Paul Goldsmith (politician)

Goldsmith contested the Maungakiekie electorate in the 2005 general election for the National Party.[4] He was defeated by the incumbent, Labour's Mark Gosche, and due to his low list placing (59 on the National Party list),[4] did not enter Parliament.[10]

Goldsmith stood in the Epsom electorate at the 2011 general election,[11] but lost the electorate vote to John Banks, who earlier in 2011 had joined ACT New Zealand.[12] Since 2011, National party leaders have lent support to ACT candidates running in the Epsom electorate to keep the party in Parliament.[13][14][15] Goldsmith was ranked 39th on the National Party list[16] and was elected as a list MP sitting in the 50th Parliament.[17] During his first term in parliament, Goldsmith was initially deputy chairperson and subsequently (from 2013) chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure select committee.[18] He was also a member of the Local Government and Environment select committee.[18]

During the 2014 election, Goldsmith contested the Epsom electorate and came second to ACT candidate David Seymour.[19] Ranked 30th, Goldsmith was re-elected as a list MP. He was a Cabinet Minister in the 5th National Government, holding the portfolios of Science and Innovation, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment, Commerce and Consumer Affairs and Regulatory Reform.[18] He served on the Education and Science and Social Services select committees.[18]

During the 2017 election, Goldsmith was re-elected as a list MP after coming second place in the Epsom electorate.[20] At the beginning of the parliamentary term, as an opposition MP, he was the party spokesperson for Arts, Culture and Heritage.[18] Following the March 2018 National Party portfolio reshuffle, Goldsmith became spokesperson for Revenue and Economic and Regional Development.[18][21] Later in the year, he lost the Revenue portfolio, but became Transport spokesperson.[18] In 2019, Goldsmith assumed the spokesperson role for Finance and Infrastructure.[22][18] In addition to his finance and infrastructure roles, Goldsmith became spokesperson for state-owned enterprises between February and May 2020 and Earthquake Commission spokesperson between May and November 2020.[18]

Under the leadership of Judith Collins and following the pre-election budget which was found to have several errors,[23] Goldsmith lost the Finance and Earthquake Commission role and became spokesperson for Education.[18] Between March and May 2020, Goldsmith was a member of the Epidemic Response Committee, a select committee that considers the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[24] Goldsmith has stated that he would vote against the legalisation of cannabis at the 2020 referendum.[25] He believes New Zealand should wait and observe the effects of cannabis legalisation in Canada before making a decision.[25]

During the 2020 election, Goldsmith contested the Epsom electorate, coming third place.[26] He was re-elected as a list MP.[27] Since November 2020, Goldsmith has been a member of the Education and Workforce select committee.[18] In June 2021, Goldsmith attracted controversy for stating that colonisation had been "on balance" good for Māori because it had led to the creation of New Zealand.[28] He believes that New Zealand's reconnection with the rest of the world following isolation for centuries was always going to be a "traumatic experience".[28]

In mid March 2022, Goldsmith was promoted from 12th to 5th place in National Party leader Christopher Luxon's shadow cabinet.[29]