I love Te Tai Tokerau, Northland. I grew up here, it is my home. 

I believe that people and community must be at the centre of everything we do. Together we can nurture every child and their whānau so everyone has a sense of connection and belonging in their community.

In Government, Labour delivered massive, long-overdue investment that Te Tai Tokerau needed in health, education, employment and more. But there is more we can do, and I am working hard and speaking up on behalf of our communities across the motu.

I bring a background in law, advocacy, and Māori and community development. My community work saw me elected to leadership roles, first as the youngest Far North District Councillor in 2013. I was re-elected in 2016, then became active in national politics.

I was a Labour List Member of Parliament in 2017, and won the seat of Northland in the 2020 election. In 2023, as a Minister I championed conservation, youth, women’s health, Māori data sovereignty, and arts, culture and heritage. I returned in 2023 as a Labour List MP, on the front bench and as co-chair of the Labour Party’s Māori Caucus.

Local, active and involved, I will continue to work with the people of Te Tai Tokerau to create an exciting and sustainable future for us all.

Latest news and press releases:

• National standards returning by stealth – The Government is secretly trying to bring back a ‘one-size fits all’ standardised test – a decision that has shocked school principals.
  
  
• Frontline providers deserve certainty, not name-calling – Frontline service providers have some of the hardest jobs, and they deserve certainty, not name-calling.
   
• Listen PM, boot camps don’t work – Refusing to listen to evidence, experts or experience the Government is stubbornly marching ahead with its boot camps.
  
  
• Govt at odds over its own boot camps – In the Government’s scramble to sell their failed boot camps, we’ve had the Police Minister contradict the Prime Minister, officials correcting and warning Ministers, and a Children’s Minister missing in action.
  
  
• We need real solutions, not more failed boot camps – There is a wealth of good evidence showing how pragmatic solutions that deal with a young person’s behaviour, as well as wider issues in the family, can work to stop offending.
  
  
• Read more latest news