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Kate Shepperd becomes first woman to vote in New Zealand and the world to vote after many years of campaigning.
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The bill was passed by the Legislative Council on 8 September (after last-minute changes of allegiance) and consented to by the governor on 19 September. The Electoral Act 1893 gave all women in New Zealand the right to vote.
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The Women's Parliamentary Rights Act gave women the right to stand for Parliament. Three women contested seats at the 1919 general election, but none were successful.
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The Labour Party's Elizabeth McCombs became the first female Member of Parliament (MP), winning a by-election in the Lyttelton seat that arose because of the death of her husband, MP James McCombs.
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Labour's Iriaka Ratana became the first female Maori MP, when she succeeded her deceased husband, Matiu, in the Western Maori seat. The same year, National's Hilda Ross was appointed to the new National Cabinet.
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At the first election held under New Zealand's new mixed member proportional (MMP) system, 35 women MPs were elected, making up almost 30% of Parliament.
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Jenny Shipley became New Zealand's first female prime minister after replacing Jim Bolger as leader of the National Party.
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Labour's Helen Clark becomes New Zealand's first elected female prime minister following the general election in November 1999.
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Labour MP Mabel Howard became New Zealand's first female Cabinet minister. She served as minister of health and minister in charge of child welfare until Labour's defeat in 1949, and then as minister of social security in the 1957–60 Labour government.
