Carmel Sepuloni | |
|---|---|
 Sepuloni in 2023 | |
| Deputy Leader of the Opposition | |
| Assumed office 27 November 2023 | |
| Leader | Chris Hipkins |
| Preceded by | Nicola Willis |
| 19thDeputy Leader of the Labour Party | |
| Assumed office 7 November 2023 | |
| Leader | Chris Hipkins |
| Preceded by | Kelvin Davis |
| 20thDeputy Prime Minister of New Zealand | |
| In office 25 January 2023 – 27 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Chris Hipkins |
| Preceded by | Grant Robertson |
| Succeeded by | Winston Peters |
| 5thMinister for Workplace Relations and Safety | |
| In office 21 June 2023 – 27 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Chris Hipkins |
| Preceded by | Michael Wood |
| Succeeded by | Brooke Van Velden |
| 3rdMinister for Auckland | |
| In office 21 June 2023 – 27 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Chris Hipkins |
| Preceded by | Michael Wood |
| Succeeded by | Simeon Brown |
| 27thMinister for Social Development | |
| In office 26 October 2017 – 27 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Jacinda Ardern Chris Hipkins |
| Preceded by | Anne Tolley |
| Succeeded by | Louise Upston |
| 14thMinister for ACC | |
| In office 22 July 2020 – 1 February 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Jacinda Ardern Chris Hipkins |
| Preceded by | Iain Lees-Galloway |
| Succeeded by | Peeni Henare |
| 13thMinister for Arts, Culture and Heritage | |
| In office 6 November 2020 – 27 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Jacinda Ardern Chris Hipkins |
| Preceded by | Jacinda Ardern |
| Succeeded by | Paul Goldsmith |
| Member of theNew Zealand Parliament forKelston | |
| Assumed office 21 September 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Electorate established |
| Majority | 15,660 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Carmel Jean Sepuloni 1977 (age 47–48) Waitara, New Zealand |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Auckland |
Carmel Jean Sepuloni (born 1977)[1] is a New Zealand politician who served as the 20thdeputy prime minister of New Zealand. A member of theLabour Party, she was first elected to Parliament in 2008 for a three-year term as alist Member of Parliament (MP) and was re-elected as MP forKelston in 2014. In 2023, she was elected as thedeputy leader of the Labour Party, succeedingKelvin Davis.
Sepuloni is New Zealand's first MP ofTongan descent.[2] She was a senior minister in theSixth Labour Government underPrime MinisterJacinda Ardern, holding office asMinister for Social Development throughout the government's term and additionally serving asMinister for Arts, Culture and Heritage,Minister for ACC,Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety,Minister for Disability Issues andMinister for Pacific Peoples. She became deputy prime minister in January 2023 when the Labour leadership switched toChris Hipkins.[3]
Sepuloni was born and raised inWaitara,Taranaki, and attendedNew Plymouth Girls' High School.[4] Her father was aSamoan-Tongan migrantfreezing worker, who migrated to New Zealand without being able to speak English, and "staunchunionist" and her mother was aPākehā from a conservative farming family.
She moved to Auckland in 1996 to attend theAuckland College of Education andUniversity of Auckland where she attained a Diploma of Teaching (Primary) and a Bachelor of Education, respectively. She also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Education. Sepuloni worked as a teacher inSamoa and in alternative education programmes in Auckland. Later, she worked as an equity manager and a research project manager in Pacific health at the University of Auckland.[5][6]
She has two sons.[7][8] She married writer and musicianDaren Kamali in November 2018.[9]
| Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–2011 | 49th | List | 35 | Labour | |
| 2014–2017 | 51st | Kelston | 29 | Labour | |
| 2017–2020 | 52nd | Kelston | 8 | Labour | |
| 2020–2023 | 53rd | Kelston | 8 | Labour | |
| 2023–present | 54th | Kelston | 3 | Labour | |
Sepuloni came to Parliament in the2008 general election having successfully stood as a list-only candidate for theNew Zealand Labour Party. She had been involved in the party for only a year and a half before being elected.[10] Sepuloni's position at 35th on the party list, and the promotion of other new candidates, was cited byThe New Zealand Herald as an effort by the Labour Party to "inject new faces" and increase the party's ethnic diversity.[11]
After the election, Sepuloni became Labour's spokesperson forcivil defence and associate spokesperson for tertiary education and social development.[10] In hermaiden speech, Sepuloni said, "I've learned through my own experiences and the experiences of others around me, that our young in particular can quickly begin to self-stigmatise when the media and society stigmatise them. When the media only portrays a picture of a ghettoised, poverty-stricken group of trouble makers, then our youth can resign themselves to the fact that this is what they are. They may even take pride in this prescribed image, because it provides them with a level of attention and status which although negative, is attention and status nonetheless."
