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The HonourableCarmel SepuloniMP
Sepuloni in 2023
Deputy Leader of the Opposition
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 November 2023
Leader	Chris Hipkins
Preceded by	Nicola Willis
19th Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 November 2023
Leader	Chris Hipkins
Preceded by	Kelvin Davis
20th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand
In office 25 January 2023 – 27 November 2023
Prime Minister	Chris Hipkins
Preceded by	Grant Robertson
Succeeded by	Winston Peters
5th Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety
In office 21 June 2023 – 27 November 2023
Prime Minister	Chris Hipkins
Preceded by	Michael Wood
Succeeded by	Brooke Van Velden
3rd Minister for Auckland
In office 21 June 2023 – 27 November 2023
Prime Minister	Chris Hipkins
Preceded by	Michael Wood
Succeeded by	Simeon Brown
27th Minister for Social Development
In office 26 October 2017 – 27 November 2023
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern Chris Hipkins
Preceded by	Anne Tolley
Succeeded by	Louise Upston
14th Minister for ACC
In office 22 July 2020 – 1 February 2023
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern Chris Hipkins
Preceded by	Iain Lees-Galloway
Succeeded by	Peeni Henare
13th Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage
In office 6 November 2020 – 27 November 2023
Prime Minister	Jacinda Ardern Chris Hipkins
Preceded by	Jacinda Ardern
Succeeded by	Paul Goldsmith
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Kelston
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 September 2014
Preceded by	Electorate established
Majority	15,660
Personal details
Born	Carmel Jean Sepuloni 1977 (age 46–47) Waitara, New Zealand
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Daren Kamali ​(m. 2018)​
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Auckland

Carmel Jean Sepuloni (born 1977) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 20th deputy prime minister of New Zealand. A member of the Labour Party, she was first elected to Parliament in 2008 for a three-year term as a list Member of Parliament (MP) and was re-elected as MP for Kelston in 2014. In 2023, she was elected as the deputy leader of the Labour Party, succeeding Kelvin Davis.

Sepuloni is New Zealand's first MP of Tongan descent. She was a senior minister in the Sixth Labour Government under Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, holding office as Minister for Social Development throughout the government's term and additionally serving as Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Minister for ACC, Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, Minister for Disability Issues and Minister for Pacific Peoples. She became deputy prime minister in January 2023 when the Labour leadership switched to Chris Hipkins.

Early years

Sepuloni was born and raised in Waitara, Taranaki, and attended New Plymouth Girls' High School. Her father was a Samoan-Tongan migrant freezing worker, who migrated to New Zealand without being able to speak English, and "staunch unionist" and her mother was a Pākehā from a conservative farming family.

She moved to Auckland in 1996 to attend the Auckland College of Education and University of Auckland where she attained a Diploma of Teaching (Primary) and a Bachelor of Education, respectively. She also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Education. Sepuloni worked as a teacher in Samoa and in alternative education programmes in Auckland. Later, she worked as an equity manager and a research project manager in Pacific health at the University of Auckland.

She has two sons. She married writer and musician Daren Kamali in November 2018.

Member of Parliament

First term, 2008–2011

Sepuloni came to Parliament in the 2008 general election having successfully stood as a list-only candidate for the New Zealand Labour Party. She had been involved in the party for only a year and a half before being elected. Sepuloni's position at 35th on the party list, and the promotion of other new candidates, was cited by The New Zealand Herald as an effort by the Labour Party to "inject new faces" and increase the party's ethnic diversity.

After the election, Sepuloni became Labour's spokesperson for civil defence and associate spokesperson for tertiary education and social development. In her maiden speech, Sepuloni said, "I've learned through my own experiences and the experiences of others around me, that our young in particular can quickly begin to self-stigmatise when the media and society stigmatise them. When the media only portrays a picture of a ghettoised, poverty-stricken group of trouble makers, then our youth can resign themselves to the fact that this is what they are. They may even take pride in this prescribed image, because it provides them with a level of attention and status which although negative, is attention and status nonetheless."

In June 2010, Sepuloni's Employment Relations (Probationary Period Repeal) Amendment Bill was drawn from the member's ballot. A bill to repeal the changes to probationary employment contained in the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2008, it was defeated at its first reading 64 votes to 57.

