Dr Parmjeet Parmar has a massive advantage over other candidates at this year’s general election.
The businesswoman and scientist can draw on the experience of having previously served in Parliament, as a List MP for the National Party from 2014 to 2020.
She’s since changed her allegiance to the ACT Party and is standing this year in the Pakuranga electorate.
Parmar, who’s lived in Pakuranga for more than two decades, is ninth on the party list so it’s very likely she’s set to become an MP again when the election is held on October 14.
She runs her family business and has previously served as a Families Commissioner and chaired a non-governmental organisation that supports the victims of domestic violence.
Parmar has a PhD in biological sciences from the University of Auckland and is on the board of Totara Hospice.
When she was announced as an ACT candidate, party leader David Seymour described her as a “woman of principles, a scholar and a successful businesswoman”.
“She will be a great addition to the ACT team and I look forward to working with her to make New Zealand a better place.”
Parmar says she was attracted to stand for ACT because it’s “the only party that takes an evidence-based approach to policy making”.
Since she began campaigning she’s heard a strong desire from the public for a change in Government.
“When they say that what they mean is they want real change, not just a change of Government.
“That is what ACT is about and that’s why the support for ACT is growing the way it is.”
She says Kiwis are concerned about three main political issues, being the cost of living, crime, and co-governance.
“When I talk to people I hear they’re struggling with their mortgage rates, and the cost of food has increased.
“There are a lot of people struggling. It’s not just low-income people.
“It’s even middle- to high-income families who are suffering from the cost of living.”
Parmar says ACT wants a flatter tax system that would see workers pay 17.5 per cent tax on income up to $70,000 a year and then 28 per cent tax on income above $70,000.
“That means people will have more money in their pocket. If someone is on $70,000, they’ll have $50 more per week.”
On law and order, she says the Labour Government has set a target of reducing the prison population by 30 per cent.
That’s resulted in “more people who should be behind bars being out on the streets”.
ACT would change the law so it would be an aggravating factor at sentencing if a victim was attacked in their workplace, and it will also tackle youth crime, Parmar says.
“For repeat offenders aged 11 to 14 there will be ankle bracelets so they can be easily tracked.
“For the older ones, we’ll have a 200-bed detention centre.
“And we’ll reverse the youth justice age to 17, which was increased by National and hasn’t worked, so they’ll be going to adult court rather than youth court.”
On the issue of co-governance, Parmar says Kiwis “really want to see everyone is treated equally and there are no race-based agendas in our public system.”
“These are the kinds of changes people really want to see and they’ll happen if they party vote ACT.”
