Paulo Garcia (New Zealand politician)

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Paulo Garcia
MP
Garcia in 2023
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for New Lynn
Assumed office
14 October 2023
Preceded byDeborah Russell
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for the National Party List
In office
16 May 2019 – 17 October 2020
Preceded byNuk Korako
Personal details
Political partyNational
ProfessionLawyer

Paulo Reyes Garcia is a New Zealand lawyer and politician. He is a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the New Zealand National Party and the first New Zealand MP of Filipino descent.[1][2]

Early life and career[edit]

Garcia was born in the city of San Juan, part of the conurbation of Metropolitan Manila, Philippines in 1965.[3][4] He is a graduate of the University of the Philippines, and also attended the Academy of American and International Law in Texas in the United States of America. He was a barrister before entering parliament. In the Philippines, where he practised for ten years, his focus was commercial law, particularly as it applied to foreign and multinational companies operating in that country.[4][5] After moving to New Zealand, he practised immigration law with a focus on investor migration.[5] After initially working for McLeod & Associates and Corban Revell Lawyers, he established his own firm, Garcia Law.[5]

Paulo Garcia was appointed honorary consul of the Philippines in Auckland in 2012, and was also involved in establishing the New Zealand Philippines Business Council.[4][6]

Member of Parliament[edit]

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2019–2020 52nd List 50 National
2023–present 54th New Lynn 34 National

In the 2017 election Garcia stood for National in the New Lynn electorate and was placed 50 on their party list.[7] He came second to Deborah Russell with 38.55% of the vote and was not ranked high enough on National's party list to be allocated a seat in Parliament.

In February 2018 Garcia and several other "next in line" list candidates attended National's parliamentary caucus meeting to help ease their transition into parliament should they enter during the course of the parliamentary term.[8] Garcia later entered Parliament in 2019 upon the resignation of National MP Nuk Korako.[9] He was declared elected on 16 May 2019.[10] He became New Zealand's first MP of Filipino descent.[4] He is the first person born in the Philippines who has been elected to the national legislature of another country.[11] In 2020 he was briefly deputy chairperson of the Parliamentary committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade and a National Party associate spokesperson on foreign affairs and justice.[12]

In February 2020 the National Party board decided that Garcia would be a list-only candidate in the 2020 general election.[13] National polled poorly at the election and Garcia lost his seat in Parliament.[14]

Ahead of the 2023 New Zealand general election, Garcia was selected as the National Party candidate for New Lynn again.[15] He defeated incumbent Deborah Russell with a final majority of 1,013 votes.[16]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Libre, Mel. "First Filipino to become member of Parliament in New Zealand". Sun.Star. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Declaration by Electoral Commission That Paulo Reyes Garcia is Elected a Member of Parliament – 2019-au2167 – New Zealand Gazette". gazette.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  3. ^ Alcober, Neil (28 June 2020). "Daily Tribune". Archived from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d Libre, Mel. "First Filipino to become member of Parliament in New Zealand". Sun.Star. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  5. ^ a b c "Insights to the Director – Garcia Law (archived)". Garcia Law. Archived from the original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  6. ^ "National's New Lynn candidate selected". New Zealand National Party. Archived from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  7. ^ "National releases 2017 party list". New Zealand National Party. 30 July 2017. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  8. ^ "National caucus presents united front". RNZ. 8 February 2018. Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  9. ^ Kirk, Stacey (15 April 2019). "National MP Nuk Korako announces retirement from Parliament". Stuff. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  10. ^ "New list MP for The New Zealand National Party". Electoral Commission. 16 May 2019. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  11. ^ "Comprehensive Partnership the goal for NZ and the Philippines | Beehive.govt.nz". www.beehive.govt.nz. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  12. ^ "Garcia, Paulo – New Zealand Parliament". 27 June 2023. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  13. ^ Manch, Thomas (11 February 2020). "MP Sarah Downie to retire etc". Stuff. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  14. ^ Whyte, Anna (18 October 2020). "Analysis: The winners, losers, new faces and goodbyes of election 2020". 1 News. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  15. ^ "Paulo Garcia Selected as National's Candidate in New Lynn | Scoop News". Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  16. ^ "New Lynn – Official Result". Electoral Commission. 14 October 2023. Archived from the original on 4 November 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
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