First Pakistani, the First South Asian and First Muslim in NZ Parliament Dr Ashraf Choudhary say goodby to Parliament after 9 years term as MP

THROUGH SADA-E-WATAN SYDNEY A BIG THANK YOU TO COMMUNITY AND FRIENDS

A time comes in life when one has to say goodby and thanks to their friends and supporters. That time came for me as an MP to say a BIG THANK YOU to all my friends and supporters.

On Saturday, 26 November 2011, a new Parliament was elected in New Zealand and on that day my 9 years term as an MP came to an end as I retired from Parliament. Over these years I had thoroughly committed to my job as an MP and done what I could do for the ethnic community and the wider NZ community. As I have often said as the first Pakistani, the first South Asian and first Muslim in NZ Parliament my main job has been to open doors for future generations of ethnic and migrant communities. Given the number of ethnic MPs in the Parliament I think I have largely been successful in my struggle.

I have been honoured and privileged to have this opportunity to represent the interests of our people in the Parliament.

There are Now two MPs of Indian origin (Mr Kanwaljit Bakshi, National Party and Dr Rajen Prasad, Labour Party) who have been elected to the Parliament. Regretfully there is no one of Pakistani origin, or a Muslim MP in the New Zealand Parliament Now.

Therefore, I wish more of our people will take interest in politics and make it to the Parliament. In the MMP environment it is all possible and just needs commitment and hard work.

Although I shall be leaving Parliament as an MP, I shall not be very far from you. I shall still be involved in community issues in one or the other way. So please keep in touch and you are very welcome to contact me if there are any political or community issues you wish to discuss and/or help resolve.

From now you are welcome to contact me on my private email which is ashrafchoudhary1@gmail.com

Once again I thank you and your family and friends who have so kindly supported me for the last 9 years in Parliament.

Thanks once again to the readers of Sada-e-Watan and many friends in both New Zealand and Australia and best wishes for the New Year and beyond.

Dr Ashraf Choudhary QSO JP
New Zealand

Mr.Ashraf Choudhary

Dr Ashraf Choudhary, QSO, (born 15 February 1949) is a Pakistani-New Zealand scientist in agricultural engineering and a member of the Parliament in New Zealand. He is a member of the Labour Party, and is New Zealand's first MP from South Asia and Pakistan.

Education

Dr.Choudhary was born in the Pakistani half of the Punjab region in village Jajay. His family were farmers, though not poor. He attended high school in the town of Sialkot, and then gained a degree in agricultural engineering from University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF) in Faisalabad. He continued his studies abroad, gaining a master's degree in agricultural engineering at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England and a PhD in agricultural engineering at Massey University, New Zealand. By profession, Ashraf Choudhary was originally an environmental scientist and taught at the Massey University of New Zealand before his induction into Parliament. He has published a large number of scientific papers in his field, and is considered to be an international authority on conservation tillage. His work has a particular focus on agricultural techniques in developing countries.Dr. Ashraf Choudhary has three children.

Migrating to New Zealand

Before entering Parliament, Ashraf Choudhary had worked with a number of community organizations, including such groups as the New Zealand Federation of Ethnic Councils and FIANZ - the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (of which he was president in 1984-85). In his capacity as president of FIANZ he oversaw the first annual halal meat contract with the New Zealand Meat Producers Board in June 1984, with the aid of Mazhar Krasniqi, Haji Abdul Rahim Rasheed and Dr. Mohammad Hanif Quazi.

Entrance into New Zealand Politics

Having been a supporter of the Labour Party for some time,Dr. Choudhary was elected to Parliament as a Labour Party list MP in the 2002 elections. He was sworn in on the Qur'an, something which Winston Peters (leader of the New Zealand First party) criticised as a breach of proper procedure. The rules, however, contained no prohibition against it, allowing the taker of the oath to specify any religious text they wished (or, alternatively, use none at all). Because Parliamentary officials did not have a copy of the Qur'an, they obtained a copy from the FIANZ office, which was then donated to the Parliamentary Library for use in the future.

Retirement

On 29 September 2011,Dr. Ashraf Choudhary delivered his valedictory speech in Parliament and would retire from politics after the 2011 general election.

Parliament of the New Zealand