Simon Thomas Court is a New Zealand politician. He became a Member of Parliament in the New Zealand parliament at the

2020 general election The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...

as a representative of the ACT New Zealand party.

Early life and career

Court went to

Auckland Grammar School Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about It ...

and then attended Unitec to study civil engineering. He has public and private sector experience and worked in Auckland, Wellington and Fiji. For Auckland City Council, he worked as a civil and environmental engineer, and before entering parliament, he was running his own engineering firm. In 2016 and 2017, Court worked for engineering consultancy

MWH Global MWH Global Inc. is a global water and natural resources firm providing technical engineering, construction services and consulting services. In 2016, MWH was acquired by Stantec Consulting Inc. The firm provided planning, design and construction ...

in Fiji. The consultancy lost its contract with the Fiji Roads Authority on alleged pay disputes and Court and one other employee were deported from Fiji. According to Court, the deportation was in response to him speaking out about Chinese Communist party contractors' workmanship. Fiji Roads Authority reportedly "accused MWH of extortion, breaking contract, and damaging the country", but Court disputed this, saying he did not see any evidence of that.

Political career

Court stated in 2020 that he had supported the ACT Party for just over two decades, but also that he had voted Green twice. He joined ACT after going to a party event in December 2019. In the 2020 general election, Court was placed 5th on the ACT party list and ran for the electorate of . He did not win the electorate, coming fourth with 1610 votes, but ACT won 7.6% of the party vote, which entitled it to 10 MPs, including Court. He is ACT's spokesperson for the Environment, Climate Change, Infrastructure, Transport, Local Government, and Energy and Resources.

Personal life

Court has three teenage sons, the youngest of whom has Down syndrome. He cites his youngest son as one of the main reasons for entering Parliament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Court, Simon Living people ACT New Zealand MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand list MPs Year of birth missing (living people)