Paulo Reyes Garcia is a New Zealand lawyer and politician. He is a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

for the

New Zealand National Party The New Zealand National Party ( mi, Rōpū Nāhinara o Aotearoa), shortened to National () or the Nats, is a centre-right political party in New Zealand. It is one of two major parties that dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongside ...

and the first New Zealand MP of

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

descent.

Early life and career

Garcia was born in the city of

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

, part of the conurbation of

Metropolitan Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in 1965. He is a graduate of the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 200 ...

, and also attended the Academy of American and International Law in Texas in the United States of America. He was a barrister before entering parliament. In the Philippines, where he practised for ten years, his focus was commercial law, particularly as it applied to foreign and multinational companies operating in that country. After moving to New Zealand, he practised immigration law with a focus on investor migration. After initially working for McLeod & Associates and Corban Revell Lawyers, he established his own firm, Garcia Law. Paulo Garcia was appointed

honorary consul A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

of the Philippines in Auckland in 2012, and was also involved in establishing the New Zealand Philippines Business Council.

Member of Parliament

In the Garcia stood for National in the electorate and was placed 50 on their party list. He came second to

Deborah Russell Deborah Faye Russell (born 14 January 1966) is a New Zealand academic and politician. She is a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the Labour Party. Biography Early life Russell was born in Whangamōmona, a small town in ...

with 38.55% of the vote and was not ranked high enough on National's party list to be allocated a seat in Parliament. In February 2018 Garcia and several other "next in line" list candidates attended National's parliamentary

caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

meeting to help ease their transition into parliament should they enter during the course of the parliamentary term. Garcia later entered Parliament in 2019 upon the resignation of National MP

Nuk Korako Tutehounuku "Nuk" Korako ( ; born 1954) is a New Zealand politician and member of Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury). He was previously a list Member of Parliament, representing the National Party, from 2014 to 2019. Early ...

. He was declared elected on 16 May 2019. He became New Zealand's first MP of Filipino descent. In 2020 he was briefly deputy chairperson of the

Parliamentary committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade and a National Party associate spokesperson on foreign affairs and justice. In February 2020 the National Party board decided that Garcia would be a list-only candidate in the 2020 general election. National polled poorly at the election and Garcia lost his seat in Parliament. Ahead of the

2023 New Zealand general election The 2023 New Zealand general election to determine the composition of the 54th Parliament of New Zealand is planned to be held on 14 October 2023, after the currently elected 53rd Parliament is dissolved or expires. Voters will elect 120 memb ...

, Garcia was selected as the National Party candidate for New Lynn again. He defeated incumbent Deborah Russell with a final majority of 1,013 votes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Paulo Living people Filipino emigrants to New Zealand University of the Philippines alumni New Zealand National Party MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand list MPs Unsuccessful candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election Candidates in the 2023 New Zealand general election Year of birth missing (living people)