Simon Court

Simon Thomas Court[1] is a New Zealand politician. He became an MP in the New Zealand parliament at the 2020 general election as a representative of the ACT New Zealand party.[2]

Simon Court

MP
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for ACT party list
Assumed office
17 October 2020
Personal details
Political partyACT

Early life and career

Court went to Auckland Grammar School 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 prior to entering parliament he was running his own engineering firm.[3]

In 2016 and 2017, Court worked for engineering consultancy MWH Global 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.[4]

Political career
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2020–present 53rd List 5 ACT

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.[3]

In the 2020 general election, Court was placed 5th on the ACT party list and ran for the electorate of Te Atatū. 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.[5][6][7] He is ACT's spokesperson for the Environment, Climate Change, Infrastructure, Transport, Local Government, and Energy and Resources.[8]

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.[3][9]

References
  1. "Event - New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz.
  2. "Election 2020: The 40 diverse new MPs entering Parliament". Newstalk ZB. 18 October 2020. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020 – via The New Zealand Herald.
  3. Wade, Amelia (5 August 2020). "Election 2020: Party of 6? Meet the Act team who could soon become MPs". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  4. "New Act MP Simon Court was deported from Fiji in 2017". The New Zealand Herald. 21 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  5. "Te Atatū – Official Result". Electoral Commission. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  6. "2020 General Election and Referendums – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  7. "2020 General Election and Referendums – Official Result – Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  8. "Simon Court". ACT New Zealand. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  9. Doyle, Katie (1 August 2020). "Top five contenders who could join ACT leader David Seymour in Parliament". Radio NZ. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
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