Meet Carmel
Carmel Sepuloni is a mother, wife, daughter of a migrant, a Government Minister and the Labour MP for Kelston. Born in Waitara, Carmel is of Samoan, Tongan and New Zealand European descent.
Carmel entered Parliament in 2008, having worked in the tertiary sector as a literacy educator, a student mentor adviser, an equity manager, and a Pacific health research project manager.
A brief break away from Parliament in 2011-2014 saw Carmel become Chief Executive of Vaka Tautua, a national ‘by Pacific, for Pacific’, health, disability and social services provider.
In the current Labour Government, Carmel serves as the Minister for Social Development and Employment, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage and Minister for ACC. She has previously held the portfolios of Associate Pacific Peoples and Minister for Disability Issues.
Across her portfolios, Carmel is committed to transforming the welfare system so that it’s fairer and treats people with dignity, and providing opportunities for people to get ahead in life – including better opportunities to get into meaningful and sustainable employment. She’s also committed to building a sustainable, diverse, inclusive and resilient arts and culture sector, and modernising ACC.