Photos: Maree Wilkinson.
As Kiritapu Allan sits down in her lush, green Whakatāne backyard, a tūī swoops past, landing in one of the many regenerated native trees. Watching the birds in one of her favourite places in the world, the former MP can’t help but smile. She shares how happy she feels surrounded by nature, having moved to live in the same town as her daughter.
In fact, after leaving the relentless hustle of Parliament in July 2023, Kiri tells the Weekly for the first time in her life she is prioritising her own joy above all else.
“I had just always thrown down everything and anything for mahi [work]. It has been a huge shift and one I will never look back from. Prioritising joy and things that make me feel alive has been the best decision I’ve ever made in life,” shares the 41-year-old mother to Hiwaiterangi, who’s now seven.
“I have ADHD and work has always been my hyper fixation. Hard work has always felt like home and my whole ethos was, ‘run hard while you’ve got the ball’.”
Representing the East Coast electorate, Kiri explains, “My job was to advocate on behalf of one of the most socially and economically deprived regions. I felt I had a really strong responsibility to do everything in my power to try to make some form of tangible change.”
After being elected in 2017, Kiri rapidly gained support and media attention as she climbed through the ranks. She was eventually promoted to Associate Minister of Finance and Minister of Justice.
In 2021, as Emergency Management Minister, she was publicly hailed as “remarkable” for leading the country through flood responses, a tsunami alert and mass evacuation, later revealing that same day doctors had diagnosed her with stage three cervical cancer.
After three months off work for treatment, she was straight back into it. At the peak of her political career, there was talk Kiri would even be prime minister one day.
But looking back, Kiri shares politics was initially never part of the plan.
As the ninth of 10 children, Kiri was whāngai [Māori form of adoption] out to her biological mother’s younger sister when she was just six months old.
She’s grateful for the “sheltered and protected” upbringing her devout Fundamental Pentecostal Christian parents Gail and David provided in the small Bay of Plenty settlement of Paengaroa in the East.
However, noticing not all her siblings experienced the same “safety and security”, and seeing some of them go through the criminal justice system, provoked a strong drive to ask the big questions and advocate for others from a young age.
Over the years, this has manifested in many ways. From hitch-hiking the length of New Zealand, picking fruit, to working in advocacy, then a legal career and eventually politics.
“I knew I was so privileged to walk through the corridors of power – and with privilege comes a responsibility.”
But Kiri maintains her initial election in 2017 was a huge shock.
“I never expected I would get into Parliament then,” remembers Kiri. She was a lawyer with Kahui Legal and about to become a parent. The Labour Party was polling incredibly low at the time.
Then Jacinda Ardern was elected party leader and Labour experienced a groundswell of support.
“We were pregnant with our first kid,” tells Kiri. “I had planned on becoming a partner at the firm, having lots of time for bubba and contemplating a proper run for government in 2020.”
Everything was going to plan until Jacinda called to say, “Hey, Kiri, I really hope you’re intending on going into Parliament this year because you’re placed at 20 on the list.”
The list determines the order of who gets into government according to how many seats a party wins at election.
“Baby was born two weeks prior to the election, and her first union meeting was at about three days old. That kind of became her life for the first year coming to event after event,” says Kiri. “We started her life and mine as a politician together.”
While professionally her career was taking off, Kiri was often away from home at least four nights of the week. She was desperately missing her daughter.
“Every memory I have of being totally at peace and filled with joy was certainly with Hiwaiterangi throughout the entirety of my parliamentary career.
“When I was an MP with quite a public life, which not all politicians have, it came with a cost. I had allocated times just for us as a whānau. But, I would still be talking to every person who approached me in the street. That was just the role and function. Leaving the house came at the expense of quality time with bubba, which is why I relish it so much now.”
Laughing, Kiri explains that to combat the many interruptions, Hiwaiterangi came up with a clever plan. She calls out to her mother in te reo Māori, her first language, “I need to go to the toilet.”
Reflecting on her busy life juggling so many roles, she shares honestly, “I put immeasurable pressure on myself. My own health and wellbeing was not at the forefront of my mind.”
In hindsight, Kiri would have warned herself about the toll it would take. She has since spoken publicly about her own mental health journey.
“What I would say to young Kiri is, ‘Run hard while you’ve got the ball. Part of that is making sure that you’re the best, healthiest version of yourself so you can carry the ball.’”
It was in July 2023, after crashing into a parked car and subsequently being arrested, that Kiri decided to resign and ultimately step away from politics.
When the Weekly asks about this time, Kiri’s clear she’s ready to leave the past in the past and not be defined by this single event any more.
“We all experience challenges in some way, shape or form, mine just played out in the public domain. I try not to regret things and learn from experiences. And hopefully by sharing my story and seeing what I went through, perhaps it can help others to know even someone in those roles in government feels the pressures of life and experiences knocks, but can come out the other side and find peace.
“I also experienced an outpouring of love and support during that time. Why is that? I think because a lot of people can see themselves in the experiences I was going through. People break and it’s hard, but people get through.
“Whilst challenging at the time, I don’t have any negative feelings towards that period. I’m really proud of my political career.”
She lists supporting whānau through natural disasters like the Whakaari/ White Island eruption and Cyclone Gabrielle as immense privileges. Meanwhile, other highlights include being the steward of the Matariki Public Holiday Bill and her work on the billion dollar Jobs for Nature fund.
“Eighteen months ago, I don’t think I could have said anything that I was proud of. So, to walk you through things I was proud of in my previous role or what I’m proud of now is huge.
“But it took a series of angels to get me through, a constant group of stalwarts that believed in me, and a lot of hard work because you are really changing a life-long pattern of behaviour.
“There were challenges, but there were also waves of peace and a sense of liberation that I got by transitioning from one part of life to another.”
Not so long ago, this serene, accepting outlook on life with joy at the forefront would have been inconceivable to Kiri.
“I would have laughed at you and thought, ‘That’s an absolutely insane, selfish pursuit. Our lives are ones of sacrifice.’ But I’ve learned finding my own inner peace and joy means I’m a way better version of myself.”
Moving to Whakatāne from Gisborne one year ago to be closer to Hiwaiterangi has played a huge part in this, she says.
“It was really important to me to get hands on with her kura [school]. I’m coaching her soccer team and helping out with her netball. She brings me joy. I want her to grow up and look back without thinking of mum-mum as always being away working. Being a parent is my favourite thing in the world.”
On the work front, Kiri is excited to have launched KLA Solutions, her purpose-driven consultancy and advocacy firm.
“One of the biggest things I had the privilege of experiencing in the last year was coming home and being wrapped up by my iwi [Kiri is of Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Tūwharetoa descent], and spending a lot of time working with my own people,” smiles Kiri. Excitingly, she has no shortage of dreams and goals for the year ahead. “My life has been so macro – national stuff. However, the soul fulfilment of being with my own has filled my cup in ways I never imagined.
“Last year was a time of establishment. A year of pivot and really working out what it was I was doing again in a new environment. I wasn’t ready to really re-establish relationships and connections. This year is about doing that with people who expand my mind.
“I’m the happiest I have ever been that I can remember in my adult lifetime,” she enthuses.
Help is here
Need to talk? 1737 – free call or text 24/7 to talk to a trained counsellor.
Lifeline – 0800 543 354
Suicide Crisis Helpline – 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO).
Find information about suicide prevention at mentalhealth.org.nz/suicideprevention
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