Mr Bakshi was first elected to the NZ parliament in 2008 as a National List MP, and was elected for a third consecutive term in 2014. This is the first time he has been elevated to the position of PPS, under the leadership of PM Bill English.
Speaking to SBS Punjabi this week, Mr Bakshi said, "I'm very excited to be given this opportunity by our Prime Minister", and is looking forward to making a significant contribution in the new portfolio. According to him, "the crime rate in New Zealand is the lowest its been in 40 years, but there are some issues that need to be dealt with, like an increase in the number of family violence cases."
He mentioned a recent success story - the establishment of a "safe house" for men in Auckland, which provides shelter and support to those men who are suddently rendered homeless due to any court order. "This experiment has been very successful and re-offending rates have dropped. So we are looking at establishing more such safety houses for men in other cities of New Zealand."
According to Mr Bakshi, NZ Police workforce is quite diverse, with many people from migrant communities joining up as Police officers. "There is no discrimination in New Zealand; there are many turbaned Sikh Police officers and other Punjabi members in the Police force as well ."
Talking about the upcoming elections in Punjab, Mr Bakshi said, "this is probably the first time that all major political parties in Punjab have engaged directly with members of the Punjabi diaspora, including in New Zealand and Australia. And Punjabis settled overseas are also taking a very keen interest. Even so, the results are extremely difficult to predict; although current polls show either the Congress or the AAP ahead."
New Zealand MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi Source: Supplied