2011 election loss

On 19 March 2010, Sepuloni was selected as the Labour candidate for the Waitakere electorate in the 2011 general election, facing incumbent National MP and Cabinet minister Paula Bennett. In April 2011, she was ranked number 24 on the party's list for the election. On the election night preliminary count, she placed second in Waitakere, 349 votes behind Bennett, and with her list ranking was set not to be returned to Parliament. When the official results were released on 10 December 2011, Sepuloni had received sufficient special votes to win Waitakere and defeat Bennett by eleven votes. Bennett requested a judicial recount and on 17 December regained her seat with a nine-vote majority, removing Sepuloni from Parliament. This was not before the Labour Party leadership election on 13 December, in which she participated as a member-elect of the Labour caucus and supported David Cunliffe.

Not long after leaving Parliament Sepuloni travelled to Egypt to participate as a short-term observer on the NDI International Election Mission. Prior to being reelected, Sepuloni was employed as the chief executive of Vaka Tautua, an Auckland-based Pacific disability, mental health, and social services provider.

Second term, 2014–2017

During the 2014 general election, Sepuloni stood as Labour's candidate in the Kelston electorate in Auckland, winning by a majority of 15,091 votes. She served as Labour's social development spokesperson under new Labour leader Andrew Little, although she was temporarily stood down from that role in 2015 after her mother was charged with benefit fraud; her mother was subsequently sentenced to four and a half months of home detention for illegally receiving benefits totalling $34,000.

Government minister, 2017–2023

During the 2017 general election, Sepuloni stood again in her Kelston seat, returning to Parliament with a majority of 16,789 votes. Following Labour's formation of a coalition government with New Zealand First and the Greens, Sepuloni was elected as a Cabinet minister by the Labour Party caucus. She was subsequently appointed as minister of social development and disability issues as well as associate minister for Pacific Peoples, and arts, culture & heritage.

On 28 April 2018, Sepuloni issued a statement criticising Work and Income for turning away a homeless woman who was trying to apply for a benefit after being discharged from hospital. As social development minister, Sepuloni likened her Government's approach to welfare reform to "trying to turn a jumbo jet in mid-air."

On 22 July 2020, Sepuloni was appointed as minister for ACC following the resignation of Iain Lees-Galloway, who admitted to having an "inappropriate relationship" with a former staffer.

During the 2020 general election held on 17 October, Sepuloni was re-elected in Kelston by a final margin of 15,660 votes, retaining the seat for Labour. In early November, she retained her previous ministerial portfolios for social development, disability issues, and ACC, while also becoming the minister for employment and arts, culture and heritage. She vacated the disability issues portfolio in June 2022.

On 22 January 2023, incoming prime minister Chris Hipkins confirmed Sepuloni as his deputy prime minister. She is the first Pasifika deputy prime minister and third woman to hold the role. On her promotion to deputy prime minister, Sepuloni dropped the ACC portfolio and became the associate foreign affairs minister responsible for the Pacific region. She additionally became Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety and Minister for Auckland on 21 June 2023, following the resignation of Michael Wood from cabinet.

Fifth term, 2023–present

Sepuloni retained her Kelston electorate at the 2023 New Zealand general election by a margin of 4,396 votes despite Labour losing the election to the National Party.

On 7 November 2023, Sepuloni was elected as deputy leader of the Labour Party during a leadership vote. In early November 2023, along with the National Party's foreign affairs spokesperson Gerry Brownlee, she represented New Zealand at the 2023 Pacific Islands Forum. She also attended a leaders' retreat in Aitutaki.

In late November 2023, she became Deputy Leader of the Opposition and spokesperson for social development, Pacific Peoples, Auckland issues, and child poverty reduction in the Shadow Cabinet of Chris Hipkins.

On 5 December 2023, Sepuloni was granted retention of the title The Honourable, in recognition of her term as a member of the Executive Council.

