Ashraf Choudhary | |
---|---|
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Labour party list | |
In office 2002–2011 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan | 15 February 1949
Nationality | New Zealand |
Political party | Labour |
Residence(s) | Auckland |
Alma mater | University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF) Pakistan Massey University, New Zealand |
Committees | Primary Production Committee |
Fields | Agricultural Engineering |
Institutions | Massey University |
Ashraf Choudhary QSO (born 15 February 1949; Sialkot, Punjab) is a Pakistani-New Zealand scientist in agricultural engineering and formerly a member of the Parliament in New Zealand. He is a member of the Labour Party, and was New Zealand's first MP from South Asia and Pakistan. [1]
Choudhary was born in the Pakistani half of the Punjab region in village Jajay at the home of Chaudhry Muhammad Boota. He comes from a family of agriculture. He attended high school in the town of Sialkot, [2] and then gained a degree in agricultural engineering from University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF) in Faisalabad. He continued his studies abroad, gaining a master's degree in agricultural engineering at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England and a PhD in agricultural engineering at Massey University, New Zealand. [1]
Choudhary was originally an environmental scientist and taught at Massey University. [2] He has published a large number of scientific papers in his field, and is considered to be an international authority on conservation tillage.[ citation needed ] His work has a particular focus on agricultural techniques in developing countries. Choudhary has three children.
Before entering Parliament, Choudhary had worked with a number of community organisations, including such groups as the New Zealand Federation of Ethnic Councils and FIANZ – the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (of which he was president in 1984–85).[ citation needed ] In his capacity as president of FIANZ he oversaw the first annual halal meat contract with the New Zealand Meat Producers Board in June 1984, with the aid of Mazhar Krasniqi, Hajji Abdul Rahim Rasheed and Dr. Mohammad Hanif Quazi.[ citation needed ]
Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002 –2005 | 47th | List | 40 | Labour | |
2005 –2008 | 48th | List | 25 | Labour | |
2008 –2011 | 49th | List | 31 | Labour |
Having been a supporter of the Labour Party for some time, Choudhary was elected to Parliament as a Labour Party list MP in the 2002 election. He was sworn in on the Qur'an, which Winston Peters (leader of the New Zealand First party) criticised as breaking "centuries-old tradition." [3] Choudhary, however, responded that the tradition was broken when Premier Julius Vogel was sworn in on the Torah. [3] Because Parliamentary officials did not have a copy of the Qur'an, they obtained a copy from the FIANZ office, which was then donated to the Parliamentary Library for use in the future.[ citation needed ]
During his time in Parliament, Choudhary served on the Primary Production, Local Government and Environment, and Education and Science select committees. [1] He also came to public attention in 2003, when he abstained in a vote to legalise prostitution. The Muslim community were upset by his decision to abstain from voting since prostitution is seen as a violation of their faith. [4]
In 2011, Choudhary was mentioned in Anders Behring Breivik's manifesto 2083: A European Declaration of Independence where Choudhary was used an example of Muslim's failing to assimilate by not condoning the stoning of homosexuals and those who have extramarital affairs. [5] Choudhary had in 2004 stated that stoning was in line with Qur'an teachings, but had no place in New Zealand. [6] He responded to the inclusion in the manifesto by saying "He is a terrorist and we should condemn what he has done and that is all I really want to say." [5]
On 29 September 2011, Choudhary delivered his valedictory speech in Parliament and would retire from politics after the 2011 general election. [7] Since retiring Choudhary has been active in the Pakistani and Indian community circles of Auckland encouraging youth political involvement and supporting blood donor drives. [8] [9]
At the 2016 election and 2019 election local body elections Choudhary was elected to the Otara-Papatoetoe Local Board and Counties Manukau District Health Board. [10] [11] [12]
In the 2001 New Year Honours, Choudhary was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for community service. [13]
Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar is a Pakistani and former British politician who served as the 31st and 33rd Governor of Punjab, from 2013 to 2015 and from 2018 to 2022. In his first term, he represented the Pakistan Muslim League (N). In his second term, he represented the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. He was a member of the Senate of Pakistan from March 2018 until September 2018. From 1997 to 2010 Sarwar was a Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, representing a constituency in Glasgow, Scotland.
Philip Bruce Goff is a New Zealand politician who has been the Mayor of Auckland since 2016. Previously, he was a Member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1981 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2016. He served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition between 11 November 2008 and 13 December 2011.
