Fa’anana Efeso Collins on going Green

Former Auckland mayor hopeful Fa'anana Efeso Collins is stepping back into politics, but has changed his team colours.

Fa'anana declared an end to his time in local politics when he lost the Auckland mayoralty race last year, but says his family convinced him he's not done with politics altogether.

“My mum in particular saying ‘Your service for the community never ends’, and that’s always been my style to make sure that people have strong representation and advocacy.

“Many in the community have been really supportive too, saying ‘Don’t stop, keep going. You’ve got to continue to serve the community’.”

Fa'anana will be running in the Panmure-Ōtāhuhu electorate in this year's election in October, going up against Labour's incumbent Jenny Salesa. Despite that he expects the two parties to still be working together in future.

"I was a member of the Labour party for a long time, and I’ve got really good friends who are there…but I had to make an assessment of where would I be able to make the most impact.

“And the truth is, the Greens and Labour work together really well. We’re a collaborative of people with really similar ideas and desires for the community, and it will be working alongside Labour anyway, so we’re just an extension of the family.”

Fa’anana says the Green Party’s policies of free tertiary education, raising benefit rates to liveable incomes and a universal basic income were some of the things that attracted him, but admits there’s work to do to bolster support in his area.

“There’s not a lot of high votes of the Greens in South Auckland and we don’t have a massive membership, so this is us getting out there, really pushing that there’s a real opportunity for us to have a strong say in what happens in the world.”

Green Party spokesperson for Pacific Peoples Teanau Tuiono was quick to share the news on social media.

“South Auckland kids reunited. A little known fact - Myself, Efeso and Marama were all at Aucks uni together waaaaaay back in the ancient days (the 1990s). Stoked that he has put his hand up to be one of our South Auckland candidates.”

A family man

Fa’anana credits his family life as the prime training ground for life in the public eye, and the scrutiny that comes with that.

“I enjoy the pressure cooker, I love chaos and I think some of us are just born for this kind of life, and I know that in our family there's a lot of chaos and the function in my own family, so maybe that's why I'm good for politics.”

He wears his Pacific identity proudly, and is passionate about creating a bright future for his young family.

“I want my daughters, my children to be part of a society where they can flourish. Where they can learn Tongan at home and at school, where they can learn Samoan or Fijian or whatever their heritage languages are.”

The general election election will be held on the 14 October.