Kris Faafoi

The Honourable Kris Faafoi
Faafoi in 2020
50th Minister of Justice
In office 6 November 2020 – 14 June 2022
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by	Andrew Little
Succeeded by	Kiri Allan
26th Minister for Broadcasting and Media
In office 7 September 2018 – 14 June 2022
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by	Clare Curran
Succeeded by	Willie Jackson
57th Minister of Immigration
In office 22 July 2020 – 14 June 2022
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by	Iain Lees-Galloway
Succeeded by	Michael Wood
13th Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs
In office 26 October 2017 – 6 November 2020
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by	Jacqui Dean
Succeeded by	David Clark
Minister for Government Digital Services
In office 27 June 2019 – 6 November 2020
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by	Megan Woods
Succeeded by	David Clark (as Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications)
25th Minister of Civil Defence
In office 26 October 2017 – 27 June 2019
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by	Nathan Guy
Succeeded by	Peeni Henare
64th Minister of Customs
In office 20 September 2018 – 27 June 2019
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern
Preceded by	Meka Whaitiri
Succeeded by	Jenny Salesa
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Labour party list
In office 17 October 2020 – 23 July 2022
Succeeded by	Dan Rosewarne
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Mana
In office 20 November 2010 – 17 October 2020
Preceded by	Winnie Laban
Succeeded by	Barbara Edmonds
Personal details
Born	(1976-06-23) 23 June 1976
Nationality	New Zealand
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Gina Faafoi-Rogers (former)
Domestic partner	Mae Puller
Children	3
Profession	Journalist
Website	beehive.govt.nz

Kristopher John Faafoi (born 23 June 1976) is a former New Zealand Labour Party politician. He became the Member of Parliament for the Mana electorate in 2010. He did not contest the seat as an electorate MP in 2020 but continued as a list MP. He held a number of ministerial portfolios in the Sixth Labour Government from 2017, until he announced his retirement from politics in June 2022.

Early life

Faafoi's parents originate from the Tokelau atoll of Fakaofo. He grew up in Christchurch. His father was sent to New Zealand to study at secondary school, and later became a primary-school teacher. His mother came to New Zealand as part of a repatriation scheme, and later worked in a factory. Faafoi has stated that he did not have a typical Tokelau upbringing and does not speak fluent Tokelauan. In 1994 he was a member of the New Zealand Youth Parliament, selected to represent Sydenham MP Jim Anderton.

Professional career

Faafoi trained as a journalist and is a graduate of the New Zealand Broadcasting School at CPIT (now Ara Institute of Canterbury). He worked for the BBC and as a political commentator. Prior to the Mana by-election, he was the chief press secretary for Labour leader Phil Goff, and the Rongotai Pacific branch chair of the Labour Party.

Political career

New Zealand Parliament

Years	Term	Electorate	List	Party
2010–2011	49th	Mana			Labour
2011–2014	50th	Mana	41		Labour
2014–2017	51st	Mana	none		Labour
2017–2020	52nd	Mana	20		Labour
2020–2022	53rd	List	15		Labour

Fifth National Government (2010–2017)

After the resignation of Mana MP Luamanuvao Winnie Laban on 10 August 2010, Faafoi was chosen to represent the Labour Party in the resulting by-election, which was set for 20 November. Four people contested the selection, with Faafoi defeating business manager Michael Evans, barrister Peter Foster and communications adviser Josie Pagani. During the campaign, he was criticised for a campaign brochure stating, "I had a great start because my family settled in Mana," implying that he grew up in the North Island electorate despite being raised in Christchurch in the South Island.

Faafoi won the by-election with 10,980 votes (46.4%), becoming the first MP of Tokelauan descent. Hekia Parata from the National Party was placed second and received 9,574 (41.6%), giving Faafoi a margin of 1,080 votes (4.82%). This was a significant decrease of Laban's majority of 6,155 (17.7%) at the 2008 general election. Faafoi more than doubled the margin in the 2011 election, and had a 7,953 votes margin in the 2014 election.