In June 2010, Sepuloni's Employment Relations (Probationary Period Repeal) Amendment Bill was drawn from the member's ballot. A bill to repeal the changes to probationary employment contained in theEmployment Relations Amendment Act 2008,[12] it was defeated at its first reading 64 votes to 57.[13]
On 19 March 2010, Sepuloni was selected as the Labour candidate for theWaitakere electorate in the2011 general election, facing incumbent National MP and Cabinet ministerPaula Bennett. In April 2011, she was ranked number 24 on the party's list for the election. On the election night preliminary count, she placed second in Waitakere, 349 votes behind Bennett, and with her list ranking was set not to be returned to Parliament. When the official results were released on 10 December 2011, Sepuloni had received sufficientspecial votes to win Waitakere and defeat Bennett by eleven votes.[14] Bennett requested ajudicial recount and on 17 December regained her seat with a nine-vote majority, removing Sepuloni from Parliament.[15][16] This was not before theLabour Party leadership election on 13 December, in which she participated as a member-elect of the Labour caucus and supportedDavid Cunliffe.[17]
Not long after leaving Parliament Sepuloni travelled to Egypt to participate as a short-term observer on theNDI International Election Mission. Prior to being reelected, Sepuloni was employed as the chief executive of Vaka Tautua, an Auckland-based Pacific disability, mental health, and social services provider.[18]
During the2014 general election, Sepuloni stood as Labour's candidate in theKelston electorate in Auckland, winning by a majority of 15,091 votes.[19] She served as Labour's social development spokesperson under new Labour leader Andrew Little, although she was temporarily stood down from that role in 2015 after her mother was charged with benefit fraud;[20][21] her mother was subsequently sentenced to four and a half months of home detention for illegally receiving benefits totalling $34,000.[22]
During the2017 general election, Sepuloni stood again in her Kelston seat, returning to Parliament with a majority of 16,789 votes. Following Labour's formation of acoalition government withNew Zealand First and theGreens,[23] Sepuloni was elected as a Cabinet minister by the Labour Party caucus. She was subsequently appointed asminister of social development and disability issues as well as associate minister for Pacific Peoples, andarts, culture & heritage.[24]
On 28 April 2018, Sepuloni issued a statement criticisingWork and Income for turning away a homeless woman who was trying to apply for a benefit after being discharged from hospital.[25] As social development minister, Sepuloni likened her Government's approach to welfare reform to "trying to turn a jumbo jet in mid-air."[26]
On 22 July 2020, Sepuloni was appointed as minister forACC following the resignation ofIain Lees-Galloway, who admitted to having an "inappropriate relationship" with a former staffer.[27][28]
During the2020 general election held on 17 October, Sepuloni was re-elected in Kelston by a final margin of 15,660 votes, retaining the seat for Labour.[29] In early November, she retained her previous ministerial portfolios for social development, disability issues, and ACC, while also becoming the minister for employment and arts, culture and heritage.[30] She vacated the disability issues portfolio in June 2022.[31]
On 22 January 2023, incoming prime ministerChris Hipkins confirmed Sepuloni as his deputy prime minister.[32] She is the firstPasifika deputy prime minister and third woman to hold the role.[5] On her promotion to deputy prime minister, Sepuloni dropped the ACC portfolio and became the associate foreign affairs minister responsible for the Pacific region.[33] She additionally becameMinister for Workplace Relations and Safety andMinister for Auckland on 21 June 2023, following the resignation ofMichael Wood from cabinet.[34]
Sepuloni retained her Kelston electorate at the2023 New Zealand general election by a margin of 4,396 votes despite Labour losing the election to the National Party.[35]
On 7 November 2023, Sepuloni was elected as deputy leader of the Labour Party during a leadership vote.[36] In early November 2023, along with the National Party's foreign affairs spokespersonGerry Brownlee, she represented New Zealand at the 2023Pacific Islands Forum.[37] She also attended a leaders' retreat inAitutaki.[38]
In late November 2023, she became Deputy Leader of the Opposition and spokesperson for social development,Pacific Peoples, Auckland issues, and child poverty reduction in theShadow Cabinet of Chris Hipkins.[39] On 5 December 2023, Sepuloni was granted retention of the titleThe Honourable, in recognition of her term as a member of theExecutive Council.[40]
Following acabinet reshuffle in early March 2025, Sepuloni retained the Pacific Peoples and Auckland Issues portfolios, and also gained the Women portfolio. She lost the social development and child poverty reduction portfolios.[41]
Carmel Sepuloni was New Zealand's first MP of Tongan descent
| New Zealand Parliament | ||
|---|---|---|
| New constituency | Member of Parliament for Kelston 2014–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister for Disability Issues 2017–2022 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Social Development 2017–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for ACC 2020–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage 2020–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand 2023–2023 | Succeeded by |
 | ||
