Barbara Goodman

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Barbara Goodman (born Pearl Barbara Robinson; 5 October 1932 – 21 June 2013) was a New Zealand politician from Auckland. She married Harold Goodman in 1954, and they had three children. From 1968 to 1980 she was mayoress of Auckland City while her uncle, Sir Dove-Myer Robinson, served as mayor. Her husband was an Auckland city councillor and deputy mayor in the late 1970s. In 1973 she opened a therapeutic pool at Kingseat Hospital. She became a justice of the peace in 1980. In 1981 she was made a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for community service. After her husband died in 1988, she won a by-election to take his council seat for the Citizens and Ratepayers group. She supported reforms on homosexual law, abortion rights, volunteering and drug rehabilitation, and she chaired Odyssey House Auckland from 1981 to 1992. She was a longtime patron of Volunteering Auckland. In 2006 she opposed plans for a $500 million rugby stadium on Auckland’s waterfront. In the 1989 New Year Honours she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to the community. She led the project to create a memorial sculpture for her uncle in Aotea Square, unveiled in 2002 to celebrate his contribution to the city. Her cousin Lesley Max was made a Dame in 2010. It is believed to be the first time two Jewish cousins were both named dames. Barbara Goodman died in Auckland on 21 June 2013, aged 80, after several years with Parkinson's disease.