Name Maire Leadbeater | Role Writer | |
Books Peace, Power & Politics: How New Zealand Became Nuclear Free | ||
OUR HISTORY OF ACTIVISM IN NZ : MAIRE LEADBEATER : DOC #001
Maire Leadbeater (née Locke, born 19 October 1945), is a New Zealand human rights and peace activist, writer, and former social worker. She was also a councillor in the Auckland City Council and the Auckland Regional Council, who campaigned under the centre-left ticket body City Vision. During the 1980s and 1990s, Leadbeater served as the media spokesperson for the New Zealand Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, which successfully campaigned for a New Zealand nuclear-free zone and a ban on visits by nuclear-armed and nuclear-powered ships. She was also involved in various other human rights groups including the Auckland East Timor Independence Committee, the Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa and the Indonesia Human Rights Committee. Her family's left-wing activities made her the target of surveillance by the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service, the country's main domestic intelligence agency.
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Leadbeater is the daughter of Jack and Elsie Locke. Her mother was a former member of the Communist Party of New Zealand and was also a prominent feminist and peace activist. She has two siblings, Keith Locke and Alison Locke. Her elder brother was a Green Party MP, in parliament from 1999 to 2011.