Lan Pham

Ngoc-Lan Thi Pham (born 1985 or 1986) is a New Zealand politician and ecologist.^[1] She was a regional councillor for Environment Canterbury for six years and was elected to Parliament as a Green in the 2023 New Zealand general election.

Lan Pham MP
Pham in 2023
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Green party list
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 October 2023 (2023-10-14)
Canterbury Regional Councillor for Christchurch Central Christchurch (2016–2019)
In office October 2016 – October 2022
Personal details
Born	1985 or 1986 (age 39–40)
Political party	Green
Other political affiliations	The People's Choice (2016–2019)
Alma mater	Massey (BSc) Otago (MSc)
Occupation	Ecologist

Early life and career

Pham was born in 1985 or 1986^[2] to a Catholic mother of English and Irish ancestry and a Buddhist Vietnamese father.^[3][4][5] Pham's mother was a supporter of the Alliance and Labour.^[5] She grew up in Brooklyn, Wellington and attended Sacred Heart Cathedral School and St Mary's College, Wellington.^[5] She moved to Palmerston North to study and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in ecology from Massey University in 2009.^[5][6] Pham moved to the South Island to work for the Department of Conservation in freshwater ecology, which prompted an interest in freshwater fish. She completed a Master of Science in ecology at the University of Otago in 2014.^[7][8][9] Pham's professional specialisation is in the rivers of Canterbury.^[10]

Political career

Local government

Pham was elected to the Canterbury Regional Council, also known as Environment Canterbury, at the 2016 New Zealand local elections. She ran her campaign while working on Raoul Island.^[11] She stood as a candidate for the four-member Christchurch constituency under the ticket The People's Choice–Independent and received the most votes of the eight candidates.^[12] In the 2019 elections she ran with Axel Downard-Wilke on the ticket The Common Good , choosing not to run with The People's Choice.^[13][14] She was re-elected to the council in the new Christchurch Central constituency.^[15] Pham has been a resource management commissioner, and a freshwater commissioner at the Office of the Chief Freshwater Commissioner.^[16][11]

Member of Parliament

New Zealand Parliament

Years	Term	Electorate	List	Party
2023–present	54th	List	6		Green

Pham was selected by the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand to contest the Banks Peninsula electorate at the 2023 New Zealand general election.^[4] She was placed at number six on the national party list.^[17] During the 2023 election, Pham came third place in the Banks Peninsula electorate but was elected to Parliament on the party list.^[18][19]

In late November 2023, Pham assumed the Green Party's environment, water services, biosecurity, emergency management and recovery, land information, statistics, tourism and hospitality, and customs spokesperson portfolios.^[20]

Personal life

Pham has two children with her husband Emerson.^[21] In 2024, Pham and her family sold their home in Woolston, Christchurch and moved to Wellington to spend more time together.^[22]