Iain Lees-Galloway

Fifth National Government, 2008—2017

Lees-Galloway joined the Labour Party in 2005 and became chairman of the Palmerston North branch in the following year.^[3] He was selected as successor to retiring MP Steve Maharey, who became Vice Chancellor of Massey University, in a contested Labour Party selection for the 2008 election.^[3] He defeated the National Party candidate, Malcolm Plimmer, with a majority of 1,117 votes.

Lees-Galloway leading a protest march

Lees-Galloway was confirmed in the 2011 election with a majority increased from 1,117 in 2008 to 3,285 in the latest election.^[4][5] In the 2014 election, Lees-Galloway was challenged by the Mayor of Palmerston North, Jono Naylor, but remained successful.^[6] Lees-Galloway had a majority of 2,212 votes over Naylor.^[7]

During his tenure, Lees-Galloway has served as the Labour Party's spokesperson for Veteran's Affairs, Transport and, Land Information and has served associate spokesperson for Health. Prior to that, he was associate spokesperson on health (drugs and alcohol) and defence.^[2] He served as junior whip for the Labour Party from 2013 to 2014.^[8]

He has had three bills drawn from the member's ballot. In September 2010, his Smoke-free Environments (Removing Tobacco Displays) Amendment Bill was drawn from the member's ballot, attempting to ban the display of tobacco products and smoking accessories at points of sale.^[9][10] The bill's objective was subsequently adopted in a Government bill which came into force 23 July 2012.^[11] Lees-Galloway's Electoral (Adjustment of Thresholds) Amendment Bill was also drawn from the member's ballot in February 2013. It proposed amendments to the Electoral Act 1993, implementing the recommendations of the Electoral Commission with respect to the party vote threshold.^[12] In October 2013, his Land Transport (Safer Alcohol Limits for Driving) Amendment Bill, was drawn and progressed to First Reading. This bill would have lowered the allowable blood alcohol content (BAC) from 0.08g to 0.05g per 100mls of blood when driving.^[13] The Government announced their own legislation that would do the same after Lees-Galloway's bill was drawn. The legislation was passed July 2014.^[14]

As his party's spokesperson for Workplace Relations, Lees-Galloway was a leading voice alongside trade unions in the campaign to eliminate zero-hour contracts in New Zealand. In 2016, after a year and a half long campaign that involved tens of thousands of New Zealanders, industrial action by union members, parliamentary negotiations, agreements were made with the National government.^[15] Lees-Galloway submitted an amendment to the Employment Standards Legislation Bill that addressed the issue and was approved overwhelmingly. The bill unanimously passed in parliament on 11 March 2016 and took effect April 2016. The legislation is thought to be one of the first laws in the developed world to end the use of deals criticised as exploitative.^[16] Lees-Galloway has declared the reforms "a win for working people" of New Zealand.^[17]

Sixth Labour Government, 2017—present

Lees-Galloway was designated as Minister of Immigration by the Labour Party caucus following Labour's formation of a coalition government with New Zealand First and the Greens.^[18][19]

On 20 July 2018, Lees-Galloway in his capacity as Immigration Minister granted visas for the controversial Canadian alt right activists Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux to visit New Zealand for a speaking tour in August 2018. Mayor of Auckland Phil Goff had controversially denied the duo access to Auckland Council facilities on the grounds that they were there to stir ethnic and political tensions. While Lees-Galloway described Lauren and Molyneux's views as counter to the "kind and tolerant values" of the vast majority of New Zealanders, he cleared their visas on the grounds that they had fulfilled immigration character requirements including not having been convicted of a crime or previously barred from Australia and the United Kingdom.^[20][21][22]