feeds.beehive.govt.nz/release/prime+minister+honoured+un+environment+award
| format =
| doi =
| accessdate = 2008-01-29 }}</ref>
Helen Clark is an Honorary Member of [[The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/?en/about/members/honorary-members.533.htm|title=Honorary Members|publisher=The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation}}</ref>
== Biography ==
:* {{citation |first = Brian |last = Edwards |title = '''Helen: Portrait of A Prime Minister''' |place = Auckland, [N.Z.] |publisher = Exisle Publishing |year = 2001 |ISBN = 0-908988-20-6}}
== References ==
{{reflist|2}}
== See also ==
* [[Politics of New Zealand]]
* [[New Zealand]]
* [[List of Nuclear-Free Future Award recipients]]
==Further reading==
*{{citation |first = Allan R. |last = Kerr |title = ''' Helen Clark: Prime Minister of New Zealand''' |edition = 3rd |place = Masterton, [N.Z.] |publisher = Capital Letters Pub. |year = c.2006 |isbn = 1-877-17757-1}}
:''This is a book intended for children.''
*{{citation |first1 = Raymond |last = Miller |first2 = Michael (eds.) |last2 = Mintrom |title = ''' Political leadership in New Zealand''' |place = Auckland, [N.Z.] |publisher = Auckland University Press |year = c.2006 |isbn = 1-869-40358-4}}
:''A paper by John Henderson and Seishi Gomibuchi is entitled:'' "The leadership styles of Helen Clark and [[Don Brash]]."
*{{citation |first = Tony |last = Williams |title = '''101 ingenious Kiwis: how New Zealanders changed the world'''|place = Auckland, [N.Z.] |publisher = Reed |year = 2006 |isbn = 9780790011103}}
:''Helen Clark is profiled in a chapter entitled:'' " Helen Clark: first elected woman [[Prime Minister of New Zealand|prime minister]]."
== External links ==
{{Commons|Helen Clark}}
* [http://www.primeminister.govt.nz Prime Minister of New Zealand]
* [http://www.labour.org.nz/our_mps/helen_clark.html New Zealand Labour Party page for Helen Clark]
* {{imdb|id=0960721|name=Helen Clark}}
== Political offices ==
{{start box}}
{{s-par|[[Parliament of New Zealand]]}}
{{Incumbent succession box| before=[[Warren Freer]] | title=[[Mount Albert (NZ electorate)|Member of Parliament for Mt Albert]] | start=1981 }}
{{s-off}}
|- style="text-align: center;"
{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[Mike Moore]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand)|Leader of the Opposition]]|years=1993 – 1999}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jenny Shipley]]}}
|-
{{s-ttl|title=[[New Zealand Labour Party|Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party]]|years=1993 – present}}
{{s-inc|rows=2}}
{{s-bef | before=[[Jenny Shipley]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Prime Minister of New Zealand]] |years=1999 – present}}
{{end}}
{{New Zealand prime ministers |
years=1999 – |
before=[[Jenny Shipley]]|
after=(Incumbent)
}}
{{Prime Minister of New Zealand}}
{{New Zealand political party leaders}}
{{Persondata
|NAME=Clark, Helen Elizabeth
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=[[Prime Minister of New Zealand]], politician, academic
|DATE OF BIRTH=[[February 26]], [[1950]]
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Hamilton, New Zealand|Hamilton]], [[New Zealand]]
|DATE OF DEATH=
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Helen}}
[[Category:Prime Ministers of New Zealand]]
[[Category:Current national leaders]]
[[Category:New Zealand political party leaders]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:New Zealand Labour Party MPs]]
[[Category:Current female heads of government]]
[[Category:New Zealand feminists]]
[[Category:New Zealand agnostics]]
[[Category:Republicanism in New Zealand]]
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:University of Auckland alumni]]
[[Category:People from Hamilton, New Zealand]]
[[Category:New Zealand women in politics]]
[[ang:Helen Clark]]
[[ar:هيلين كلارك]]
[[cy:Helen Clark]]
[[de:Helen Clark]]
[[et:Helen Clark]]
[[el:Έλεν Κλαρκ]]
[[es:Helen Clark]]
[[fa:هلن کلارک]]
[[fr:Helen Clark]]
[[gl:Helen Clark]]
[[ko:헬렌 클라크]]
[[hr:Helen Clark]]
[[io:Helen Clark]]
[[id:Helen Clark]]
[[it:Helen Clark]]
[[he:הלן קלארק]]
[[lt:Helena Klark]]
[[mi:Helen Clark]]
[[mr:हेलन क्लार्क]]
[[ms:Helen Clark]]
[[nl:Helen Clark]]
[[ja:ヘレン・クラーク]]
[[no:Helen Clark]]
[[nn:Helen Clark]]
[[oc:Helen Clark]]
[[pl:Helen Clark]]
[[pt:Helen Clark]]
[[ru:Кларк, Хелен Элизабет]]
[[sco:Helen Clark]]
[[simple:Helen Clark]]
[[fi:Helen Clark]]
[[sv:Helen Clark]]
[[tpi:Helen Clark]]
[[bat-smg:Helena Klark]]
[[zh:海伦·克拉克]]