During the
2020 New Zealand general election, first-time candidate Smith contested the
Botany electorate for the ACT Party, where he came third. He had been placed at 11 on the initial ACT Party list but was moved up to 10 after ninth-ranked
Stephen Berry withdrew three months before the election. ACT received sufficient support for 10 of its members to be elected to Parliament, including Smith. Smith was ACT's spokesperson for land information, commerce and consumer affairs, state owned enterprises, revenue, racing, arts, culture and heritage, and sport and recreation, and associate spokesperson for finance. He was also a member of the
Finance and Expenditure Committee. and
Murray Rothbard. and, in July 2022, described New Zealand as "like
North Korea but without the nukes" in respect of its foreign investment laws. Smith proposed legislation to exempt investors from
OECD countries from the need to receive
Overseas Investment Office approval to invest in New Zealand, except in respect of investments in residential land. The Overseas Investment (Exempt Investment from OECD Countries) Amendment Bill, a
private member's bill in Smith's name, was introduced into Parliament in August 2021. Its first reading failed 43–77 on 21 September 2023. Smith did not stand for re-election in the 2023 election. He did not give a reason for not seeking to stand again. His expected valedictory statement was cancelled due to illness and his final parliamentary speech was in opposition to the government's Fair News Digital Bargaining Bill. In that final speech, he defined his political views as "
anarcho-capitalist" and promoted
self-regulation of the media industry in a
free market. == References ==