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Steffan Browning

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Steffan Browning
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Green party list
Personal details
Born (1954-07-03) 3 July 1954 (age 70)
Political partyGreen

Steffan Browning (born 3 July 1954) is a New Zealand politician of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. He has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2011.

Early life

Browning was born in Clyde, New Zealand in 1954.[1] He has been employed by the Soil & Health Association as its spokesperson since 2003.[1][2]

Member of Parliament

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2011–2014 50th List 10 Green
2014–present 51st List 14 Green

Browning is a member of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. He was ranked 19th on their party list at the 2002 election, eleventh in 2005 and twelfth in 2008. He stood as the Greens candidate in the Kaikōura electorate.

Browning was placed in tenth place on the Green Party list for the 2011 election,[3] when he was elected to Parliament, with the Greens gaining 14 seats. For the 2014 election, he was initially demoted to number 15,[4][5] but was number 14 on the final list after twelfth-ranked Holly Walker subsequently withdrew from the list.[6] The Greens again won 14 seats and Browning returned to parliament as their last MP from the party list.[7] Based on preliminary election results, he would have missed out.[8][9]

In October 2014, he supported using homeopathy as a treatment for Ebola.[10] Homeopathy lacks biological plausibility,[11] and the axioms of homeopathy are contradicted by scientific facts.[12] The postulated mechanisms of action of homeopathic remedies are both scientifically implausible[13] [14] and not physically possible.[15] As a consequence of his proposal, he was stripped of his natural health portfolio, after he suggested homeopathy could be trialled for curing Ebola. The reason he was demoted was to rebuild confidence in the Green party, according to Greens co-leader Metiria Turei. His demotion was meant to send a signal that the Green Party took an evidence-based approach to health issues, especially public health issues. [16]

References

  1. ^ a b Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. "Steffan Browning". Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  2. ^ Soil & Health Association of New Zealand Inc. "Soil & Health Media Releases". Organic NZ. Retrieved 4 December 2011.[dead link]
  3. ^ "2011 election candidates" (Press release). Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
  4. ^ "2014 election candidates" (Press release). Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  5. ^ "Greens unveil party list for election". TVNZ. 25 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  6. ^ "Green MP Holly Walker to step down from party list" (Press release). Green Party. Scoop. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  7. ^ Rutherford, Hamish (4 October 2014). "National loses majority, Greens pick up one". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  8. ^ "Provisional List of Successful Candidates -- 2014 General Election - Preliminary Results". Electoral Commission. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  9. ^ Bell, Cathie (20 September 2014). "National's Stuart Smith wins Kaikoura". The Marlborough Express. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  10. ^ "Homeopathy for Ebola?". Stuff.co.nz. 30 October 2014.
  11. ^ Ernst, Edzard (December 2012). "Homeopathy: A Critique of Current Clinical Research". Skeptical Inquirer. 36 (6).
  12. ^ "Homeopathy". American Cancer Society. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  13. ^ Shang, Aijing; Huwiler-Müntener, Karin; Nartey, Linda; Jüni, Peter; Dörig, Stephan; Sterne, Jonathan AC; Pewsner, Daniel; Egger, Matthias (2005), "Are the clinical effects of homoeopathy placebo effects? Comparative study of placebo-controlled trials of homoeopathy and allopathy", The Lancet, 366 (9487): 726–732, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67177-2, PMID 16125589
  14. ^ UK Parliamentary Committee Science and Technology Committee - "Evidence Check 2: Homeopathy"
  15. ^ Grimes D R (2012), "Proposed mechanisms for homeopathy are physically impossible", FACT, 17 (3): 149, doi:10.1111/j.2042-7166.2012.01162.x
  16. ^ "MP demoted after suggesting homeopathy use in Ebola fight". [[1]]. 4 November 2014. {{cite news}}: External link in |work= (help)

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