Efeso Collins: A longtime public servant who hoped to fight poverty as an MP

Wednesday, 21 February 2024

• Efeso Collins died suddenly on Wednesday, while taking part in a charity event.

• The Green MP was 49 years old and had only recently started his new role as an MP.

Fa'anānā Efeso Collins loved God, loved South Auckland, and loved his whānau.

He said as much in his maiden speech as a parliamentarian, made less than a week ago.

But as Green co-leader James Shaw noted in the House on Wednesday, as parties paid tribute to Collins who died just hours earlier, Collins’ maiden speech must also serve as his valedictory.

He was 49 years old.

Many MPs across Parliament had known Collins for decades. He was active in student politics and a passionate advocate for South Auckland. He worked in local government for nine years, as a Labour representative, before joining the Green Party which took him to Parliament at October’s election.

Setting his mission as an MP, Collins told the House on Thursday that they must tackle poverty.

“It's hard to be poor, it's expensive to be poor, and moreover, public discourse is making it socially unacceptable to be poor,“ he said.

“Many of our societal challenges are driven by poverty. We can achieve greater social cohesion and lift our sense of belonging by addressing poverty.”

In interviews with Stuff over the years, he spoke often about the purpose he saw for his life - one of community service. It was something he thanked both his church and his whānau for encouraging, and said he couldn’t have pursued his careers in local and national politics without them.

After losing the Auckland mayoralty race to Wayne Brown in 2022, Collins said he wanted to give up on politics - but his community asked him to keep working.

“My mum, my church, everyone tells me: ‘This is your expression of service to the community’. Their support really refuelled my fire,” he said.

He also spoke about the support of his wife, Fia. They married in 2011 and lived together in Ōtāhuhu, South Auckland, with two young daughters.

The first two things he spoke about in his maiden speech were South Auckland and whānau.

“It is an indescribable feeling to stand up and address this House. As a son of Samoan immigrants who made the mighty Ōtara 274—Southside hard,” he said.

“My parents arrived in New Zealand in the early 1960s, told that this was the land of milk and honey. Dad started off as a taxi driver with South Auckland Taxis, and mum on the factory floor at New Zealand Forest Products in Penrose. We lived in a four-bedroom State house on Preston Road in Ōtara.”

He was a vocal and sometimes outspoken critic of racism when he saw it and spoke out against racism during the Auckland local body elections, in policing, and in media, such as Police Ten 7.

He had his own health journey, which included a steady fitness regime and weight loss surgery to try and mitigate a family history of diabetes.

His older brother died at 39 years old and his father died at 62 years old, following complications from diabetes.

Parliament mourns after Collins’ sudden death

MPs from the Left - Labour, Te Pāti Māori and the Greens - gathered together on Wendesday after the news of Collins’ death reached Parliament. He died after collapsing during a charity event in Britomart, Auckland, on Wednesday morning.

Labour deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni reflected on the Samoan proverb, 'o le ala i le pule o le tautua', which translates as 'the pathway to leadership is through service', as she reflected of Collins' life.

She, like many others across Labour and the Greens, first met Collins through student politics.

'He was ambitious, he wanted to have his voice and the Pacific community's voice heard. He was never scared to put himself out there, or up there, to be at the helm to be leading the fight,' she said.

Shaw said Collins had so much to offer New Zealand as a parliamentarian.

“Efeso Collins was a good man. He was called to come to Parliament because of what he could see of the worsening poverty, the inadequate incomes, the profound inequities that affect and shape Pacific communities that he came from. Aotearoa needed him. We needed him,” Shaw said.

As Labour's leaders, Chris Hipkins and Sepuloni, spoke to reporters on Wednesday afternoon, their colleagues Barbara Edmonds and Lemauga Sosene gripped each other's hands as they shed tears for their friend.

Collins' last public statement was to congratulate Edmonds on her promotion to be Labour's finance spokesperson. She moved to share her memories of Collins, but teared up before she was able to speak.

Sepuloni said his loss was sorely felt among the Pasifika MPs from all parties, who he had been a vocal supporter of.

Jenny Salesa, the MP for Ōtāhuhu - where Collins lived - said he had been a huge advocate for the people of South Auckland.

'I have known him since 1991, we went to university together. So, 33 years. My close friend from university. I have a lot of ofa, alofa (love), for Fia and his two kids. We will really miss him,' Salesa said.

'He is such a huge contributor to Pacific, who will really miss him, and to the local community too.'

Hipkins, who also met Collins through student politics, remembered his values-driven politics.

'Our colleague from the Green Party, Teanau, earlier today described him as 'the Labour Party's wandering son who wandered to the Green Party'. I think that that probably sums it up a little bit. He may not have had a tribal political allegiance in the way many of us do. But he was very clear in his values. And he was very clear about who he was in public life to serve,' Hipkins said.

He said Collins had been, since student politics days, a 'larger than life character' destined for leadership.