Since 2020, Ingrid has been the Labour Member of Parliament for Taieri – an electorate which draws together urban Dunedin South with parts of rural South Otago. She is a passionate advocate for the South, and for women’s equality and social and financial inclusion. Her offices are located in South Dunedin and Mosgiel, along with weekly constituent clinics in Milton and Balclutha.

Ingrid was Chair of the Finance and Expenditure Committee and sat on the Economic Development Innovation and Science Committee. Previously she was on Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade. Ingrid also co-chaired the Inter-parliamentary Alliance on China, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Taiwan, and the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians. She was also the Ambassador for Women in the New Zealand Parliament.

Of Dutch heritage, Ingrid is a member of Labour’s Ethnic Caucus. She is mother to three children of Pacific Island and Dutch-NZ heritage.

During her first Parliamentary term, Ingrid’s advocacy for inclusive school uniform and grooming policies saw the Human Rights Commission launch Guidelines to Board of Trustees to make uniform rules culturally safe and gender inclusive. She continues to advocate for climate adaptation solutions for South Dunedin and health solutions which support rural communities.

Prior to Parliament, Ingrid was an international relations specialist, lawyer, parliamentary press secretary, university lecturer and broadcaster. In 2006, Ingrid received the New Zealand Special Service Medal for Bravery for her broadcasting work in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in Aceh. She is also a Fellow of the Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Center.

Latest news and updates: 

• Bar still too high for small mental health providers – Small mental health providers will still be locked out of co-funding from the Mental Health Innovation Fund despite a lower threshold.
• We need to ensure the Govt delivers on its mental health promises – Workforce resource will greatly hinder delivery, particularly when Health New Zealand has a hiring freeze, and local GPs face a shortage of both funding and workforce numers.
• National winding back mental health work – Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey scrambled together some big promises to fix the muddle that was made of the Suicide Prevention Office, but has failed to secure any full time employees to do the work that the office is set up to do.