Ricardo Menéndez March

Menéndez March migrated to New Zealand from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. He worked as a film projectionist for a decade in Auckland, but was made redundant due to film digitisation. After that role, he worked in hospitality, then in migrant advocacy.[3]

Menéndez March served as male co-convenor of Young Greens of Aotearoa New Zealand in 2016.[4] At an AUSA 2016 Back Benches debate, a group of Young NZ First members started chanting “Build the Wall” at Menéndez March, who is of Mexican descent. Young NZ First later apologised to him.[5]

Menéndez March is the coordinator for Auckland Action Against Poverty,[6] a role he took up in late 2017. A writer for Stuff described him in 2020 as "a thorn in the side of the Labour-led Government in the past few years". In this role he had frequently appeared on television, radio, and quoted in newspapers – once a week on average, by his estimate – stating that the Government is failing the poor, that benefits are too low, that and housing is too expensive.[3] Menéndez March has been particularly critical of Kiwibuild, arguing that the scheme should be targeted towards working poor and unemployed families and that the current set up will make home ownership rates fall further by encouraging increased property speculation and gentrification.[7] Menéndez March is gay.[8]

Menéndez March ran for the Green Party in the 2017 New Zealand general election. He ran in the Mount Roskill electorate and received 1,200 votes.[3] He was 21 on the party list, and was placed too far down to be allocated a seat.[9]

For the 2020 New Zealand general election, Menéndez March was placed tenth on the Green party list, and ran for the Maungakiekie electorate.[10] During the election campaign, he criticised his party co-leader James Shaw for supporting $11.7m of funding for a private green school.[11] Menéndez March did not win the Maungakiekie electorate, coming third place behind the National MP Denise Lee and Labour MP Priyanca Radhakrishnan, with 2,666 votes.[12] However, the Greens received 7.9% of the party vote (226,754),[13] and his list placement was high enough for him to enter Parliament as a list MP.[14][15] Menéndez March is one of three new Green MPs in the 53rd Parliament.[2][16]

Prior to sitting in Parliament, Menéndez March expressed reluctance to swearing the required Oath of Allegiance to the Queen of New Zealand, Elizabeth II. He posted a meme about it, which received criticism from monarchists. However, he still took the oath.[17]

• Media related to Ricardo Menéndez March at Wikimedia Commons
• Maiden speech