Fa'Anānā Efeso Collins

Faʻanānā Efeso Collins (27 May 1974 – 21 February 2024) was a New Zealand politician, activist, and academic. A former long-serving member of the New Zealand Labour Party, local body politician, and advocate for the Pasifika community of Auckland, he was a Member of Parliament for the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand from October 2023 until his sudden death in February 2024. Collins was born in Ōtara, South Auckland, to working-class Samoan immigrants. He attended the University of Auckland, where he later lectured, and in 1999 was the first Pasifika elected as President of the Auckland University Students' Association. He soon joined the Labour Party. At the 2013 Auckland elections, Collins was elected to the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board, and became an Auckland Councillor for Manukau in 2016. Collins became a leading national figure for Pasifika rights and identity. He contested the 2022 Auckland mayoral election as an independent, backed by the Labour and Green parties, losing to Wayne Brown. In 2023, he joined the Green Party, and was ranked high enough on their party list to enter the New Zealand Parliament as a list MP after that year's election. Less than a week after giving his maiden speech, Collins attended a fun run on lower Queen Street, Auckland, as part of a charity event for ChildFund. He collapsed during the event and died at the scene.