First term, 2020–2023
Belich was considered as a possible Labour candidate in Rongotai for the 2017 general election. [13] She was selected as a Labour candidate in the 2020 general election. She ran for the electorate of Epsom, finishing second, but became an MP based on her ranking of 30th on the Labour party list. [14] [15] [16] In her first term, she was the deputy chair of the education and workforce select committee until 2023 when she became the chair of the committee as well as a junior government whip. [4]
In 2023, Belich inherited Duncan Webb's private members bill, the Companies (Directors Duties) Amendment Bill, which amended the Companies Act 1993 to remove doubt that company directors may consider matters other than maximising profit, such as environmental, social, and corporate governance and Treaty of Waitangi considerations, when discharging their duties. [17] The bill was described as "controversial" because it failed to receive select committee support, was perceived to increase the risk of litigation for companies and directors, and because it imposed no new obligations. [18] [19] Nonetheless, it passed its third reading on 1 August 2023 with Belich saying in the debate that the bill started from a misunderstanding that business must be profitable at all costs and that the bill, in its final draft, provided clarity to avoid future misunderstandings about company law. [20]
Ahead of the 2023 general election, Belich sought to succeed retiring former prime minister Jacinda Ardern in the safe Labour electorate of Mount Albert. Despite having Ardern's personal support, [4] [21] Belich missed out with fellow list MP Helen White winning the selection. [22] She was later re-selected as Labour's candidate in Epsom. [23]
Second term, 2023–present
Belich was briefly unseated after the election. She placed third in Epsom, and her list placement of 26 meant she was the first list candidate not to be elected after the official results were announced. However, senior Labour MP Andrew Little opted not to take up his list seat and formally resigned from the House on 5 December. This resulted in Belich's election as a list MP to replace Little the following day. [24] [25] [26]
She assumed the junior whip, workplace relations and safety, and emergency management portfolios in the Shadow Cabinet of Chris Hipkins. [27] On 7 March 2025, Belich was allocated the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) and public services portfolios during a shadow cabinet reshuffle. She retained the emergency management portfolio but lost the workplace relations and safety portfolio, and a short time later left the whips team. [28] [29]
In late 2023, Belich inherited a member's bill previously in the name of Ibrahim Omer, who had been defeated in that year's election. The Crimes (Theft By Employer) Amendment Bill is intended to clarify that an employer withholding an employees' wages is theft and had passed its first reading while Labour was in government. Despite the change of government, and although a select committee had not recommended the bill pass, New Zealand First voted with the opposition parties to pass the bill through its third reading on 12 March 2025. The bill received royal assent on 13 March. [30] Another member's bill in Belich's name, the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill, passed its first reading in November 2024 with support from the opposition and National. The bill proposes to prohibit employers from taking disciplinary action against employees who disclose their remuneration to their colleagues. [31] [32]
