Biography

Hon John Boscawen entered Parliament as an ACT List MP in November 2008 at number four on the ACT Party List. He served as an MP from November 2008 to November 2011.

In August 2010 John was elected Deputy Leader of the ACT Party and was subsequently sworn in as Minister of Consumer affairs and Associate Minister of Commerce. In February 2013, he was elected the ACT Party President.

Since 2008, John has campaigned hard against policies that he believes damage New Zealand, both economically and socially, such as;

  • The Emissions Trading Scheme which costs New Zealand families $500 million extra a year – all given away in massive subsidies to foresters. Our wages are too low and our prices too high already-John strongly objected to the government imposing this added cost to your weekly bills.
  • The new foreshore and seabed law – passed in March 2011, which flouts the principle of “One Law For All” and could see the transfer of billions of dollars of minerals in the seabed to select iwi corporations. We need our valuable resources for the good of all New Zealanders.
  • The anti-smacking” legislation undermines parental authority and criminalises good parents.  To their shame, every other Party in Parliament voted down John’s Private Member’s Bill to reverse it.

    • As a member of the Commerce Select Committee, John also successfully pushed for a Parliamentary inquiry into the failure of finance companies– several of which have cost Kiwi mums and dads their savings, their financial security and their hopes for the future.

    In April 2011, Dr.Don Brash was confirmed as the new Leader of the ACT Party and John was confirmed as the Deputy Leader of the ACT Party and the ACT New Zealand Parliamentary Leader. At the same time, he chose to resign his Ministerial roles in order to focus on his new responsibilities as Parliamentary Leader for ACT.

    John graduated from Auckland University with a BCom and after working as an accountant for some years, was self-employed in finance and property investment from 1990. An ACT member since 1995, he has been an ACT candidate for Epsom, an ACT Boardmember, and ACT Treasurer.  He was the ACT Campaign Manager for the Epsom Electorate in 2005 and was ACT’s National Campaign Director for the 2008 general election.

    John is also:

    • A Member of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants
    • A Member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors
    • A former Associate Member of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, having resigned following his election to Parliament.
    • A Trustee of the Auckland Philharmonia Foundation and the Otahuhu College Foundation
    • A Member of the Rotary Club of Downtown Auckland

    He has also been a long time supporter of helping blind and vision impaired people in developing countries.

    As a passionate champion of freedom of speech, John led the campaign against the Electoral Finance Bill, during which over 7000 New Zealanders marched with him to protest this dramatic assault on free speech.

    He founded the Freedom of Speech Trust, to continue the campaign against the Electoral Finance Act.

    In his maiden speech John explained his motivation for standing for Parliament as follows: “I understand that the problems New Zealand faces as a nation are man-made and that, if we are to lift our living standards to the level of that in Australia, we need to break the cycle of dependency.  We need to create an environment that encourages – rather than discourages – hard work, thrift and enterprise.  ACT has a vision of New Zealand as a country that is safe and prosperous; one that will, once again, enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world.  I entered Parliament to help make that vision a reality.”