Francisco Hernandez (politician)

Francisco Bagkus Hernandez (born 1991 (age 32)) is a New Zealand politician, representing the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand as a Member of Parliament since 7 May 2024.

Early life
Hernandez was born in Manila, Philippines and moved to Wellington when he was 12 with his family. His father, Rossano Hernandez, had been a politician aligned with Joseph Estrada and left the Philippines with his family after the fall of the Estrada administration in 2001. His family moved to Auckland after a brief stint in Wellington and he attended Liston College. Francisco Hernandez graduated from the University of Otago with a Bachelor of Arts in politics and a Master of Entrepreneurship. During 2023, he was studying a master's degree in economics.

Political career
Hernandez enrolled with the Labour Party in 2008 when he began studying at Otago, before joining the Green Party in 2014. Hernandez was president of the Otago University Students' Association (OUSA) in 2013, and previously held positions on the OUSA executive in 2011 and 2012.

In the 2013 local elections, he unsuccessfully ran for a councillor position at Dunedin City Council and, subsequently, for head of the New Zealand Union of Students' Associations (NZUSA). In the 2016 local elections, he unsuccessfully stood for a position on the Henderson-Massey Local Board.

After leaving university in 2014, he began working as a Green Party parliamentary staffer and policy advisor, before joining the Climate Change Commission to work on sustainable waste usage. He served as chief climate change advisor for the Otago Regional Council before entering parliament.

Entry into Parliament
Hernandez was announced as the Green Party's Dunedin candidate for the 2023 general election on 3 February 2023. His campaign helped build party support in his constituency, where the Green Party took second place in the party vote. However, his list placement was not sufficient to make it into parliament. In 2024 he entered parliament following the retirement of James Shaw. Initially Lawrence Xu-Nan was set to be Shaw's replacement, however Xu-Nan entered parliament sooner than expected after the sudden death of Efeso Collins. Following Shaw's resignation, Hernandez became a Member of Parliament on 6 May 2024.

Parliamentary career
Following his entry to Parliament, Hernandez was appointed to the petitions select committee as the Green member and designated as the party spokesperson for Public Services, Tertiary Education and Emergency Management and Recovery.

Personal life
Hernandez is Catholic.

Political views
Hernandez identified himself as a "market-socialist" in his parliamentary maiden speech.