Biography
Melissa Ji-Yun Lee is a New Zealand politician. She was elected to the House of Representatives as a list MP for the National Party in the 2008 election. She served as the 11th Minister for Economic Development and 2nd Minister for Ethnic Communities from November 2023 to January 2025. She also served as the 28th Minister for Media and Communications from November 2023 to April 2024.
Source: WikipediaImpact this term
54th Parliament · since the 2023 general election
These are factual counts from the public record, not a score. MPs do different jobs: list and electorate MPs, ministers and backbenchers all contribute differently, and MPs first elected in 2023 have a shorter record. We show the facts so you can decide what counts as doing enough.
Policies they shape, and why
We map the policy areas an MP shapes from their portfolios, spokesperson roles and committees. None are on record for Melissa Lee yet. See where National stands across every area on the party page.
Bills they’ve worked on
Voting record
Most votes in Parliament are party votes, where MPs vote as a block with their party. So on the large majority of votes Melissa Lee voted the same way as National. The votes that show an MP’s own view are conscience (personal) votes, where MPs vote individually.
No conscience (personal) votes are recorded for Melissa Lee this term. These votes are rare, because Parliament decides most matters by party vote. We record them from Hansard as they occur.
Declared interests
What Melissa Lee has declared in the official register: directorships, property, trusts, debts and gifts. Registers actual and potential conflicts of interest; it is not a measure of wealth.
4 Beneficial interests in, and trusteeships of, trusts New Zealand Korea Veterans' Memorial Trust (trustee) 6 Real property Family home – Auckland Rental property (owned by superannuation scheme) – Wellington 7 Retirement schemes Chul Ssinjin Superannuation Scheme 10 Debts owed by you ANZ Bank – mortgage 11 Overseas travel costs Vanuatu – induction programme for members of the 14th legislature. Contributor to travel and accommodation: United Nations Development Programme. South Korea – Global Korean Politicians Forum. Contributor to travel and accommodation: Global Korean Politicians Council. J. 7 ANNUAL RETURNS AS AT 31 JANUARY 2026 29 Nancy
Register of Pecuniary Interests (parliament.nz) · as at 31 January 2026Taxpayer-funded expenses
Travel and accommodation paid by Parliamentary Service for 1 January – 31 March 2026. Ministers’ expenses are disclosed separately.
Latest coverage
News and video mentioning Melissa Lee, from the sources on our coverage page.
Nothing tagged to Melissa Lee in the current window. Coverage is concentrated on ministers and party leaders — most backbenchers appear rarely, and that is the real state of the record rather than a gap in ours.
Details sourced from parliament.nz and the public record. Bills, written questions, declared interests and expenses refresh automatically from Parliament’s official sources; conscience votes are recorded from Hansard as they occur. Photo: Unknown photographer, CC BY 3.0 (source ).