Late mp a man i could look up to in many ways
Fa’anānā Efeso Collins was a good man. Like many families at different times, Efeso’s family are going through a really tough time at the moment as they experience the sudden loss of a dad, a husband, a son and a leader, not just in the Samoan community but in New Zealand.
I met Efeso on my first day in Parliament. Many of you who asked me who I enjoyed meeting from other parties would have got the same answer: Efeso Collins.
He was a man I could look up to in many ways; we sat next to each other in the house (I sit where the National MPs overlap with the Green Party), and we were both on Select Committee together looking at things like Three Waters and Civil Defence.
We would engage in healthy banter and a few jokes in the debating chamber, but we also worked constructively in Select Committee, where he voted to support National on one issue because he believed it was the right thing to do.
I only knew him for four months, but it was long enough to get a measure of the man, and I know that both his local community and his party will be worse off for his loss, as will we all.
Being an MP, in my view, is about service. Efeso was a man who served his community over many years, well before becoming an MP.
His life should be an encouragement to all of us to continue to offer ourselves in service of those around us, and his death a reminder of the importance of family, and appreciating those closest to us while we can.
Parliament rose last week as a mark of respect for him. The resulting shuffling around of Select Committees means I will have to reschedule my community clinic on Friday, March 8 in O¯ taki. I apologise for that but it is sadly unavoidable.
But a week like last week is not about us, it’s about them: his family and those closest to him. I send my deepest condolences to his family. A good man taken too soon.