Ann Batten

Reverend Ann Batten is an Anglican priest and a former New Zealand politician. She has been a member of various political parties and represented New Zealand First and Mauri Pacific in Parliament.

Early life

Batten is an Anglican priest and peace activist, originally from South Auckland. In 1995, she headed an anti-nuclear protest to French Polynesia.

Member of Parliament

Parliament of New Zealand
Years	Term	Electorate	List	Party
1996–1998	45th	List	3	NZ First
1998–1999	Changed allegiance to:			Mauri Pacific

Batten was selected by the Labour Party to contest the Albany electorate in the 1996 election. She resigned from the Labour Party in March 1996 and joined New Zealand First instead, which gave her a high list ranking of 3rd place and let her contest the North Shore electorate. She came fifth in the electorate vote, but was one of 11 list candidates of her party who entered Parliament.

In 1998, when New Zealand First splintered, Batten was one of the eight MPs who left the party. She eventually joined with four other MPs to form the Mauri Pacific party. In the 1999 election, she was ranked fifth on Mauri Pacific's list, but the party failed to win any seats.

Since leaving Parliament, Batten has been involved in broadcasting.