Sixth Labour Government (2017–present)

First term, 2017–2020

Kris Faafoi was elected as a Minister of Civil Defence, Commerce and Consumer Affairs and Associate Minister of Immigration, outside Cabinet by the Labour Party caucus following Labour's formation of a coalition government with New Zealand First and the Greens.

On 30 August 2017, Faafoi announced that the Government was investing NZ$5.2 million into supporting "rapid response teams" to support communities in emergencies. The boost in funding was the result of a critical Ministerial Technical Advisory Group's (TAG) review of the Government's unsatisfactory responses to the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake and the 2017 Port Hills fires.

When Minister of Customs Meka Whaitiri "stood aside" in August 2018 over a "staffing matter" pending an investigation that same day, Faafoi assumed the Customs portfolio.

On 7 September 2018 Faafoi was appointed Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media upon the resignation of Clare Curran. In 2018 his main political priority was "dealing with loan sharks".

On 27 June 2019, Faafoi was appointed Minister of Government Digital Services, complementing his role as Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media. He also assumed the position of Associate Minister for Public Housing. Faafoi relinquished his position as Minister of Civil Defence and Minister of Customs, which were assumed by Peeni Henare and Jenny Salesa respectively.

On 6 December 2019, Faafoi apologised to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for promising to speed up an immigration visa application for Opshop singer Jason Kerrison's father. Opposition National Party leader Simon Bridges claimed that Faafoi's actions could constitute a conflict of interest that breached Cabinet rules.

On 8 February 2020 he announced his intention to not seek re-election in Mana for the 2020 election; he will stand as a List MP instead. On 22 July, Faafoi became Minister of Immigration after Iain Lees-Galloway was dismissed following his admission of an inappropriate relationship with a former staffer in one of his agencies.

On 4 September, Faafoi, in his capacity as Immigration Minister, extended the visas of visitors due to expire before the end of October by five months. In addition, temporary migrants unable to leave New Zealand due to international travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will be granted a new two-month COVID-19 short-term visa.

Second term, 2020–present

During the 2020 general election, Faafoi was re-elected on the party list. In early November 2020, Faafoi was appointed as Minister of Justice, while retaining his "Broadcasting and Media" and Immigration portfolios.

On 21 December 2020, Faafoi, in his capacity as Immigration Minister, announced a six-month extension for employer-assisted work and working holiday visa holders along with their partners and children in order to address the country's labour shortage. In addition, a 12-month stand-down period for low-paid Essential Skills visa holders working in New Zealand for three years was suspended until January 2022.

In July 2021, Justice Minister Faafoi introduced the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill , which seeks to ban conversion therapy. The Bill passed its third reading on 15 February 2022.

In mid–November 2021, Faafoi introduced legislation to repeal the Sentencing and Parole Reform Act 2010 (the so-called "Three Strikes Law"). He described the "three-strikes law" as "archaic, unfair, and ineffective" and claimed it had led to "absurd and perverse" outcomes. While the proposed repeal legislation was supported by the Labour and Green parties, the opposition National and ACT parties opposed repealing the "three strikes law."

On 13 June 2022, it was announced that Faafoi would resign his seat in Parliament soon in order to spend more time with his family, particularly his school-aged youngest son. Faafoi had wanted to resign during the 2020 general election but Ardern had convinced him to stay for another year. His resignation triggered a cabinet reshuffle within the Sixth Labour Government, in which Faafoi's immigration, justice and broadcasting portfolios were assumed by Michael Wood, Kiri Allan, and Willie Jackson, respectively. On 16 June, Faafoi was granted retention of the title "The Honourable" for life, in recognition of his term as a member of the Executive Council. Faafoi's resignation from Parliament took effect on 23 July.

After politics

After leaving Parliament, Faafoi started a lobbying and public relations firm called Dialogue22, serving as chief executive.

Personal life

Kris lives in Porirua with his partner Mae and three sons. Faafoi was married to Gina Faafoi-Rogers. Their son George was born 2008.

His elder brother Jason is a TV presenter and musician. They made a documentary together about their family visiting Tokelau, which was released in 2004.