VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHWL #0122 0380419
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 070419Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 3842

UNCLAS WELLINGTON 000122 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/ANP - DAN RICCI; S/WE: SASHA MEHRA AND GERDA LANE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL KWMN NZ
SUBJECT:  NEW ZEALAND - FIVE INFLUENTIAL WOMEN 
 
REF:  A.) State 11245, B.) 06 State 202341 
 
In response to reftel, Post identifies the following women as the 
top five most influential in New Zealand. 
 
¶1.  Right Honorable Helen Clark 
Prime Minister 
PO Box 18888 
Parliament Buildings 
Wellington 
 
Now in her third term as PM, Clark is now the seventh- longest 
serving Prime Minister in New Zealand's history.  In 2006, she was 
ranked by Forbes Magazine as the 20th most powerful woman in the 
world. 
 
¶2.  Chief Justice Sian Elias 
Chief Justices Chambers 
PO Box 1091 
Wellington 
 
In 1999, Dame Sian became the first woman to be named Chief Justice 
of the former Judicial Council of the Privy Chamber.  She became 
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court when it was established in 2004. 
As such she is the most senior member of NZ's judiciary. 
 
¶3.  Dame Sylvia Cartwright 
195a Gillies Avenue 
Epsom 
Auckland 
 
From 2001-2006, Dame Sylvia served as New Zealand's second female 
Governor General (the Queen's representative and Head of State). 
She previously was the country's first woman High Court judge, and 
in 1988 also presided over the Cartwright inquiry, which looked at 
cervical cancer treatment in Auckland.  In May 2006, she was 
appointed as one of only two international judges in the Cambodian 
War Crimes Tribunal trial chamber. 
 
¶4.  Wendy Pye 
c/o Wendy Pye Ltd 
Private Bag 17905 
Greenlane 
Auckland 1546 
 
Wendy Pye's Sunshine Books, which she launched in 1985, is one of 
the world's largest producer of children's literary multimedia 
material, with 190 million units sold in 21 countries.  Pye, who has 
pioneered early literacy programs in the United States, is also a 
member of the APEC Business Advisory Council and several other 
business organizations advising the NZ Government. 
 
¶5.  Kathryn Ryan 
Presenter 'Nine to Noon' (and former political editor) 
Radio New Zealand 
Work: ++64 4 474 1977 
Mobile phone: ++ 64 27 45 13506 
 
Ryan is host of Radio New Zealand's (RNZ's) influential Nine-to-Noon 
program, a three-hour daily show covering both hard news and 
lifestyle topics.  She holds an education degree and took a two-year 
teacher training course before studying journalism.  A previous RNZ 
political editor, Ryan traveled to the U.S. under the International 
Visitor's Program in 2004. 
 
The USG Officer at post who follows women's issues is 
Political-Economic Counselor Katherine B. Hadda. 
 
McCormick