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Laura McClure
Laura Barbara McClure (born 3 August 1985), previously known as Laura Trask, is a New Zealand politician. She was elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives in the 2023 New Zealand general election, representing ACT New Zealand. Early life and familyMcClure was born in Christchurch on 3 August 1985, and raised there as the eldest of three children.[1][2][3] Her father Bill McClure, who moved from England to New Zealand in the 1970s, was a former general manager at Kraft Heinz who later founded a fire evacuation business.[1] Her mother Sharyn (née Neame), one of eight children, was a hairdresser who grew up in public housing.[1][2] McClure's parents disagreed with one another politically, with her mother being a staunch Labour Party supporter and her father a National supporter; she grew up in an environment of significant political discourse.[1] She attended Burnside High School and began an arts degree at the University of Canterbury but did not complete the course, instead training as a pharmacy technician. She married Riki Trask, a construction project manager. They have two children.[4] CareerMcClure worked as a pharmacy technician in Christchurch and Wellington. After having their first child, McClure and her husband took over the Auckland branch of her father's fire safety business.[1] She is a registered fire safety evacuation consultant.[5] While living in Auckland, McClure advocated for 24-hour medical support for south Auckland, as she found herself driving more than 40 kilometres (25 mi) for after-hours medical care for her children.[6] In 2020, she started volunteering for the ACT Party in Christchurch and worked for Toni Severin, a Member of Parliament elected on the ACT list. In a 2023 interview, McClure described her entry into politics as spontaneous, saying she would "have absolutely laughed" if someone told her ten years prior that she would become a politician.[1] Member of Parliament
Under her married name Laura Trask, McClure contested Banks Peninsula in the 2023 election. She was tenth on ACT's party list, placed higher than Severin at 14.[7] Speaking to The Press about her list position, McClure said did not expect to be given a winnable position and “it was not an ideal situation that I wanted to be in, but at the same time, I’m very honoured.”[8] On election night, McClure came fourth, with 2,073 votes based on final results, but entered parliament due to her position on the party list.[9][10] McClure's primary political concerns are oriented around regulation and the perception of "specific extra rights" for members of particular demographic groups. She supports transgender rights and the position that climate change is primarily caused by human actions. McClure criticises New Zealand's education system as "incredibly woke", which she defines as policies that detract from educating children in favour of ideological pursuits. She supports cutting government spending, which she considers the primary factor in inflation.[1] After being elected to Parliament, McClure was appointed ACT spokesperson on education, mental health, small business, and seniors. She sits on the social services and community committee and the foreign affairs, defence and trade committee.[11] References
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