Hipkins ChrisRt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Leader of the Opposition): Talofa lava Mr Speaker. I want to begin by extending our thoughts to the family and the loved ones of Efeso Collins. The loss of a husband and a father is never easy but to do so in such tragic and sudden circumstances makes it that much harder and I know all of our thoughts are with them today. Efeso Collins a New Zealand - born Samoan was raised in Ōtara South Auckland. He spent three terms on the Auckland Council serving as chair of the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board and councillor for the Manukau ward. He represented and was a passionate advocate for some of our most disadvantaged communities. He lived and breathed public service.Prior to entering local and national politics Efeso lectured in teacher education. He consulted in leadership development and cross-cultural communication. He published research on youth gangs and he developed youth mentoring programmes. He was the first in his family to attend and graduate from university and holds a Master's degree in education.I first met Efeso Collins in 1999 at a then New Zealand Union of Students' Associations conference. As so often is the case with student politicians with all of the things going on in the world at that particular point in time the student politicians from across the country had gathered together in Auckland to do what we were very passionate about and attack each other. And Efeso as the newly elected president of the Auckland University Students Association spoke some way into the meeting. I know that he was a believer that there is power in being the last to speak and he spoke in a very tense meeting and he began by making a joke at his own expense. And for the next 10 minutes or so he held the entire room in the palm of his hand. He spoke with passion and with eloquence and that is something that I will always remember him for. He could break tension with just a few words he could bring people together effortlessly and he could convey complex ideas in a way that captivated people's imaginations.Efeso is married with two children. He enjoys spending time at local playgrounds could be found on a Saturday morning refereeing rugby or netball and enjoyed a good milkshake. It is a matter of record that he contested the Labour Party selection for the Manukau East seat in 2014 before going on to then run for the Auckland mayoralty. As my Green Party colleague Teanau Tuiono mentioned this morning he was like a wayward son of the Labour Party who wandered his way to the Green Party". But we shared values in common. In his maiden speech to Parliament he quoted a Samoan saying: "no one stands alone no one succeeds alone" and for him no one should suffer alone. I believe that he lived up to those words and I believe that we were only just starting to see his true potential and what he had to offer for Aotearoa New Zealand.I want to hand the balance of my time to my colleague the Hon Carmel Sepuloni who knew him well but I want to end with a Christmas wish that he expressed last year when asked by Radio New Zealand what he wanted for Christmas. He said "My hope for the community is that we as a nation settle on some basics that every child will wake up and know that they've got three meals every day and that they've got somewhere safe and warm to sleep at night." I know that that is what he dedicated his life to."