Kiri Allan has a lot still to contribute

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

The extended interview given yesterday by former Cabinet Minister and East Coast MP Kiri Allan makes sad reading and shows again the potential for mental health challenges caused largely by stress on those who have decided on the political life.

The interview with Allan in the NZ Herald does not contain a lot of new information, apart from revealing she had decided to take her life before crashing her car in Evans Bay and failing an alcohol breath test.

But it does make more clear the background to the decisions that abruptly ended a highly promising political career.

Allan says she had got to the point where she decided to take her own life and had a very clear plan to do so.

She made the decision to drive after a few beers and it is one she will regret forever. A big part of the last few months for her was coming to terms with what happens when you do not take care of yourself.

Her struggle with mental health came after a turbulent time in both her personal and working life.

While she will not talk about the personal, she has outlined the work pressures both in her electorate after the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle and in the Beehive as Labour ministers had to adjust to life after the resignation of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, something that obviously affected her.

She continues to deny allegations of a bad working environment or that she shouted at public servants, though acknowledges she was not perfect and did “drive hard and drive fast” to get her policy programme running.

Her decision to do an interview now was partly prompted by former Green MP Golriz Gahraman’s resignation from politics after being charged with shoplifting. She believes women, particularly Māori women, get targeted more than others.

It is six months now since that fateful night in Wellington which led to charges of drink driving and refusing to accompany a police officer which she still faces.

Allan turned 40 at the end of last year and has been clear of cervical cancer for two years. She is working on a book and now lives in Whakatāne with her daughter Hiwaiterangi. She has set up a consultancy business and does some work for her iwi.

While “absolutely not” was her first response to a question of whether she would return to politics, she did add that “life changes and takes different directions”.

She is still interested in politics, attending the Kīngitanga hui at Turangawaewae and will be on a political panel at Waitangi.

Kiri Allan has a lot to contribute to Māori and the community in general — hopefully she will continue to have opportunities to make a difference.