Louise Burnside

Louise Burnside is a community pharmacist in Napier, where she has lived for 17 years with her husband and two grown children, following her return from living overseas in the UK and Australia.

She became involved with Speak Up For Women in 2019 when she heard their young chairwoman discussing the IOC guideline on eligibility for the female sports category. Louise was horrified by the way the spokeswoman was treated by the RNZ journalists.

Shortly after that, Louise became aware of the use of puberty blockers in the Gender Reassignment Pathway for children and eventually joined a Wellington-based group called Fully Informed, where she worked to raise awareness of the issue. At the time, she was working as a clinical pharmacist at Hutt Hospital.

In 2021, Louise was approached by the head of paediatrics and asked to participate in a debate on the use of puberty blockers as a learning exercise for the paediatrics department. The pro-puberty-blockers side was to be presented by a local GP who was running a government-funded gender clinic in Napier. That debate was swiftly shut down by hospital management, and both Louise and the chief paediatrician were taken aside and threatened. Louise was told her livelihood was at stake if she discussed the topic in a professional capacity.

In the last five years, Louise has run two campaigns standing for Napier City Council. She learned a lot about political campaigns through that experience. She was approached by the Napier local group of the Women’s Rights Party to consider being a list candidate. She is aligned with the policies espoused by the Women’s Rights Party and says it is an honour to be included.

She was incensed by what happened at Albert Park in March 2023, when women were violently assaulted by protestors, and says she has enormous admiration for the women who went on to organise the Party.