References

1. "Current MPs – Carmel Sepuloni". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 16 November 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
2. "Carmel Sepuloni makes history as first Pasifika deputy PM". Radio New Zealand. 23 January 2023. Carmel Sepuloni was New Zealand's first MP of Tongan descent
3. "Live: 'Biggest responsibility of my life' – Hipkins confirmed as PM". NZ Herald. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
4. "Who is the new Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni?". Stuff. 22 January 2023.
5. ^ "Who is new Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni?". Stuff. 22 January 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
6. "Hon Carmel Sepuloni". beehive.govt.nz. New Zealand Government. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
7. "Who is Carmel Sepuloni? New Zealand's first Pasifika deputy prime minister". the Guardian. 23 January 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
8. Husband, Dale (4 November 2017). "Carmel Sepuloni: Māori and Pacific are the mainstream in this country". E-Tangata.
9. Mitchell, Stephanie (18 November 2018). "Labour party MP gets married in Fiji and enlists another MP as bridesmaid". Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
10. ^ Neville, Alice (9 November 2008). "The back bench baby MPs". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
11. Young, Audrey; Oliver, Paula (1 September 2008). "New generation to fly party flag at election". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
12. "Employment Relations (Probationary Period Repeal) Amendment Bill". Parliament of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
13. "Member's Bill to remove 90 day probationary period voted down". New Zealand Labour Party. 5 August 2010. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
14. Carroll, Joanne; Backhouse, Matthew (11 December 2011). "Sepuloni wins by 11 votes". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 12 December 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
15. "Paula Bennett reclaims Waitakere". The New Zealand Herald. 16 December 2011. Archived from the original on 17 December 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
16. "Paula Bennett regains Waitakere". Television New Zealand. 16 December 2011. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
17. Gower, Patrick (12 December 2011). "'Vicious' scrap over Labour leadership". 3 News. MediaWorks New Zealand. Archived from the original on 6 September 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
18. Brown, Kirsten (29 January 2020). "Minister Sepuloni visits Vaka Tautua". Vaka Tautua. Archived from the original on 8 May 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
19. "Official Count Results – Kelston". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
20. "Mother of Labour MP Carmel Sepuloni in court on benefit fraud charges". The New Zealand Herald. 26 February 2015. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
21. SMALL, DEENA COSTER and VERNON (25 February 2015). "Mother of Labour MP Carmel Sepuloni remanded to face fraud charges". Stuff. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
22. "Sepuloni's mother sentenced for benefit fraud". RNZ. 31 March 2015. Archived from the original on 29 September 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
23. "Who's in? Who's out?". Radio NZ. 20 October 2017. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
24. "Hon Carmel Sepuloni". New Zealand Parliament. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
25. "'Unacceptable' Work & Income turned away homeless woman – Carmel Sepuloni". Newshub. 28 April 2018. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
26. Satherley, Dan (28 April 2018). "Welfare overhaul to get underway 'in next three years' – Carmel Sepuloni". Newshub. Archived from the original on 3 May 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
27. Whyte, Anna (22 July 2020). "PM dismisses Iain Lees-Galloway as minister after 'inappropriate relationship'". 1News. Archived from the original on 21 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
28. Sawman-Lund, Stewart (22 July 2020). "Live updates, July 22: David Seymour denies role in leak, accuses Winston Peters of dead cat flounce". The Spinoff. Archived from the original on 22 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
29. "Kelston – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
30. "Ministerial List for Announcement on Monday" (PDF). Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 2 November 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
31. Weekes, John (13 June 2022). "Cabinet shake-up: Mallard, Faafoi depart; Williams replaced as Police Minister". NZ Herald. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
32. Desmarais, Felix (22 January 2023). "The 'girl from Waitara' – Carmel Sepuloni makes history". 1News. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
33. "Prime Minister Chris Hipkins reveals Cabinet reshuffle". RNZ. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
34. "Michael Wood resigns as minister after revelations of further shareholdings". The New Zealand Herald. 21 June 2023. Archived from the original on 21 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
35. "Kelston - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
36. "Labour votes to keep Chris Hipkins as leader, Carmel Sepuloni takes over as deputy". Radio New Zealand. 7 November 2023. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
37. Terite, William (8 November 2023). "Pacific Islands Forum: Carmel Sepuloni, Gerry Brownlee arrive in Rarotonga". Newshub. Archived from the original on 9 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
38. Ryan, Aaron; Potaka-Dewes, Atutahi (10 November 2023). "LIVE from the Pacific Forum: All but one aboard". Te Ao Māori News. Māori Television. Archived from the original on 9 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
39. "Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins reveals new shadow Cabinet". Radio New Zealand. 30 November 2023. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
40. "Retention of the title "The Honourable"". New Zealand Gazette. 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.

