Dr Parmjeet Parmar
| |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for National Party list | |
| In office 20 September 2014 – 17 October 2020 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1970 (age 53–54) |
| Political party | National |
| Spouse | Ravinder Parmar |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | http://www.parmjeetparmar.co.nz/ |
| Alma mater | University of Pune University of Auckland (PhD) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Biochemistry, neuroscience |
| Thesis | Neuroserpin regulates neurite outgrowth in AtT-20 and PC12 cell lines (2003) |
| |
Dr Parmjeet Parmar (born 1970)[1] is a New Zealand politician who was elected to the New Zealand parliament at the 2014 general election as a representative of the New Zealand National Party and became the first Indian born woman to become a Member of the New Zealand Parliament. She was appointed as the Opposition Spokesperson for Research, Science and Innovation from 03 Nov 2017, and Statistics on 16 July 2020 and Opposition Associate Spokesperson for Economic Development on 12 March 2018. She was made the Chairperson of the Education and Workforce Select Committee in her second term from 14 May 2018 to until the end of that term and the Deputy Chairperson of the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee in her first term.
Parmar grew up in India where her father served in the Indian Air Force. She completed a masters in biochemistry in India and in 1995 moved to New Zealand to join her husband. In Auckland, she gained a PhD in neuroscience and worked as a scientist. She worked as a current affairs and talkback host in radio broadcasting, and accompanied former prime ministers Helen Clark and John Key on their official visits to India. The National Party appointed her to the board of the-then Families Commission in 2013. She entered Parliament as a National list MP in 2014.[2]
| Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–2017 | 51st | List | 48 | National | |
| 2017–2020 | 52nd | List | 34 | National | |
In early 2014, Parmar was photographed wearing a National Party ribbon with John Key at an Auckland event. This led to Labour MP Rajen Prasad to question whether it was appropriate for Parmar to remain as a commissioner for the Families Commission, fueled also by rumours of Parmar's potential of running as a candidate for the 2014 general election.[3]
Dr Parmar contested the Mount Roskill electorate at the 2014 election. She contested that seat knowing that if elected it will be through the party list, as the Mt Roskill electorate has been a strong Labour Party seat. Ranked at 48 on National's party list, she was elected as a list MP, but she was successful in campaigning for the party vote in the 2014 election, with National winning the party vote in the electorate for the first time since the seat's formation.[4]
Again during the 2017 election, she contested the seat of Mount Roskill and was re-elected as a list MP.[4]
As a list MP, Dr Parmar had her office in the Mt Roskill electorate to serve locals. Dr Parmar attended many local ceremonies and fought against unauthorised actions from the local Labour Party.[5]
Dr Parmar’s office was located at 165 Stoddard Road in Mt Roskill, a central location in the Mt Roskill electorate, to ensure she was accessible to those who needed help the most.
As a former Families Commissioner, she was a Member of the Social Services Select Committee. Additionally, with Dr Parmar’s business background and local knowledge of Auckland, she was aware that transport and infrastructure were the biggest issues facing the community, and this informed her time as a Member of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee.[6]
Dr Parmar was made the Deputy Chairperson of the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee later in the Parliamentary term. She campaigned for bus stops to be sheltered, with the goal of making public transport more accessible to the elderly. Dr Parmar also campaigned on improving public transport in the community and for more modes of transport to be made available in Mt Roskill.[7]
As a passionate advocate for ensuring best start for children in their lives, Dr Parmar’s Member’s Bill entitled the "Newborn Enrolment with General Practice Bill", was drawn and introduced in the House on 11 May 2017.[8] The Bill passed its first reading in that term and was referred to the Health Select Committee.
Following the 2017 election during her second term, Dr Parmar was appointed as the Shadow Minister for Research, Science and Innovation and Associate Shadow Minister for Economic Development and later as the Shadow Minister for Statistics.[6]
Dr Parmar served as a member for the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Select Committee until she was made the Chairperson of the Education and Workforce Select Committee.[6]
Dr Parmar continued her campaign for local improvements of roads in Mt Roskill, and successfully campaigned for an accident-prone intersection to be converted to a roundabout.[9]
Her Member’s Bill "Newborn Enrolment with General Practice Bill" was reported back from the Select Committee in May 2018 and came before the House for a second reading, however was unsuccessful in progressing to a third reading, after the Labour-led Coalition Government pulled their support for the Bill.[10] The Government wanted to take up Dr Parmar’s Bill as a government policy, which Dr Parmar had not agreed to.
Coming from a business and scientific background, Dr Parmar drafted a second Member’s Bill to help small businesses protect their intellectual property, entitled the "Patents (Advancement Patents) Amendment Bill", which was drawn from the ballot in April 2018.[11][12] Dr Parmar’s Bill attracted a lot of attention from local patent attorneys,[13] the software industry,[14] and from overseas jurisdictions.[15][16][17][18] The Bill was ultimately unsuccessful at its first reading, as the Government did not support the Bill.
As an advocate for Mt Roskill businesses, Dr 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. Dr Parmar sponsored a Private Bill entitled the "Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Amendment Bill" and successfully gained the unanimous support of the House. The Bill received Royal Assent on 2 July 2020.[19]
Dr Parmar was a member of various inter-parliamentary associations. She attended and spoke at many national and international conferences including:
As an immigrant to New Zealand, Dr Parmar worked hard in ethnic communities and was a strong local voice for ethnic communities and against discrimination based on ethnicity or cultural beliefs.[24][25] On the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's birth, Dr 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.”[26]
Dr Parmar as the Shadow Minister for Research, Science and Innovation, backed with her scientific background with a PhD in Biological Sciences, was a strong voice for the scientific community in Parliament.[27][28][29] She asked serval questions to Ministers in the House to hold the Government to account in her portfolios of research, science and innovation. Dr Parmar also advocated for more certainty of funding for fire research in light of Port Hills and Nelson fires[30] and financial security for Crown Research Institutes.[31]
Dr Parmar also successfully advocated for scientific start-up companies not making any revenue to qualify for the wage-subsidy scheme that the Government had announced to help businesses during COVID-19 pandemic, as the criteria was such that start-up scientific sector didn’t initially qualify.[32][33][34] Furthermore, she successfully advocated for funding to be awarded to the local scientific sector to invest in researching a COVID-19 vaccine.[35][36]
Dr Parmar stood against changes at the Massey University’s Albany campus that would result in a loss of scientific jobs and opportunity for local students to study science degree at the Albany campus.[37][38]
A key field that Dr Parmar took an active lead on is for change to legislation that governs biotechnology and genetic modification in New Zealand. Dr Parmar initiated the debate on overhauling the current legislation to align it with the latest scientific advancements, with the aim of allowing local researchers have the ability to take their findings to the next level by doing field trials in New Zealand with a pathway to commercialisation. Dr Parmar is a strong advocate for the local biotech industry. She believes that biotech is one of the strongest tools that can help New Zealand reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, and believes that New Zealand must change its legislation if it is serious about its climate change aspirations.[39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54]
During the 2020 general election, Dr Parmar again contested the Mount Roskill electorate, hoping to be back through the National Party’s list, but due to a significant swing towards the Labour Party, National did not win enough party votes for her to return on the list.[55]
Dr Parmar has continued to remain active in the media.[56][57][58][59][60]
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