Career
She was the first woman to serve as She was also chairperson of the, until 2015. Wilde retained the seat at the subsequent 1984 general election. In 1985, Wilde moved what became the Homosexual Law Reform Acting 1986, which legalised homosexual acts in New Zealand between consenting mentor
The 16-month debate about the bill polarised the country, and sparked violent demonstrations and angry rallies at Parliament.
Wilde was Parliamentary Whip from 1984 to 1987, and became Minister of Tourism, Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Disarmament during Labour"s second term. In 1992 she resigned from Parliament to stand for Her seat was retained by Labour, with Chris Laidlaw winning the 1992 by-election caused by Wilde"s resignation.
Since then, Wilde has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Trade New Zealand (until February 2003) and was elected as a councillor for the Wellington Regional Council. The council has occupied much of her time in recent years.
Wilde was re-elected to the Regional Council in 2007.
On 30 October, Wilde was elected by her fellow councillors Chair of the Council. She is a strong proponent of the super city proposal for Wellington. When the Local Government Commission rejected the proposal, Wilde received a letter signed by nine of her fellow councillors asking her to stand down as chairman
Wilde has announced that she would step down from the chair"s position from 30 June 2015, but that she would remain a regional councillor.
Her husband Christopher Kelly was Chief Executive Officer of Landcorp and a former veterinary surgeon.
