21 Jun 2013

Dame Barbara Goodman dies

5:50 pm on 21 June 2013

Dame Barbara Goodman, a former Auckland city councillor and mayoress, and a prominent figure in civic life, has died. She was 80.

Auckland's mayor Len Brown has described her as independent, feisty and committed to the causes she supported.

Dame Barbara served as a city councillor for 12 years, being elected following the death of her councillor husband and businessman Harold Goodman.

Before that, she carried out the role of mayoress for her uncle Sir Dove-Myer Robinson and later stood unsuccessfully for the mayoralty in 1990.

Dame Barbara championed causes including homosexual law reform, the volunteer movement and campaigned for the Odyssey House Trust for drug rehabilitation.

In 1988 she was made a dame for services to community welfare and rehabilitation.