Golriz's gift “I'll always speak my truth”

The refugee MP opens up about being a minority in Parliament and her brave battle with multiple sclerosis.

- JUDY BAILEY

It’s a supreme irony that the little girl who fled to New Zealand from an abusive and tyrannous regime in Iran should now have to carry a panic alarm with her at all times due to the two active death threats she’s facing in this green and pleasant land.

Sadly, this is the reality of Aotearoa in 2021.

Golriz Ghahraman has packed more into her 39 years than most of us will do in a lifetime. The Green Party MP – New Zealand’s first refugee Member of Parliament – is the spokesperson for the weighty portfolios of Justice, Human Rights and Electoral Reform.

She is forthright, outspoken and courageous. Golriz has needed every ounce of that bravery as she withstands a barrage of vitriol while standing up for those who have no voice. While her support of refugees, Palestine and the protestors at Ihumatao, among others, has brought her many accolades, its also enraged opponents.

“I feel obliged to speak out about injustice,” Golriz tells me ruefully. “I feel accountable to those who can’t speak out. I was not raised to be comfortable... It’s not that great sometimes.”

Of the panic alarm, she adds, “Dad is really worried about the security risk but also very proud and supportive, while Mum is very defiant.”

Golriz was born the year the Islamic Republic was created. Her parents Maryam and Behrooz had been part of the youthful, middle-class uprising against the Shah’s despotic regime.

Their fight was about achieving true democracy for Iran. Instead, just a year after the country’s triumphant overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty, the exiled Islamic hardliner Ayatollah Khomeini returned home and assumed power.