Simeon Peter Brown was born on 8 April 1991 and is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the National Party.
36 Facts About Simeon Brown
1.
2.
Simeon Brown's family moved to Clendon Park, Auckland in 2003, and he attended Manurewa High School.
3.
Brown's mother was Chair of the local residents' association, the Clendon Residents Group; Brown began attending meetings and became its secretary and, later, treasurer.
4.
Simeon Brown graduated with a conjoint degree of a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws in 2016, then worked as a senior associate at the Bank of New Zealand.
5.
Simeon Brown entered a submission to parliament in which he opposed the Marriage Amendment Act 2013, which allows same-sex couples to legally marry.
6.
Simeon Brown stated, in an interview on his youth, that he was motivated to go into politics to stand up for the values of and fight for "hard work, personal responsibility and enterprise".
7.
Simeon Brown stood in the electorate of Pakuranga during the 2017 general election.
8.
Simeon Brown was selected as the National Party's candidate to replace Williamson after he decided not to seek re-election.
9.
In February 2018, a private member's bill introduced by Simeon Brown was drawn from the ballot.
10.
Simeon Brown voted against the Abortion Legislation Act 2020, which effectively sought to remove abortion from the Crimes Act 1961.
11.
In early May 2021, Simeon Brown received several death threats following his criticism of Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson visiting a hui held by the Waikato Mongrel Mob.
12.
Simeon Brown had claimed that her visit was an insult to victims of gang-related crime.
13.
In February 2022, Simeon Brown was one of only eight MPs to vote against the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Act 2022.
14.
In June 2022, Brown was caught in a controversy where he liked a Facebook post by fellow MP Simon O'Connor which expressed it was a "good day" following Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization's overturn of US Supreme Court case Roe v Wade, which curtailed abortion rights in the US.
15.
On 19 January 2023, Simeon Brown was allocated the new Auckland issues portfolio in Party leader Christopher Luxon's shadow cabinet.
16.
Simeon Brown's remarks drew criticism from Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who suggested that the National Party was dog whistling on Waka Kotahi's bilingual road sign programme.
17.
Several Maori National MPs including Tama Potaka, Harete Hipango, and Shane Reti expressed disagreement with Simeon Brown, stating that they had no objections to bilingual road signs.
18.
On 19 January 2025, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced Simeon Brown would be appointed as the next Minister of Health, taking over from Shane Reti.
19.
On 30 April 2024, Simeon Brown confirmed that the Government would invest in 25 new high speed electric vehicle charging facilities along key routes between major urban centres.
20.
Simeon Brown announced that he would write to inform Road Controlling Authorities about the changes and new rule.
21.
On 14 January 2024, Simeon Brown confirmed the cancellation of Auckland light rail, stating that the cost of the project was unsustainable for taxpayers.
22.
On 19 March 2024, Simeon Brown confirmed that the Government would reduce the proposed road user charge on hybrid vehicles from NZ$53 per 1,000km to NZ$38.
23.
On 9 July 2024, Simeon Brown announced that the Government would ease Clean Car Standard Rules to comply with Australian fuel efficiency standards.
24.
On 2 September 2024, Simeon Brown launched the Government's National Land Transport Programme, which invested NZ$32.9 billion in building 17 "Roads of National Significance" over the next three years.
25.
Simeon Brown confirmed that the Government would invest NZ$6.4 billion from this sum into several public infrastructure projects including the City Rail Link, Eastern Busway, Northwest Rapid Transit Corridor, Auckland Airport to Botany Busway, and the Lower North Island Rail Integrated Mobility.
26.
On 26 January 2024, Simeon Brown confirmed that the Government would halt plans to progress legislation introduced by the previous Labour Government to lower the voting age to 16 years for local government elections.
27.
Simeon Brown announced that the Government would introduce two new laws in 2024 and 2025 rolling its own "Local Water Done Well" programme, which would emphasise local control over water infrastructure and services.
28.
On 4 April 2024, Simeon Brown announced that local and regional councils which introduced Maori wards without polling residents would have to hold referendums during the 2025 local elections or dissolve the wards they had established prior to the 2025 local elections.
29.
Simeon Brown announced that the government would introduce legislation restoring the requirement for local councils to hold referenda on Maori wards by the end of July 2024.
30.
On 8 August 2024, Simeon Brown announced that council-controlled organisations would be able to borrow money for water infrastructure from the Local Government Funding Agency.
31.
On 31 January 2025, Simeon Brown confirmed that the new Dunedin Hospital would be built on the site of the former Cadbury factory at a cost of NZ$1.9 billion.
32.
Simeon Brown ruled out earlier plans to refurbish the current hospital site.
33.
Simeon Brown confirmed that the new hospital would have 351 beds, 20 short-stay surgical beds, 24 theatres, 58 emergency department spaces and 20 imaging units for CT, MRI and X-ray procedures.
34.
Simeon Brown's announcement was greeted by 35,000 protesters opposed to the cutbacks to the new hospital design.
35.
On 11 February 2025, Simeon Brown confirmed that the Government's flouridation policy would not change despite coalition partner New Zealand First introducing a member's bill to repeal the Health Amendment Act 2021 which empowered the Director General of Health to mandate local councils to flouridate their drinking water supplies, restoring the right to local communities and councils.
36.
On 6 March 2025, Simeon Brown confirmed the Government would lower the bowel screening eligibility age range from 60 to 58 years, using funding from a cancelled programme established by the previous Labour government to lower the eligibility age for Maori and Pasifika New Zealanders from 60 to 50 years.