Parmjeet Parmar

Kushmiita Parmjeet Kaur Parmar (born 1970)^[1] is a New Zealand politician.

She was first elected as a Member of the New Zealand House of Representatives in the 2014 general election, representing the National Party. After being deseated in the 2020 general election, Parmar changed allegiance to ACT New Zealand and was elected for that party in the 2023 general election.

Parmar is the first Indian woman to be elected to the New Zealand Parliament.

Early life and career

Parmar grew up in India where her father served in the Indian Air Force. She completed a master's in biochemistry in India and in 1995 moved to New Zealand to join her husband. At the University of Auckland, she gained a PhD in neuroscience and the title of her 2003 doctoral thesis was Neuroserpin regulates neurite outgrowth in AtT-20 and PC12 cell lines.^[2] She then worked as a scientist.

In 2007, Parmar and her husband became directors of confectionery company, Kiwi Empire Confectionery Limited.^[3] She also worked as a current affairs and talkback host on Radio Tarana, and accompanied prime ministers Helen Clark and John Key on their official visits to India as a member of the press.^[4]

Parmar held two government appointments prior to becoming a politician. She was appointed as a community representative on the Film and Video Labelling Body in 2012.^[5] The following year, she was appointed to the board of the Families Commission (later Superu).^[6]

In early 2014, Parmar was photographed wearing a National Party ribbon with John Key at an Auckland event. This fuelled rumors of that Parmar would run in that year's election as a National candidate, and led Labour MP Rajen Prasad (who was also a former chief Families Commissioner) to question whether it was appropriate for Parmar to remain on the Family Commission board.^[7] When Parmar was eventually confirmed as a National candidate, she said she would resign from the board immediately.^[8]

Political career

National Party

Parmar was announced as a National Party candidate in June 2014.^[8] She contested the Mount Roskill electorate at the 2014 election and came second place after Labour's candidate Phil Goff. Ranked at 48 on National's party list, she was elected as a list MP. Goff retired in 2016; Parmar unsuccessfully contested Mount Roskill against Labour's Michael Wood in the subsequent by-election, and again at the 2017 general election were she was returned as a list MP.^[9]

In her maiden speech of 28 October 2014, Parmar stated her values of "strong, caring families and communities, personal responsibility, and equal citizenship and opportunities" and set out her priorities for the science sector and small businesses.^[10] In her first term, during the final three years of the Fifth National Government, Parmar was a member of the social services committee and transport and industrial relations committee.^[11] In 2017, she was briefly deputy chair of the transport and industrial relations committee.^[11]

Parmar’s member’s bill, the Newborn Enrolment with General Practice Bill, was introduced on 10 May 2017.^[12] The bill, which proposed to require newborns to be enrolled with a general practice before the age of 6 months, passed its first reading with support of all parties and was referred to the health committee.^[12][13] At its second reading in mid-2018, the bill was voted down with members in the majority arguing that enrolment of newborns with general practices is already required without legislation.^[14][15]

In her second term, when National formed the official opposition, Parmar was appointed the party's spokesperson for research, science and innovation from 2017 to 2020, as an associate spokesperson for economic development from 2018 to 2020, and as spokesperson for statistics in 2020.^[11] She was a member of the economic development, science and innovation committee from 2017 to 2018 and chair of the education and workforce committee from 2018 to 2020.^[11] As science and innovation spokesperson, Parmar advocated for more certainty of funding for fire research in light of Port Hills and Nelson fires^[16] and for financial security for Crown Research Institutes.^[17] She supported legislative change to enable gene-editing as a means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.^[18][19]

Parmar's second member's bill, the Patents (Advancement Patents) Amendment Bill, was debated in August 2018. It proposed to create a second-tier patent with lesser eligibility requirements and protection compared to the standard patent.^[20][21] The bill attracted attention from local patent attorneys,^[22] the software industry,^[23] and from overseas jurisdictions^{[24][25][26][27]} but was ultimately unsuccessful at its first reading.

Parmar worked with a Mt Roskill local amenity, Stardome Observatory, to help fix an issue that all Auckland Regional Amenities faced in regards to their financial reporting requirements. Parmar sponsored a private bill, the Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Amendment Bill, which was supported by all parties and became law on 2 July 2020.^[28]

In response to comments by New Zealand First MP Shane Jones in which he stated that immigrants that criticised immigration policies should "catch the first plane home," Parmar sent a letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expressing her concerns.^[29][30] On the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's birth, Parmar ran a petition for his statute to be installed in Auckland to acknowledge his legacy. At the time of launching her petition, she said "that a statue of Mahatma Gandhi is not just about India and New Zealand, and/or Indians in New Zealand, it is about honouring his legacy – the legacy that is ever lasting and is influencing civilised societies all around the world."^[31]

Parmar was defeated in Mount Roskill at the 2020 election and the National Party did not win enough support for her to return as a list MP.^[32] She sought the National candidacy in Mount Roskill, Upper Harbour, and Maungakiekie ahead of the 2023 general election but was not selected.^[33]

ACT New Zealand

On 31 May 2023, Parmar announced her return to politics, switching her party affiliation from National to ACT. That same day, she was confirmed as the ACT candidate for Pakuranga.^[34] In July, ACT placed her ninth on its party list.^[35]

During the 2023 New Zealand general election held on 14 October, Parmar was elected to Parliament on the ACT party list.^[36] She also came third place in the Pakuranga electorate, gaining 1,298 votes.^[37]

As ACT's education spokesperson, Parmar objected to the University of Auckland's designated safe spaces for Māori and Pasifika students. She argued that the policy was racially discriminatory, divisive and failed to address historical injustices faced by ethnic minorities in New Zealand.^[38]

Personal life

While still living in India, Parmar's family arranged for her to marry Ravinder Parmar, who was a New Zealand citizen.^[29] They have two sons.^[10]

References