An address by Ms Golriz Ghahraman, Green Party Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, Defence, Human Rights, Overseas Development Aid, Refugees and Trade

Ms Ghahraman is an Iranian-Kiwi refugee and made history as the first ever refugee to be sworn in as an MP, having arrived in Aotearoa as a child asylum seeker with her family from Iran.

Her studies at Oxford, and her career as a lawyer in New Zealand and overseas, have focused on enforcing human rights and holding governments to account. Her work has included restoring communities after war and human rights atrocities, particularly empowering women engaged in peace and justice initiatives.

In New Zealand, she has successfully advocated on human rights issues before the Supreme Court. Before entering parliament, Golriz was active in the NGO community, as reflected by her board and governance roles. She volunteered her skills to advance justice reform, refugee and migrant rights, and for family carers of disabled persons. She was part of the team that worked to prepare New Zealand’s non-governmental report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

In her first term as MP, Golriz was a member of the Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Defence and Education and Workforce Select Committees. Her work included successfully negotiating an end to New Zealand’s military deployments in the Middle East, refocusing the work of our Defence Force on climate crisis, advocating for electoral funding reform, restoration of voting rights to prisoners serving three years or less, and doubling the number of refugee families reunified as well as financial support to bring them together.

Golriz's expertise as a human rights and constitutional lawyer will help bring effective legislative solutions for social justice, climate and environmental issues.