[8] In his first term, he was a member of the parliamentary committees for transport and infrastructure; foreign affairs, defence and trade; and justice and the National party opposition spokesperson for courts.

[9] During the 2020 New Zealand general election, Penk contested the Kaipara ki Mahurangi electorate, defeating Labour's candidate Marja Lubeck by a margin of 4,435 votes.

[10] He was appointed National's shadow attorney-general and elected chair of parliament's regulations review committee, which he held from November 2020 until October 2022.

[14] On 12 August 2023, Penk made an online comment "Sorry but your poor ratings crashed an entire radio station" in response to an article by Tova O'Brien about National Party election strategy.

[19] In mid July, Penk confirmed that the Government was exploring plans to reduce new insulation standards introduced in May 2023 with the goal of making newer houses more affordable and accelerating the home construction process.

In response, the Green Building Council expressed concerns that the Government's proposed rollback of insulation standards would set New Zealand back in comparison to other OECD countries.

[20] In December 2024, in his role as Associate Minister of Immigration, Penk intervened to approve the visa application of controversial American commentator and speaker Candace Owens, whose visa had previously been declined by Immigration New Zealand in November on the grounds that she had been denied entry to Australia for reasons that included denying the impact of the Holocaust and claiming that Muslims started slavery.

Despite the Geographic Board, local council, iwi groups, and community all supporting the change, Penk pointed to the need to achieve "a balance of official advice and public submissions".