James McDowall

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For the 18th century figure, twice Lord Provost of Glasgow, see James McDowall (Lord Provost).
For the US governor and congressman, see James McDowell.

James McDowall
MP
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for ACT party list
Assumed office
17 October 2020
Personal details
Born (1988-01-06) 6 January 1988 (age 34)
Pukekohe, New Zealand
Political partyACT
Alma materUniversity of Waikato
Universiteit Maastricht

James Samuel McDowall[1] is a New Zealand libertarian[2] politician who was elected to the New Zealand parliament at the 2020 general election as a representative of the ACT New Zealand party.

Political career[]

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2020–present 53rd List 6 ACT

Prior to parliament[]

McDowall stood for ACT in the Hamilton East electorate in the 2017 general election, but received only 140 votes.[3] He was also placed 13th on the ACT party list, but ACT did not win enough party votes to be entitled to any list MPs.[4]

McDowall led the development of ACT's firearm policy in response to the Government's 2019 Arms Amendment Act.[5]

Election to parliament[]

In the 2020 general election, McDowall was placed 6th on the ACT party list and ran for the electorate of Waikato.[6] He focused on raising awareness of ACT rather than his own individual electorate.[3] McDowall came third in Waikato,[7] while ACT won 7.6% of the party vote, entitling it to ten MPs including McDowall.[8][9] During the Commission Opening of the 53rd New Zealand Parliament, McDowall repeated his oath in Cantonese, attracting significant attention – "over a million views" – in Hong Kong.[10][11]

McDowall is the ACT Party's spokesperson for Economic Development, Research, Science and Innovation, Immigration, Defence, and Tourism.[12] As ACT's immigration spokesperson, McDowall has often criticised the Labour government, such as its Covid border policies and their impact on access to seasonal workers,[13][14][15] its proposed new "priority" application system[16] and its proposed law changes intended to prevent migrant worker exploitation, but which McDowall said would actually enable bad employers to exploit migrants more.[17] The Green Party's spokesperson, Ricardo Menéndez March, acknowledged the work of McDowall and others to "put immigration on the agenda."[18] McDowall said in 2021 that "ACT would dump Labour’s ‘once in a generation’ immigration reset" and that it "would signal a return to the pre-COVID immigration settings as soon as public health concerns allow".[19]

McDowall supported a law which allowed people to change the gender on their birth certificate. Speaking about the bill, which passed unanimously through parliament, he said it “advanc[ed] liberalism and actually reduc[ed] Government interference in people's lives by enabling choice”.[20]

Personal life[]

McDowall was born in Pukekohe and has a PhD in marketing.[6][21] He is a small business owner, owning several small businesses including an immigration law firm.[3] He has also worked for the Wise Group, one of the largest providers of mental health and wellbeing services in New Zealand.[22] He has a daughter who, as of 2021, is three years old.[2] McDowall is a vegetarian.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ "Event". New Zealand Parliament. 7 November 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "McDowall, James; Mallard, Trevor". Parliament. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Rowland, Tom (7 October 2020). "Vote 2020: Act Party on track to have Waikato list candidate in Parliament". NZ Herald. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  5. ^ Blommerde, Chloe (21 September 2020). "Election 2020: Waikato candidates for local MP". Stuff. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  6. ^ a b Wade, Amelia (5 August 2020). "Election 2020: Party of 6? Meet the Act team who could soon become MPs". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Waikato - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  8. ^ "2020 General Election and Referendums - Official Result". Electoral Commission. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "2020 General Election and Referendums - Official Result Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ "Praise heaped on ACT MP James McDowall for swearing allegiance in Cantonese". Newshub. 1 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  11. ^ "感動港人｜新西蘭議員廣東話宣誓獲網民激讚 謙虛自嘲：不是故意讀成「雞成人」". Apple Daily. 27 November 2020. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  12. ^ "James McDowall". ACT New Zealand. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  13. ^ "Growers 'devastated' as apples rot in Hawke's Bay orchards". Stuff. 7 April 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  14. ^ "$350k wellbeing support package for horticulture sector announced". Stuff. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Relief from growers at news RSE workers can soon skip MIQ". Stuff. 2 August 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Skilled migrant struggle: 'I haven't seen my daughter for over 400 days'". Stuff. 10 April 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Employers openly talk about charging migrant 'meat' more for residency". Stuff. 5 June 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  18. ^ "National declares win after 'trigger-happy' Immigration NZ leaks policy details". Stuff. 29 September 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  19. ^ "ACT proposes private MIQ and ending 'the four horsemen of bad regulation'". Stuff. 25 July 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  20. ^ "Parliament unanimously passes sex self-identification law, simplifying changes to birth certificates". Stuff. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  21. ^ Doyle, Katie (1 August 2020). "Top five contenders who could join ACT leader David Seymour in Parliament". Radio NZ. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  22. ^ "Election 2020: Nine new ACT members are about to enter Parliament". Stuff. 18 October 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
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