Rona Stevenson

Rona Miriel Stevenson was a New Zealand politician of the New Zealand [National Party|National Party].
Born in Wellington in 1911, she served on the executives of the Women's Division of Federated Farmers, the YWCA and the Presbyterian Church.
She represented the Taupo electorate from 1963 [New Zealand general election|1963] to 1972, when she retired. In the, she narrowly beat Labour's Barry Gustafson. The Taupo seat was a marginal one and the women's section of the National Party raised a large sum of money to ensure her re-election. Also, in 1966 she also called for the names of women in 'so-called rape cases' to have their names published on the grounds that they may have been provocative, a move that may not have gained her support from women voters.
Stevenson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the community, in the 1976 [Birthday Honours (New Zealand)|1976 Queen's Birthday Honours]. She died on 4 September 1988, and her ashes were buried at Taupo Public Cemetery.