Lianne Audrey Dalziel is New Zealand politician and the current Mayor of Christchurch. Prior to this position, she was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for 23 years, serving as Minister of Immigration, Commerce, Minister of Food Safety and Associate Minister of Justice in the Fifth Labour Government. She resigned from Cabinet on 20 February 2004 after apparently lying about a leak of documents to the media, but was reinstated as a Minister following Labour's return to office after the 2005 election. She resigned from Parliament effective 11 October 2013 to contest the Christchurch mayoral election. The incumbent, Bob Parker, decided not to stand again, and she was widely regarded as the top favourite and won with a wide margin to become the 46th Mayor of Christchurch.
Philip Shane Ardern is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the National Party and represented the electorate of Taranaki-King Country from 1998 to 2014.
Sir David Cunningham Carter is a New Zealand National Party politician who served as the 29th Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017 and as a Cabinet Minister in the Fourth and Fifth National Governments. He represented the Selwyn electorate in the 44th Parliament and the Banks Peninsula electorate in the 45th Parliament. He served as a list MP from 1999 until he retired at the 2020 election.
Ruth Suzanne Dyson is a former New Zealand politician. She was a Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2020. She represented the Port Hills electorate from the 2008 election election to 2020. She also held a number of senior offices in the Labour Party, including president.
Dianne Fae Yates is a New Zealand politician. She is a member of the Labour Party.
Aupito Tofae Su'a William Sio is a politician who became a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives on 1 April 2008 for the Labour Party as a list MP. Since the November 2008 election, he has represented the Māngere electorate.
Charles Pierre Chauvel is a New Zealand lawyer and former New Zealand politician who was a Labour list Member of Parliament (2006–2013) until his resignation to take up a position with the UN Development Programme. He was the first New Zealand MP of Tahitian ancestry.
The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ) was set up in April 1979 by Mazhar Krasniqi and other Muslim community leaders to draw together the regional Islam organisations of Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury into one centralised New Zealand-wide body.
Maungakiekie is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Maungakiekie is Priyanca Radhakrishnan of the Labour Party. The name is from Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill, a large and symbolically important hill at the western end of the seat; the name denotes the presence of kiekie vines on the hill.
Māngere is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one member of parliament to the Representatives of New Zealand. The current MP for Māngere is William Sio, elected for the Labour Party. He has held this electorate since 2008.
Manukau East was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate that returned one member of parliament to the House of Representatives. It was first formed for the 1996 election. Between the 2014 election and the 2020 electorate adjustment it was held by Jenny Salesa, a member of the Labour Party, who also won the replacement Panmure-Ōtāhuhu seat in the 2020 election.
Botany is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was contested for the first time at the 2008 general election, and won by Pansy Wong for the National Party. Following Wong's resignation in late 2010, a by-election returned Jami-Lee Ross, who was confirmed by the voters in the 2011 general election. Ross left the National Party in October 2018 and became an independent. Ross did not contest the seat at the 2020 general election, and was succeeded by the new National candidate, Christopher Luxon, who became the party's leader and the Leader of the Opposition in November 2021.
Le-Aufa'amulia Asenati Lole-Taylor is a former New Zealand politician and a member of the House of Representatives. She is a member of the New Zealand First Party.
Jennifer Teresia Salesa is a New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party who has served as a Member of Parliament since 2014. She was first elected as MP for Manukau East, and after its abolition in 2020 won the replacement electorate of Panmure-Ōtāhuhu. She served as a Cabinet Minister in the Sixth Labour Government as Minister for Building and Construction, Minister of Customs and Minister for Ethnic Communities from 2017 until 6 November 2020.
Priyanca Radhakrishnan is a New Zealand politician who has been elected to the New Zealand parliament since the 2017 general election as a representative of the New Zealand Labour Party and is currently Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector.
Apna is a New Zealand radio and television network targeted towards ethnic minorities. The radio network broadcasts on 990 AM in Whangarei, Auckland and Hamilton, and plays Bollywood music alongside cultural features and discussions. The television channel is available on channel 26 on Freeview HD in major centres, and features mostly Indian and Pakistani television programmes.
The Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board is one of the 21 local boards of the Auckland Council. It is overseen by the Manukau ward councillors.
Pasifika New Zealanders are a pan-ethnic group of New Zealanders associated with, and descended from, the indigenous peoples of the Polynesian islands outside of New Zealand itself. They form the fourth-largest ethnic grouping in the country, after Asian New Zealanders, indigenous Māori and European-descended Pākehā. There are over 380,000 Pasifika people in New Zealand, with the majority living in Auckland. 8% of the population of New Zealand identifies as being of Pacific origin.