Ann Hercus

Dame Margaret Ann Hercus, DCMG (born 1942) is a New Zealand politician and diplomat.

She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of Auckland and a law degree from the University of Kent at Canterbury.

She was the Member of Parliament for Lyttelton from 1978 to 1987, and the Minister of Social Welfare, Police and Women's Affairs from 1984 to 1987, the first woman to hold the Police portfolio.cite web|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10360065|title=Hercus out as Fraser tells all |last=Thomson|first=Ainsley|date=15 December 2005|publisher=New Zealand Herald|accessdate=2008-10-06]

From 1988 to 1990, she was Ambassador and Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the United Nations. In 1998, she was appointed Deputy Special Representative and Chief of Mission of the United Nations operation in Cyprus. She resigned for family reasons in 1999. Fact|date=October 2007

In 2005, information on salary rates of senior TVNZ staff was leaked, Hercus was named as the source. She resigned in protest from the board of TVNZ over the pay rates; she resigned from the board a second time a year later, hours after former CEO Ian Fraser reported on board dysfunction to a parliamentary select committee.

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