Retired Te Anau English teacher, Lathee Verrall was jumping for joy when she heard New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announce her new Cabinet appointments on Monday (November 2).

Her husband, a retired Fiordland College principal Bill Verrall was away fishing when the announcement was made and only heard the news on the radio as he was driving home.

Lathee and Bill are proud parents of Dr Ayesha Verrall who, in her first term of office, has been promoted to the Labour government's Cabinet, holding the portfolios of Minister for Seniors, Minister for Food Safety, Associate Minister of Health and Associate Minister of Research, Science and Innovation. She was inducted into Parliament yesterday (November 6).

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Ayesha was born in Invercargill and raised in Te Anau by her Maldivian mother and Kiwi father. She is named after her Maldivian grandmother, whom she never met, as she died young long before Ayesha was born. The family moved to the Maldives for two years when Ayesha was aged between 3 and 5, and later she continued to travel there with her parents and her younger sister Saeeda regularly, acquiring fluency in the Maldivian language. Back in New Zealand she started her education at Te Anau School and attended Fiordland College. 

It was seeing the toll that disease had taken on her mother's family in the Maldives that motivated Ayesha to study medicine. She completed her Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) at the University of Otago Dunedin School of Medicine in 2004. As part of her studies she did practical clinical work at the Indira Ghandi Memorial Hospital in Male, the main island of the Maldives.

Later she trained in tropical medicine, bioethics and international health in the United Kingdom, Singapore and Peru, obtaining an MSc from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the University of Alabama through the Gorgas Institute in Lima, Peru. 

When she returned to New Zealand she completed her PhD in tuberculosis epidemiology at the University of Otago in 2018.

Ayesha Verrall (left) and her sister Saeeda pictured in 1993. PHOTO: Supplied

So why did the public health and epidemiology expert and a practising doctor switch to politics? 

It is not that surprising, given her family background and her activism. Ayesha was a high achiever from a young age, who also showed leadership skills. Her parents say she was a busy girl and excelled in everything she did. She was athletics champion, played hockey, was in the college road race and cross country teams. At Fiordland College she was dux, played saxophone in the school band and was on the college debating team.

When she was president of the Otago University Students' Association in 2001 she lobbied for interest-free student loans and in 2003 also led the formation of the New Zealand Medical Student Journal (NSMJ).

Her Maldivian family are no strangers to politics and have held some high ranking positions in the government. Her uncle Hussain Ahmed Maniku was an atoll chief working in the local government. Her cousin Mohamed Nasheed was jailed and tortured for his political views, but later became the fourth President of the Maldives from 2008 to 2012. He was the first democratically elected president of the Maldives and one of the founders of the Maldivian Democratic Party.

“He was quite a strong influence on our children. They had a lot of respect for him and his fight for democracy,” Lathee said.

Ayesha’s is a fight for a better, fairer public health.

Dr Verrall was one of the first to raise alarm about New Zealand’s contact tracing in March this year. She was called in by the Health Ministry to review the regime and deliver recommendations.

Before the election she decided to stand for Labour and after Labour’s landslide victory she was catapulted straight into the Cabinet.

On Monday, after the government announcement of the new Cabinet, Ayesha Verrall wrote on Twitter: “So humbled to be elected to Cabinet and to bring my expertise to our fight against Covid. Looking forward to getting to work as Minister for Seniors and Food Safety, as well as Associate Minister for Health and Research, Science and Innovation. Thanks to my Labour colleagues for your support. Now it is time to crack on with the job!”

The Verall family at the Fiordland College Prom in 1997 (from left) Bill, Lathee, Ayesha and Saeeda. PHOTO: Supplied