Andrew Little – who first entered parliament in 2011 – has confirmed he will not take a list seat and retire from politics – but not without disclaiming “complete and utter ignorance” of the incoming government’s views on the Treaty of Waitangi.
Shanan Halbert is next on the list and will be able to stick around.
“I am grateful for the opportunities my country and party have given me to serve the community,” Little said.
Little first entered Parliament in 2011 and led the party before the 2017 election, but stepped down to make way for Jacinda Ardern’s leadership in the face of poor personal polls.
The move was typical of Little’s humble nature, which was highlighted on Tuesday when he arrived to speak to reporters after confirming he would leave politics.
“Looks like you have someone important to hear, so I’ll keep it short,” he began.
“I think I said to the caucus just now, you need me in politics, but you also need humanity, you need self-awareness and you need to know that when it doesn’t work, then you need to let other people you trust do the work to step up.”
He said that as Labor goes into opposition, it is important that the next Labor government is given every opportunity to “improve their skills and establish a strong team”.
“I think it is important for the party to immediately start building the talent it needs for a seventh Labor government. Labor has had two incredible recruitments in 2017 and 2020 – there is a huge depth of talent, some of which will not be part of 54th Parliament but may well be interested in returning after that.
“If I step aside, it will make room for at least one more, but I think it also expresses my view that the party now needs to think about not just what the opposition looks like, but what the next government looks like and identify the faces for that. – and I’m not the face of the seventh Labor government.”
“Politics is a team sport, so the team must be strong… they are the face of the future and we must let them come forward and flourish.
“I can be very clinical about my personal decisions, it’s just the approach I take, sometimes it catches up with you afterwards, but I think very carefully about the party, the interests of the party.”
He said despite the election result, the party was “very good-hearted and very good… the party is very strong”.
“I think Labor governments do an extraordinary amount for New Zealand, I think Labor is the nation-building party of our political system.”
“The Labor movement is bigger than any caucus or parliamentary term and bigger than any individual,” he said.
“Labor stands up for the fundamental values of millions of New Zealanders: a fair pay for a fair day’s work, opportunity for the many not just the few and respect for all people and communities.”
Mutual respect
Labor leader Chris Hipkins paid tribute to the work Little had done.
“Andrew Little, I think, has shown on many occasions tremendous humility, tremendous team spirit and dedication to the greater cause.
“He’s been an outstanding minister for six years, he’s led the Labor party through a really difficult time since the 2014 election, I want to pay absolute tribute to the huge contribution he’s made as part of our team.”
Talking to you Checkpoint on Tuesday afternoon, Little said he would like Hipkins to remain leader.
“Yes, I think it should. I think the caucus needs it and the party needs it. We still have to go through our own kind of review and reflection on the campaign, but I think it should stay there.”
Little has held high-profile portfolios including Health, Justice, Immigration, Defence, Courts, Industrial Relations, Treaty Negotiations, Civil Service and as minister for intelligence.
He also has more specialized roles as Minister for Pike River Re-entry, and as the Government’s response to the Royal Commission report into the Christchurch mosque terror attack.
“I know it’s a cliché, but being a minister is just a great privilege. I’ve had many portfolios, I’ve enjoyed every one of them,” he said.
“There’s a lot I’m proud of… The Pike River project was one of them, with the establishment of the criminal case review commission, with the health reforms at a difficult time: now we have a unified entity that can really manage vast resources that the health system has but think of it as a national system as opposed to 20 different systems.
“I’ve enjoyed my time in defense and the pay rise… Immigration has been challenging but I think we’ve given enough signals to Immigration New Zealand about our expectations.”
Members of the Pike River Reference Group thanked Little for his work and support, with Anna Osbourne speaking of his dedication to families and the pursuit of truth.
“The way we were able to work with Andrew helped us understand what we needed in the public service model for working with survivors. He worked with us as equals and with respect, he was always forward even when the news was bad, and he made it work all together”.
Little did he say one thing he regretted was not fully completing national security reform.
“It was a recommendation of the royal commission into the mosque attacks… I was a co-ordinating minister so there was a limit to what I could do. The two prime ministers as national security ministers, they had a whole host of other challenges and we just didn’t make the progress we wanted we wanted”.
“I think they’re all set, ready to go, if the new government wants to take them. The national security institutions do need strengthening… that’s one area I’d like to see some progress on.
“Sheer and utter ignorance”
On Checkpoint, Little took aim at potential coalition partners National, NZ First and ACT over their policies on race relations. ACT wants a referendum on the Treaty of Waitangi, and while National ruled it out during the campaign, it looks like the election is over to be open to the idea.
“I saw what happened during the campaign and the kind of statements that were made and the commitments that were made not only by the ACT party but also by the New Zealand party and the National party,” Little said.
“My biggest concern is that many of these statements were made in complete and utter ignorance of the kind of recent history of the Treaty in its place, particularly the jurisprudence, the legal jurisprudence, the legal recognition of the Treaty, what it means, and frankly from people who know better.
“Mean, [NZ First MP] Shane Jones knows better. suspect [NZ First leader Winston] Peters probably does. [ACT leader] David Seymour, I couldn’t vouch because I don’t think he cares much, despite the fact that the party says he cares about the rule of law – I don’t think he actually does.
“The National Party knows better too. The problem is that I don’t see in the National Party a Sir Doug Graham or a Chris Finlayson who can take this area and be responsible and move forward like Doug Graham and Christopher really did Finlayson. .”
Future plans
Little was previously a labor attorney and said he intended to return to practice.
“The funny thing you find is that as a minister you never leave the law behind, I’ve had some interesting experiences using my legal knowledge as a minister, but anyway I know quite a bit about public law now.
“What I’m most looking forward to – being a minister is almost seven days a week – is getting my Sundays back to do my thing.”
They included mountain biking and putting away the golf clubs for the first time in four years.