Raymond Huo
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Raymond Huo MP |
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| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Labour Party List |
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Assumed office 16 March 2017 |
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| Preceded by | Jacinda Ardern |
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In office 8 November 2008 – 20 September 2014 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | Qianshan, Anhui, China |
| Political party | Labour |
| Alma mater | University of Auckland |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Raymond Huo (Chinese name: 霍建强, Huo Jianqiang) is a New Zealand politician who was a Member of Parliament from 2008 to 2014 and returned to Parliament in March 2017. He was first elected in 2008 as the New Zealand Labour Party's first MP of Chinese descent. He is the third Chinese New Zealander to enter Parliament, after the National Party's Pansy Wong and ACT's Kenneth Wang.
Huo was born in Qianshan, an eastern part of China where his mother still lives. Huo's father was a doctor, and his mother was a head nurse. They were in their early thirties when they volunteered to move from the Capital City to Qianshan to help the local population fight Schistosoma, a parasitic disease. It was here that Huo first picked up some of the ideals and beliefs, such as social justice and equity, which would lead him into politics.
Being a medical professional did not spare Huo's father from persecution during the Cultural Revolution. His father—an "intellectual"—was ordered to stand at the gates of the hospital for an hour, three times a day with a white board stating "counter-revolutionary medical expert". Raymond Huo, only 5 years old at the time, joined him with a smaller whiteboard saying "little counter-revolutionary medical expert". He later said he secretly believed it was his little sign that ended the Cultural Revolution soon afterward.
Huo credits his time in the small rural town as a major influence on his desire for free-will that he has carried into his politics and world view.
As a teenager Huo taught himself to speak English in China by listening to the radio. Huo went on to study English at Anhui University in Hefei and Law at China University of Political Studies and Law in Beijing.
Huo emigrated to New Zealand in 1994. He worked as a journalist for the New Zealand Herald where he was the Asian Affairs reporter. He subsequently obtained MLitt (First Class Honours) majoring in political communication and LLB from the University of Auckland. Prior to becoming a Member of Parliament, Huo practiced law in Auckland at Brookfields and Hesketh Henry.
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