Parmjeet Parmar

Parmar worked with a Mt Roskill local amenity, Stardome Observatory, to help fix an issue that all Auckland Regional Amenities faced in regards to their financial reporting requirements. Parmar sponsored a Private Bill entitled the "Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Amendment Bill" and successfully gained the unanimous support of the House. The Bill received Royal Assent on 2 July 2020.

During the 2020 general election, Parmar again contested the Mount Roskill electorate and due to a significant swing towards the Labour Party was not able to return as a list MP.

Her Member's Bill "Newborn Enrolment with General Practice Bill" was reported back from the Select Committee in May 2018 and came before the House for a second reading, however was unsuccessful in progressing to a third reading, after the Labour-led Coalition Government pulled their support for the Bill.

Parmar drafted a second Member's Bill entitled the "Patents (Advancement Patents) Amendment Bill" which proposed to create a second-tier patent with lesser eligibility requirements and protection compared to the standard patent. Parmar's bill was drawn from the ballot in April 2018 and subsequently attracted attention from local patent attorneys, the software industry, and from overseas jurisdictions. The Bill was ultimately unsuccessful at its first reading, as the Government did not support the Bill.

Kushmiita Parmjeet Kaur Parmar (born 1970) is a New Zealand politician who was elected to the New Zealand parliament at the 2014 general election as a representative of the New Zealand National Party and became the first Indian-born woman to become a Member of the New Zealand Parliament. She was appointed as the Opposition Spokesperson for Research, Science and Innovation from 3 November 2017, and Statistics on 16 July 2020 and Opposition Associate Spokesperson for Economic Development on 12 March 2018. She was made the Chairperson of the Education and Workforce Select Committee in her second term from 14 May 2018 to until the end of that term and the Deputy Chairperson of the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee in her first term.

Parmar’s Member’s Bill entitled the "Newborn Enrolment with General Practice Bill", was drawn and introduced in the House on 11 May 2017. The Bill, which proposed to require newborns to be enrolled with a general practice before the age of 6 months, passed its first reading and was referred to the Health Select Committee.

Following the 2017 election, Parmar was appointed as the Shadow Minister for Research, Science and Innovation and Associate Shadow Minister for Economic Development and later as the Shadow Minister for Statistics.

During the 2016 by-election and 2017 election, she again contested the seat of Mount Roskill, coming second to Labour's Michael Wood, and was re-elected as a list MP.

In response to comments by New Zealand First MP Shane Jones in which he stated that immigrants that criticised immigration policies should 'catch the first plane home', Parmar sent a letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expressing her concerns. On the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's birth, Parmar ran a petition for his statute to be installed in Auckland to acknowledge his legacy. At the time of launching her petition, she said "that a statue of Mahatma Gandhi is not just about India and New Zealand, and/or Indians in New Zealand, it is about honouring his legacy – the legacy that is ever lasting and is influencing civilised societies all around the world."

In early 2014, Parmar was photographed wearing a National Party ribbon with John Key at an Auckland event. This led Labour MP Rajen Prasad to question whether it was appropriate for Parmar to remain as a commissioner for the Families Commission, fuelled also by rumours of Parmar's potential of running as a candidate for the 2014 general election.

Parmar contested the Mount Roskill electorate at the 2014 election and came second place after Labour's candidate Phil Goff. Ranked at 48 on National's party list, she was elected as a list MP. National, however, won the party vote in the electorate for the first time since the seat's formation.

Parmar grew up in India where her father served in the Indian Air Force. She completed a masters in biochemistry in India and in 1995 moved to New Zealand to join her husband. At the University of Auckland, she gained a PhD in neuroscience and the title of her 2003 doctoral thesis was Neuroserpin regulates neurite outgrowth in AtT-20 and PC12 cell lines. She then worked as a scientist. In 2007, Parmar and her husband became directors of confectionery company, Kiwi Empire Confectionery Limited. She also worked as a current affairs and talkback host on Radio Tarana, and accompanied former prime ministers Helen Clark and John Key on their official visits to India as a member of the press. The National Party appointed her to the board of the-then Families Commission in 2013. She entered Parliament as a National list MP in 2014.