Not that long ago, women held all of the top-ranking positions in NZ. In this episode of the Eyewitness podcast series, we discover that this is far from the case now.

Not that long ago, women held all of the top-ranking positions in NZ. In this episode of the Eyewitness podcast series, we discover that this is far from the case now.

"I think what's driven me is a deep-seated resentment at injustice. I think I've always felt that people have to be treated fairly." - Professor Margaret Wilson DCNZ

Margaret Wilson is a Law Professor at Waikato University. Her career has spanned a number of high-profile cabinet positions, including Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Back in 1999, Wilson was appointed as Attorney General as a host of women took center stage in New Zealand, holding the fort in high-power positions. Among them were Dame Silvia Cartwright (Governor General), Sian Elias (Chief Justice), Prime Minister Helen Clark and Jenny Shipley (Leader of the Opposition).

Alongside them, actor Lucy Lawless was fighting fierce as the ever-invincible Xena Warrior Princess and savvy businesswoman Theresa Gattung staked her claim as CEO for Telecom, one of New Zealand's largest corporations.

This period signalled major change as women in New Zealand made visible inroads into what had formerly been the domain of white middle-class men.

For Wilson the new appointment saw her continuing on a path of pushing for change in both the political and social spheres. While it was an important and symbolic period for New Zealand women, she says she was purely focused on the task at hand.

"I was so terrified at the prospect of the amount of work I had to do that I wasn't thinking externally. Obviously people commented on it and I thought;

I hope this can help others because it shows that women are quite capable of doing this job.

Women were proving to be robust with an unstoppable energy that exploded an unbreakable glass ceiling. Back then and even today, Wilson maintains that it felt like a long, hard slog to make ground and for women to push past some of the invisible social barriers and negative attitudes.

"I was told quite early on that I wouldn't get advancement in the university because women got married and had children, so why would you invest in them? I didn't feel resentful about that, I just went out and did what I could" she says.

"My mother was a major influence - she insisted that women have an equal education. There weren't a lot of women that were ahead of you that you looked up to it just seemed to me irrational that you wouldn't accept women for their capabilities and the contributions they could make."…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details