v t e Deputy prime ministers of New Zealand
Holyoake Marshall Skinner Marshall Muldoon Watt Tizard Talboys MacIntyre McLay Palmer Clark McKinnon Peters Creech Anderton Cullen English Bennett Peters Robertson Sepuloni Peters

v t e Sixth Labour Government of New Zealand
Leadership	Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (2017–2023) Chris Hipkins (2023) Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters (2017–2020) Grant Robertson (2020–2023) Carmel Sepuloni (2023)
Political parties	First term Labour Party (main) New Zealand First (coalition) Green Party (confidence and supply) Second term Labour Party (main) Green Party (cooperation agreement)
Ministers	Cabinet Labour Party Chris Hipkins Carmel Sepuloni Kelvin Davis Grant Robertson Megan Woods Jan Tinetti Michael Wood Ayesha Verrall Willie Jackson Kiri Allan Damien O'Connor Jo Luxton Andrew Little David Parker Peeni Henare Nanaia Mahuta Priyanca Radhakrishnan Kieran McAnulty Ginny Andersen Barbara Edmonds Willow-Jean Prime Non- Cabinet Labour Party Duncan Webb Rino Tirikatene Deborah Russell Rachel Brooking Green Party James Shaw Marama Davidson Former Labour Party Jacinda Ardern Clare Curran Iain Lees-Galloway Jenny Salesa Kris Faafoi David Clark William Sio Phil Twyford Poto Williams Stuart Nash Meka Whaitiri New Zealand First Winston Peters Ron Mark Tracey Martin Shane Jones Green Party Julie Anne Genter Eugenie Sage
Parliamentary leadership	Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard (2017–2022) Adrian Rurawhe (2022–2023) Leader of the House Chris Hipkins (2017–2023) Grant Robertson (2023) Chief Government Whip Ruth Dyson (2017–2019) Michael Wood (2019–2020) Kieran McAnulty (2020–2022) Duncan Webb (2022–2023) Tangi Utikere (2023)
Timeline	2017 New Zealand general election First term/52nd New Zealand Parliament 2020 New Zealand general election Second term/53rd New Zealand Parliament
Policies and spending	Budgets 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Overseas Investment Amendment Act 2018 Abortion Legislation Act 2020 Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines, and Parts) Amendment Act 2019 Christchurch Call to Action Summit Cannabis referendum KiwiBuild New Zealand Upgrade Programme Te Pūkenga COVID-19 response Water Services Reform Programme (formerly Three Waters) Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand) Te Aka Whai Ora (Māori Health Authority) Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Act 2022 Three Strikes Legislation Repeal Act 2022 Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022 Fair Pay Agreements Act 2022 RMA reforms Natural and Built Environment Act 2023 Spatial Planning Act 2023
Other offices	Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy (2017–2021) Dame Cindy Kiro (2021–2023) Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias (2017–2019) Dame Helen Winkelmann (2019–2023) Leader of the Opposition Bill English (2017–2018) Simon Bridges (2018–2020) Todd Muller (2020) Judith Collins (2020–2021) Christopher Luxon (2021–2023)
2017–2023 ← Fifth National Government Sixth National Government →

• 1977 births
• Living people
• New Zealand Labour Party MPs
• New Zealand people of Tongan descent
• New Zealand people of Samoan descent
• People educated at New Plymouth Girls' High School
• University of Auckland alumni
• New Zealand list MPs
• Unsuccessful candidates in the 2011 New Zealand general election
• Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
• New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates
• People from Waitara, New Zealand
• 21st-century New Zealand politicians
• Candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election
• Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
• Deputy prime ministers of New Zealand
• Women government ministers of New Zealand
• Candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election
• Candidates in the 2023 New Zealand general election