1. Melissa Lee was elected to the House of Representatives as a list MP for the National Party in the 2008 election.
27 Facts About Melissa Lee
1. 2.
Melissa Lee serves as the 11th Minister for Economic Development and 2nd Minister for Ethnic Communities.
3.
Melissa Lee served as the 28th Minister for Media and Communications from November 2023 to April 2024.
4.
Melissa Lee has a MA Hons in Communication Studies.
5.
Melissa Lee was the producer of the TV magazine series Asia Downunder.
6.
In November 2008, Melissa Lee became a List MP in the New Zealand Parliament.
7.
Melissa Lee became the second Korean, and first Korean woman, to win the election to a non-Korean national legislature.
8.
On 16 April 2009, Melissa Lee announced her candidacy for the National Party nomination in the 2009 Mount Albert by-election.
9.
Melissa Lee defeated the previous local National candidate, Ravi Musuku, to win selection for the National Party on 4 May 2009.
10.
On 13 May 2009, Melissa Lee told a candidates' meeting that the SH20 Waterview Connection could divert criminals from South Auckland away from the electorate.
11.
Melissa Lee called the allegations "ridiculous", saying that all work on the video was done by volunteers.
12.
Later in 2009, Melissa Lee used NZ$100,000 of contingency funding to increase the markup for Asia Downunder in violation of her contract with New Zealand on Air, which she described as "an innocent error".
13.
In January 2014, Melissa Lee was appointed Chairperson of the Social Services Select Committee.
14.
Melissa Lee has one Private Members Bill waiting to be drawn from the ballot: the Accident Compensation Amendment Bill.
15.
In 2015, New Zealand First Ron Mark was criticised by members of all parties when he told Melissa Lee to go back to Korea in parliament.
16.
Melissa Lee stood against Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern in the Mt Albert electorate but was defeated by a margin of 15,264 votes.
17.
Melissa Lee is currently the National Party's spokesperson for broadcasting, communications, and digital media, and ethnic communities.
18.
Melissa Lee is a member of the Economic Development, Science and Innovation select committee.
19.
In March 2018, Melissa Lee challenged the Broadcasting Minister Clare Curran about her undisclosed meeting with Carol Hirschfield, the head of content at Radio New Zealand.
20.
In mid-September 2019, Melissa Lee raised the issue in Parliament about Asian children being denied measles vaccinations at their local clinic on the pretext that Maori and Pasifika children were being given priority.
21.
However, Melissa Lee was able to return to Parliament via the National Party list.
22.
Melissa Lee was one of only eight MPs to vote against the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Act 2022.
23.
In November 2022, Melissa Lee introduced the Fair Trading Amendment Bill which requires gift cards to have a minimum validity period of three years, aiming to mitigate approximately $10M in annual consumer losses from expired gift cards.
24.
Melissa Lee contested Mount Albert in the 2023 New Zealand general election and came second place behind Helen White by just 20 votes.
25.
Melissa Lee has expressed opposition to the previous Labour Government's Fair News Digital Governing Bill, which proposed forcing social media platforms to pay media companies for distributing their content.
26.
In late July 2024, Melissa Lee declined to speak and motion that the Government's Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill be read during its first reading in Parliament despite her position as the duty minister on that day.
27.
On 19 January 2025, Melissa Lee was stripped of her economic development and ethnic communities ministerial portfolios during a cabinet reshuffle, which were assumed by Nicola Willis and Mark Mitchell respectively.