Political career

Dowie was selected by the National Party to replace retiring MP Eric Roy as the party's Invercargill for the 2014 election. At the time, she was described in the media as "relatively unknown"^[4] but was able to retain to retain the seat for National with a large margin over Labour's Lesley Soper.^[2][5] Dowie was returned again in 2017 with a slightly reduced margin over new Labour candidate Liz Craig and sitting New Zealand First list MP Ria Bond.

During her first term, Dowie served on a range of select committees. She was deputy chairperson of the Government Administration committee, deputy chairperson of the Local Government and Environment committee and chairperson of the Justice and Electoral committee.

In Dowie's second term, National was in Opposition. She was appointed to Simon Bridges' shadow cabinet as conservation spokesperson and one of only a few members who had not been a minister in the previous Government.^[6] In this role she campaigned against Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage's proposed tahr cull,^[7] supported recreational whitebaiting,^[8] and promoted a member's bill aimed at regulating the shark cage diving industry.^[9] She also opposed the Labour government's plans to merge the country's polytechnics into a single entity, Te Pūkenga – New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology.^[10]

Jami-Lee Ross scandal and retirement

Botany MP Jami-Lee Ross split from National in October 2018. Shortly after this Newsroom reported that four women claimed to have been sexually harassed by Ross^[11][12] and Ross revealed in a radio interview that he had been having an affair with two women including a fellow MP.^[13] On 25 January 2019, that MP was revealed to be Dowie.^[14] Ross had disclosed her identity to news media in October 2018, but they chose not to name her until it was learned that a police investigation had been launched into a text message allegedly sent by Dowie to Ross.^[3][15] However, the police decided that no further action was needed.^[16][17]

In 2019 Dowie was re-selected unopposed as National's Invercargill candidate, but in February 2020 announced her decision not to stand for re-election.^[18] Her change of heart was attributed to the fallout from the Ross scandal.^[19] Southern Institute of Technology chief executive Penny Simmonds was announced as the replacement candidate.^[20]

Dowie delivered her valedictory speech on 29 July 2020.^[21][22] She criticised the news media for the way it portrayed her when the news broke of her relationship with Ross and accused journalists and political commentators of inaccurate reporting and “downright lies”. She described Ross as a “predator” who was able to “manipulate the media for his agenda” and said when the “media is directly party to it, it is the media fraternity that needs to audit themselves as to their ethics and their conscious peddling of sexism and patriarchy”. Dowie said if it takes for her to be “New Zealand’s ‘scarlet woman’ to highlight that situation, “then so be it”, and that New Zealand has a long way to go with how it views women.

Her speech was met with a standing ovation by MPs throughout the debating chamber. Dowie gave a number of high-profile interviews with news media following the announcement of her retirement from Parliament, including with New Zealand Herald senior writer David Fisher,^[23] Stuff’s Andrea Vance,^[24] and Newsroom’s Melanie Reid.^[25] In these interviews she described Ross as psychologically, sexually and emotionally abusive and called for an overhaul of the way in which women MPs are treated.

Dowie also wrote an op-ed for Newsroom providing advice to other women caught in abusive relationships including breaking off contact with the abuser and reaching out to and confiding in friends.^[26]