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New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 417, 20 June 1947, Page 8

.who used to sit down there at these conferences," said the Hon. Mabel Howard recently in a speech at the Federation of Labour ‘confetfence. It is’ certainly a credit to -the new Minister of Health she ‘has, no intention of letting her head be turned by the fact that she is the first woman Cabinet Minister in New Zealand. In 1943 I walked up the steps of Parliament House to interview the new mémber for Christchurch East. In 1947, after three weeks of pursuit, I was permitted to sandwich an interview . between important. departmental and ministerial confergnces: But it is doubtful, I think, if Miss Howard is the "same old label." We would not ‘wish it, and nei ner swe 3 / Four yéstsin the House have. pa her. She has gained. an- assurance » entirely without conceit, pretence, or arrogance. She has proved herself.an able and courageous speaker and a hard worker, and I noticed a glint in her eyes which seemed. to tell me that she would make an. untiring Minister of Health. ~ Miss Howard impressed me , with her sincerity and honesty of purpose, She igs not personally ambitious. "I don’t mind who gets the credit so long as the work gets done," she said. I was im pressed with the ease with which she chatted, She made no attempt to fill her red-carpeted ministerial. room with the aura of her new-found greatness. She is approachable, energetic, and experienced. She has the courage to say what she thinks. She has the sense of service of the missionary, combined with the wariness and tact of the politician, "She Lwould not bother with a pedestal. She is more at home on a soap-box at @ street corner. "Pulled Up With a Jerk" Congratulations on her appointment please her, but have not turned her head. She waved her hand to a high pile of -papers. "Look at them, telegrams of congratulation from all over the country. They just poured in, I think I heard from.ail women’s organisations in New Zealand, irrespective of party politics. I was quite overwhelmed. I’ve just done my job over these last years as a matter of course. This pulled me up with a jerk. I sat down and took stock of myself very seriously. Is this what I appear like to the public? I said. And if so, is this really me? This is something I shall have to live up to, I thought, and I began to look at myself very anxiously. But I did realise that somehow over ‘these last years I had built a place for myself ii New Zealand politics and J felt proud and honoured." Miss Howard’s candour is refreshing. She is too busy to be anything but modest about her achievement. "It is not the position, whether I can live up to it that matters. I’ve taken on a mighty big job and a "mighty important ~ one, but I think it is a job that a woman can handle, and I like handling big jobs. It will be hard work-40 hours, and then 40 hours, and then 40 hours | again all’ in a week." : "Man must work from ‘sun to sun, but. woman’s work is never done." "Yes," said Miss Howard, "Just @ typical woman’s life." . s 2 te just the same old Mabel