1st Female Premier Is Inaugurated

Jenny Shipley, who regularly was burned in effigy in the early 1990s for slicing social programs as social welfare minister, took office as the country’s first female prime minister. Shipley, who received Queen Elizabeth II’s official approval to govern the Commonwealth nation, took power in a short ceremony at Government House. She then returned to parliament to preside over her first Cabinet meeting as prime minister. Shipley appointed her Cabinet on Friday, naming a group of economic hard-liners to key posts, including the ministries of health, welfare, education and commerce.