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Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi

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Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for National Party List
In office
8 November 2008 – 17 October 2020
Personal details
Born (1964-02-20) 20 February 1964 (age 60)[citation needed]
Delhi, India
Nationality
Political partyNew Zealand National Party
SpouseIrvinder Kaur
Alma materUniversity of Delhi

Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi (Punjabi: ਕੰਵਲਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਬਖ਼ਸ਼ੀ; born 20 February 1964) is an Indian-born New Zealand politician and a member of the National Party. He was a Member of Parliament as a list MP from the 2008 election to the 2020 election.

Early life

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In an interview, Bakshi said that he was born in Delhi, India. His father, Bakshi Jagdev Singh was a politician. Bakshi attended Guru Harkrishan Public School and acquired a degree in Commerce from the University of Delhi in 1985. His first job after graduation was in the family's freight business where he eventually became a marketing manager. Bakshi married Irvinder Kaur in 1989, and moved to New Zealand in 2001.[1][2]

Member of Parliament

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New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2008–2011 49th List 38 National
2011–2014 50th List 35 National
2014–2017 51st List 32 National
2017–2020 52nd List 32 National

Bakshi was both New Zealand's first Indian and first Sikh Member of Parliament.[3] He was elected in the 2008 election by way of the party list, having unsuccessfully contested the Manukau East electorate.[4] Bakshi recontested Manukau East in 2011, 2014 and 2017; he was elected each time as a list MP. In his parliamentary career, Bakshi served as Chairperson of the Law and Order Select Committee (2015–2017), Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of Police, and National Party spokesperson for Internal Affairs (2017–2020) and Ethnic Communities (2020).[5][6][7]

In early 2009 and again in August 2009, he was investigated by police and Immigration New Zealand over a scheme where he allegedly made false job offers to Indian people wishing to enter New Zealand.[8] Bakshi was later cleared by the police of wrongdoing; the main complainant was not interviewed as they had had left the country.[9]

In June 2010, his Military Manoeuvres Act Repeal Bill was drawn from the member's ballot.[10] The bill passed into law in April 2012. A second member's bill, seeking to legalise the carrying of kirpans by Sikhs, was drafted but not drawn.[11]

Kanwaljit accompanied New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key on his visit to India in June 2011.[12] He has been recognised for fostering ties between New Zealand and India.[13] Bakshi has also assisted the New Zealand Government in publishing their policies in Indian languages such as Hindi, Gujrati and Punjabi for the benefit of the Indian community.[14] He also received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award at a ceremony in India in January 2015 for building a positive profile of people of Indian Origin in New Zealand and South Pacific.[15]

Bakshi voted against the first reading of Louisa Wall's same-sex marriage bill in August 2012.[16] Bakshi later attended a protest against Louisa Wall's bill stating to the crowd of around 250: "We understand that God made us and we are firm believers [that] marriage is between a man and woman, I tell you, the majority of the National Party MPs voted against this bill. There were only three Labour party MPs who voted against this bill. So you can understand who believes in Christianity, who believes in this bill. It is the National Party." Bakshi later conceded that in fact a majority of National MPs had voted for the bill.[17]

In 2016 Bakshi faced criticism for comparing international students to a commodity such as fridges. In an interview, following a question about treating Indian students as "economic commodities", Bakshi said "if New Zealand gets fridges from China and they're faulty then they send them back".[18]

In Bakshi's fourth term, the National Party was in Opposition and he was the party's spokesperson for Internal Affairs (2017–2020) and Ethnic Communities (2020). He voted against the End of Life Choice Act 2019 and the Abortion Legislation Act 2020.[19][20]

During the 2020 New Zealand general election, Bakshi contested the Panmure-Ōtāhuhu electorate (which had replaced the Manukau East electorate due to boundary changes). He again lost the electorate seat to Labour candidate Jenny Salesa, by a final margin of 18,626 votes.[21] Bakshi had been raised in the National Party list, going from 32nd to 24th, but the National Party as a whole fared poorly in the election, receiving only 33 seats of which only 10 went to list MPs.[22] Bakshi did not rank high enough on National's party list to be re-elected, and so left Parliament.[23]

References

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  1. ^ "Getting candid with ... Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi". Stuff. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  2. ^ "About Kanwaljit". Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  3. ^ "New Zealand Parliament Gets First Sikh MP". Hindustan Times. 10 November 2008. Archived from the original on 21 September 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  4. ^ "2008 Election Results". Archived from the original on 18 February 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2009.
  5. ^ "Bakshi, Kanwaljit Singh - New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  6. ^ "Tougher new gun control laws proposed to tackle gang members, ammunition rules". Stuff. 7 April 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  7. ^ "Parliamentary Private Secretaries appointed". The Beehive. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  8. ^ Gower, Patrick (19 August 2009). "National MP faces police probe on jobs". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
  9. ^ Gower, Patrick (16 October 2009). "Bakshi cleared of scam". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  10. ^ "Military Manoeuvres Act Repeal Bill". Parliament of New Zealand. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
  11. ^ "On the backbenches: A seven-day-a-week job". RNZ. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  12. ^ "New Zealand PM embarks on first visit to India". 25 June 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  13. ^ "Another first for the first inductee of the Kiwi-Indian Hall of Fame". 16 January 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  14. ^ "Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi". 12 August 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  15. ^ "National MP receives prestigious Pravasi Bhartiya Award". 13 January 2015. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  16. ^ "Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill — First Reading". New Zealand Parliament – Hansard. 29 August 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  17. ^ Weekes, John (28 October 2012). "MPs attend protest against gay marriage". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  18. ^ Muir, Jo (26 September 2016). "National Party MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi compares international students to 'faulty fridges'". Stuff. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  19. ^ "End of Life Choice Bill — Third Reading". New Zealand Parliament. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  20. ^ "Abortion Legislation Bill — Third Reading". New Zealand Parliament. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  21. ^ "Panmure-Ōtāhuhu - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  22. ^ "2020 General Election and Referendums - Official Result".
  23. ^ Whyte, Anna (18 October 2020). "Analysis: The winners, losers, new faces and goodbyes of election 2020". 1News. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
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