Chris Penk

Christopher Aidan Penk (born 1980) is a New Zealand politician who has been a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the National Party since 2017.

Early life and career

Penk was born in West Auckland. He attended Kelston Boys' High School and graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Arts in 1999 and a Bachelor of Laws with Honours in 2010. He joined the Royal New Zealand Navy, serving as an officer on HMNZS ''Te Kaha''. He was an aide-de-camp for Governor-General Silvia Cartwright, before joining the Australian Defence Force for four years.

After his military career, Penk became a property lawyer. His father, Stephen, is an Associate Dean at the University of Auckland's Law School and his brother Alex is also a lawyer. Penk's mother, Debra, was a teacher.

Political career

In August 2014, Penk was selected to contest the Kelston electorate in the general election after the resignation of Claudette Hauiti. He placed second behind Carmel Sepuloni. Penk was ranked 68th on the National Party's party list and was not elected to Parliament.

Member of Parliament

In Opposition, 2017–2023

Penk won selection as National's Helensville candidate for the 2017 election, replacing former prime minister John Key. He won Helensville, defeating Labour's candidate Kurt Taogaga by margin of 14,608 votes. In his first term, he was a member of the parliamentary committees for transport and infrastructure; foreign affairs, defence and trade; and justice and the National party opposition spokesperson for courts.

During the 2020 New Zealand general election, Penk contested the Kaipara ki Mahurangi electorate, defeating Labour's candidate Marja Lubeck by a margin of 4,435 votes. He was appointed National's shadow attorney-general and elected chair of parliament's regulations review committee, which he held from November 2020 until October 2022.

In June 2021, in response to Winston Peters describing National Party members as "sex maniacs", Penk made a tweet saying Peters "is the real s*x maniac because he can f**k a whole country at once". Judith Collins said her office asked Penk to take down the tweet. Collins said "It's just simply inappropriate, we don't use that sort of language."

On 7 December 2021, after the election of Christopher Luxon as party leader, the National caucus elected Penk as its Senior Whip, thus making him the Chief Opposition Whip in the House of Representatives.

On 12 August 2023, Penk made an online comment "Sorry but your poor ratings crashed an entire radio station" in response to an article by Tova O'Brien about National Party election strategy. Christopher Luxon said the comment was "insensitive and inappropriate" because many people lost their jobs when Today FM closed. Penk apologised for the comment.

In Government, 2023–present

Penk was elected for a third term at the 2023 New Zealand general election, retaining Kaipara ki Mahurangi for National. He defeated Labour's candidate Guy Wishart by a margin of 19,459 votes.

Following the formation of the National-led coalition government in late November 2023, Penk became Minister for Building and Construction, Minister for Land Information, Minister for Veterans, and Associate Minister of Agriculture (Horticulture).

During a cabinet reshuffle on 19 January 2025, Penk assumed the Small Business and Manufacturing ministerial portfolio.

Building and construction

In early July 2024, Penk announced that the Government would make remote virtual inspections the default for building consents across New Zealand in an effort to accelerate the building process. In mid July, Penk confirmed that the Government was exploring plans to reduce new insulation standards introduced in May 2023 with the goal of making newer houses more affordable and accelerating the home construction process. During an interview with RNZ, Penk said that the new insulation standards added costs amounting to between $40,000 to $50,000 to new houses. In response, the Green Building Council expressed concerns that the Government's proposed rollback of insulation standards would set New Zealand back in comparison to other OECD countries.

Associate immigration

In December 2024, in his role as Associate Minister of Immigration, Penk intervened to approve the visa application of controversial American commentator and speaker Candace Owens, whose visa had previously been declined by Immigration New Zealand in November on the grounds that she had been denied entry to Australia for reasons that included denying the impact of the Holocaust and claiming that Muslims started slavery. Owens had submitted a request for ministerial intervention to Penk asking him to exercise his discretionary powers and grant her a visa. In mid-March 2025, ''The Spinoff'' current affairs website reported that the advocacy group New Zealand Free Speech Union had lobbied Penks into overturning Immigration New Zealand's decision to bar Owens entry into New Zealand.

In mid-February 2025, Penk was criticised by lawyer Alastair McClymont for defending an Immigration New Zealand decision to commence deportation proceedings against an 18-year old New Zealand-born teenager named Daman Kumar. Despite living his entire life in New Zealand, Kumar did not have residency rights since his parents had overstayed their visas. McClymont likened Kumar's situation to the second Trump administration's policy of accelerating undocumented migrant deportations. Following a meeting with Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March, Penk reversed his decision and used his discretionary powers to grant Kumar a residency visa. However, he upheld Immigration NZ's deportation proceedings against Kumar's overstayer parents.

Land information

On 19 December 2024, Penk, as Minister for Land Information, declined a proposal by the Hutt City Council to rename Hutt Valley suburb Petone to Pito One, in order to correct a historic spelling error. Despite the Geographic Board, local council, iwi groups, and community all supporting the change, Penk pointed to the need to achieve "a balance of official advice and public submissions".

On 23 May, Penk and the New Zealand Geographic Board declined a proposal by the Kororāreka Marae Society to rename Russell to its Māori language name "Kororāreka".

Veterans

As Minister for Veterans, Penk received NZSAS veteran Willie Apiata's Victoria Cross medal in early April 2025. Apiata had returned his Victoria Cross medal as part of efforts to lobby the New Zealand Government to expand the legal definition of military veterans.
On 11 April, Penk confirmed that the Government would be expanding the definition of military veterans and creating a new national veterans day. However, the Government would not be increasing eligibility for support entitlements under the Veteran Supports' Act.

Political views

In an interview before the 2017 general election, Penk self-described as "a social moderate... towards the conservative end f the National Party" He voted against the End of Life Choice Act 2019 and the Abortion Legislation Act 2020.

Penk was one of only eight MPs to vote against the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Act 2022. He voted against it at its first reading in July 2021 (which then-party-leader Judith Collins instructed her MPs to do), for it at its second reading, and against it at its third and final reading in February 2022.

Personal life

Penk married ''Newshub'' journalist Kim Choe; their first child was born shortly before the 2017 election.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Penk, Chris
1980 births
Living people
New Zealand National Party MPs
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
People educated at Kelston Boys' High School
University of Auckland alumni
21st-century New Zealand lawyers
Royal New Zealand Navy personnel
Royal Australian Navy personnel
New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates
Unsuccessful candidates in the 2014 New Zealand general election
Candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election
Candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election
Candidates in the 2023 New Zealand general election
Government ministers of New Zealand