Kris Faafoi comes good on 10-year debt, hands proof to the PM as he says farewell to Parliament – Stuff

Outgoing Labour MP and Minister Kris Faafoi has bowed out of politics, delivering a funny and heartfelt speech to Parliament.

Faafoi, the first MP of Tokelauan descent, paid tribute to supporters and colleagues, and launched a staunch defence of his changes to public media as broadcasting minister.

PM my final note to you is to say it was a deep honour to accompany you on your visit to Tokelau, Faafoi said in his valedictory.

The time on the HMNZS Otago will have to go down as my highlight of the last 5 years. PM, the experience of going back to the place my mother and father were born and raised meant so much, and to do it accompanying you as our PM was next level.

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Outgoing Labour MP Kris Faafoi delivers his valedictory speech in the House of Representatives debating chamber.

He also joked that 10 years after promising Jacinda Ardern $500 towards an election campaign if she danced at the Pasifika festival, he had come through with the money, providing a receipt to the prime minister during his speech.

I thought about adjusting it for inflation, but , Faafoi quipped to uproarious applause.

For months, people had been asking Labour MP Kris Faafoi when he planned to retire from politics.

When asked, hed quip back veiled pleasantries. He even claimed hed miss the press gallery too much if he ever left.

I told everyone I loved it, and I do. But theres a time. And this is it, he said on Thursday morning.

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Kris Faafoi leaving with two of his three children on the day he announced his retirement from politics.

Faafoi has been in Parliament for 17 years, in various roles. He walked in as a TVNZ journalist, becoming a member of the Parliamentary press gallery.

While he deflected questions, everyone knew Faafoi had set a timer.

As the PM said, I spoke to her towards the end of last term. Family, again, was the issue, but I was convinced to stay because there were things that needed to get finished.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern finally confirmed his resignation on June 13.

Less than two weeks later, Faafoi delivered his valedictory speech to Parliament.

ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff

Kris Faafoi has been in Parliament for 17 years. He started as a journalist in the press gallery before becoming a politician.

Its his birthday. But he doesnt think being able to leave the Beehive is a birthday present, per se. Hes turning 46 a good time to leave, he said, while there was still time to start something new.

But another birthday played a far bigger role in Faafois decision to leave Parliament. On Wednesday, his youngest son turned five.

Faafoi spent the morning taking his boy, Theo, to his first day of school. Its moments like these Faafoi wants more of.

Im lucky, my kids love me, and Im happy about that. But I think Ive missed out on things that Id prefer to have been there for, for both George and Fred the older two.

With Theo, when he started school, that was my line in the sand for me to say its time to go.

ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff

Kris Faafoi has left Parliament, saying its time to spend more time with his children.

Faafoi, his partner Mae and their son Theo live in Greytown, a quaint town awash with art shops and cafs, perfect for a road trip stop just over the Remutaka Range, north of Wellington.

Faafoi left journalism to become the chief press secretary of the Opposition Labour Party for leader Phil Goff, then stood for Labour in 2010, winning the Mana electorate in a by-election.

When Ardern led the Labour Party to victory in 2017, Faafoi was made Minister of Civil Defence, Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

Faafoi decided not to stand for Mana at the 2020 election, with his family leaving Kpiti, and he voiced his plan to resign to Labour and Ardern.

His responsibilities during five years of Government have shifted often.

At various times, hes been the minister in charge of immigration, broadcasting, justice, customs and also the minister responsible for government digital services.

Its his work in broadcasting and consumer affairs which arises most in his interview on Thursday morning.

He said he doesnt have favourites, but broadcasting is a passion.

There's a saying once a journalist or always a journalist. I wanted to make sure that our country continues to have a strong Fourth Estate, he said.

He leaves Parliament as his bill, which will merge RNZ and TVNZ to create a new cross-platform public media entity, is introduced to Parliament. Another former broadcaster, Willie Jackson, has taken over responsibility for that portfolio.

It would have been nice to have been there, to get the legislation through the House and to be there on day one of the new entity, he says.

I'm pretty proud of the work. And once it's up and running, and it gets a hit of steam, I'll watch with great pride. Because I think it'll make a big difference to the media here.

In his valedictory Faafoi defended his changes.

If public media doesnt change the very people who need trusted sources of news, information and their identity wont have it available to them as previous generations have.

We know that right now those audiences are not engaging with public media.

ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff

Parliament applauds Kris Faafoi following his valedictory in the debating chamber.

As consumer affairs minister, Faafoi also introduced market studies. It opened the door for the Government to analyse how competitive certain industries were, and if they were giving consumers a good deal. The first market study was on fuel prices, in 2018. The focus then turned to the supermarket duopoly.

While those were the highs, Faafoi often faced pressure in the justice and immigration portfolios.

Immigration NZ struggled to reboot when the borders started to reopen, and the immigration restart programme announced by Faafoi have faced criticism for appearing to devalue certain areas of work.

He has faced regular questions about why nurses struggle to get residency in New Zealand, given how desperately the health sector needs more nurses.

Meanwhile, as it became clear Faafoi intended to resign, political commentators questioned if his heart was still in the game.

Faafoi said those questions started when he became less available for media interviews, which he said was due to needing to spend more time finishing his last projects while in Government.

I used to write commentary. I know how it is, he said.

I turned up to the office every day to give it 100%. I know there was some commentary at the end, just because I wasnt doing a few interviews but that did not mean my heart wasnt in it, he said.

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Kris Faafoi comes good on 10-year debt, hands proof to the PM as he says farewell to Parliament - Stuff