First period, 2002–2008 Stewart contested the
North Shore electorate for New Zealand First in the
2002 election and was ranked sixth on the
party list—the highest rank of any candidate who was not already an MP and also the highest ranked woman. Although she lost North Shore, she was elected to Parliament as a
list MP. In her September 2002 maiden statement to the house, she set out her intention to be an advocate for children. She described an "absence of parenting skills" in society and set out her concerns relating to child health, including
childhood obesity and poor
dental health. She also spoke out against violence on television and in video games. After the election, New Zealand First supported the continuation of the
Labour government. In 2006, Stewart's
private member's bill, the Electoral (Reduction in Number of Members of Parliament) Amendment Bill, was introduced to Parliament. The bill followed the
1999 New Zealand MP reduction referendum, in which 81.46% of participating electors voted to reduce the number of MPs to 99. The referendum was non-binding and the referendum outcome had not been implemented by the government. At the time, New Zealand's
mixed-member proportional voting system provided for 69 electorate MPs and at least 51 list MPs for a total of at least 120 MPs (subject to any
overhang). Stewart's bill proposed no changes to the number of electorate MPs and proposed to cut the number of list MPs by 20 for a total of 100 MPs. At its first reading on 16 March 2006, the Bill passed 61 votes to 60 despite the governing Labour Party's opposition, but it was defeated at its second reading on 8 November 2006 when the
National Party withdrew its support. In the
2008 general election, Stewart unsuccessfully contested the new
Waikato electorate. She was promoted to fifth on the New Zealand First list, but the party lost all its parliamentary seats, winning no electorates and polling below the 5% threshold.
Second period, 2011–2017 At the
2011 election Stewart was re-elected to Parliament following a resurgence in the New Zealand First vote, where she had been ranked fifth on the party list. Stewart had stood again in the Waikato seat but was unsuccessful in defeating
Lindsay Tisch, the incumbent
National Party of New Zealand MP. Stewart was elected whip by the new NZ First caucus following the 2011 election and remained in this role following her re-election in
2014. and immigration, saying that Asian immigrants to New Zealand "struggl[e] with the concept of a house." In 2013, Stewart voted against the
Marriage Amendment Bill, which aims to permit same sex marriage in New Zealand, with all of her fellow New Zealand First MPs. Stewart was successful in having two health-related private member's bills selected for introduction during her second period in Parliament, though neither passed. The SuperGold Health Check Bill, was selected for introduction in November 2013. The bill proposed that over 65s who receive
New Zealand superannuation would be eligible for three free doctors' visits per year. The Bill was transferred into the name of New Zealand First leader
Winston Peters before its first reading, where it was defeated 60 votes to 61. The Affordable Healthcare Bill was drawn in August 2015 and was also transferred to Peters. It failed its first reading 46 votes to 75 that December. The bill proposed amendments to the
Immigration Act 2009, the
Income Tax Act 2007 and the
Social Security Act 1964 that would require immigrant parents to have and maintain health insurance, remove
fringe benefits tax from health insurance and give a rebate on health insurance to pensioners. The policies related to mandatory health insurance for immigrants were controversial. A similar policy proposal had been criticised by Stewart's New Zealand First colleagues
Denis O'Rourke and
Mahesh Bindra, who questioned its consistency with the
New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. Later,
Attorney-General,
Chris Finlayson, issued a legal opinion stating that the bill's provisions related to mandatory health insurance for immigrants would unjustifiably limit the right to freedom from discrimination in the Bill of Rights. Stewart announced that, following the death of her husband on 31 January 2017, she would not stand for re-election in the
2017 general election. In her valedictory statement on 8 August 2017, she stated that she considered her greatest achievement to be working with Labour's health minister
Pete Hodgson on providing free doctors' visits for children under six. == Later life and death ==