Andrew Little does not seem to be afflicted by any resentment at the turn of events. Photo / Getty Images
Andrew Little does not seem to be afflicted by any resentment at the turn of events. Photo / Getty Images
Just three months after dramatically stepping down as Labour leader, Andrew Little is now a man re-energised. Ahead of tomorrow’s Pike River anniversary he talks to Claire Trevett about being the minister in charge of the mine re-entry — and that life-changing decision to make way for Jacinda Ardern.
Justice Minister Andrew Little has an apple and the Labour-NZ First coalition agreement in front of him at the table in his Beehive office.
The apple, he says, is because he likes to have a piece of fruit every lunchtime. "It is part of my regimen."
The regimen has been challenged somewhat by his new job.
He has been trying and failing to eat his apple for an hour now, such is the busy life of a minister.
He jokes that he intends to get the agreement framed and put it on the wall alongside his copies of the Magna Carta and the Treaty of Waitangi.
"They are all founding documents," he observes, deadpan.
The one that falls a tad short of that description - the coalition agreement - represents the fruits of his decision way back in August to step down in favour of Jacinda Ardern as leader.
He made that decision, his face wracked with the agony of acknowledging failure, and then slunk off to spend some time patching up his ravaged ego.
There was no discernible sulking as Ardern took over his job, replaced his campaign slogan and ran a barnstorming campaign relying on Little's policies and staff.
Ardern now has the job he had aimed for but he knows full well that had he not made that decision back in August he would not be here now in this office, which was once Nikki Kaye's, deploying his trademark dry humour about the NZ First coalition agreement.
After Peters chose to side with Labour, there was an outpouring of accolades for Little as the forgotten or unsung hero of Labour's campaign.
He is reluctant to talk about it, saying it is Ardern's time to shine and he wants her to get all the limelight for the "incredible" job she has done.
"So I don't want to get too deeply into that, except to say that of course, there is an emotional cost you've got to meet because that is a big step to take. "
Little appears to have met that cost. He does not seem to be afflicted by any resentment at the turn of events.
"Politics is a fickle business. Nobody goes into politics being able to embark on a totally predictable career path. It's just not the way it works. There are too many variables. In the end what you get satisfaction from is being able to prosecute your own values and principles.
"Ultimately, what is important is that you're part of a party that gets to govern and make change for the good. And I'm part of that.
"Now I feel privileged and thrilled at the responsibilities I have."
He is now in charge of implementing many of the policies he put in place as leader.
He didn't waste any time on one of those, moving swiftly to inflation-adjust the compensation awarded to Teina Pora for wrongful conviction and imprisonment.
It was, he says now, the fair thing to do after former National Justice Minister Amy Adams' "niggardly, quibbling and miserable" decision not to do so herself.
"Anyone would have thought as a matter of fairness, we should make some adjustment," says Little. "It reflects poorly on them. When you're dealing with injustice, you seek to put it right."
Then there is the portfolio most personal to him - the portfolio that comes with the sobering title Minister Responsible for the Pike River Mine re-entry.
Newly elected Labour Party deputy leader Jacinda Ardern and Labour Party leader Andrew Little. Photo / Mark Mitchell
At the moment, the only thing that has made it on to the wall in his office is a piece of paper with photos of the 29 miners who died in the Pike River Mine disaster seven years ago.
"That's to remind me that that's what I'm there for. They're the guys who've lost their lives and they are what this is all about ultimately."
He will spend tomorrow's anniversary at Pike River, attending the private ceremony for the family followed by the public memorial later.
It was as Labour leader that Little pledged Labour would attempt a manned re-entry of the mine.
He made that pledge on a rainy day on the West Coast at the gates blocking access to the mine in January.
Ardern took on that pledge herself, first at Parliament meeting the families and then again on a rainy day on the West Coast at the Pike River Memorial, where she was presented with a pounamu carved by a student at the nearby polytech.
Now Ardern has charged Little with seeing his promise through.
At the time of the explosions, Little was the head of the Engineering, Manufacturing and Printing Union, which represented miners.
"And since that tragedy I've had a close involvement and it is satisfying in a sense to be able to be involved in delivering justice for those families who are not yet prepared to accept that enough has been done to find out the causes and put their minds at rest."
While the Pora compensation was an easy and quick fix, Pike River Mine re-entry is more complicated.
He put a tentative date of early to mid next year on it and hopes to take his recommendations for membership and structure of the new Pike River Agency next week.
He says he has given the families no guarantees that what they want will be able to achieved, but promised to involve them.
"When we get to the point of having done the planning, done the risk assessment and all the rest of it and we make a decision of yes or no, they will be part of that decision.
"And in the end there can be no absolute guarantee but what we can guarantee is we will do the job properly, plan, prepare, assess and they will be involved every step of the way."
The former National Government had dismissed talk of a re-entry as too dangerous and was working on an unmanned re-entry by robot. Little admits it could be risky.
"Ultimately, and the families are very clear, the first principle of the set of principles governing what we do, is safety. The safety of anyone involved in the re-entry project."
Any liability for it would be the person in charge of the agency running the re-entry rather than Little himself - although Little will be politically responsible.
"The decisions I take will be based on advice and recommendations. I am not going to put anybody at undue risk. I simply am not going to."
As for NZ First leader Winston Peters' promise to himself be first into the drift, Little says Cabinet will make its decisions on such matters in due course.
"But in my view it is specialist work. I don't detract from his enormous skills and talents and expertise in a lot of matters, however there is a level of danger attendant on this and I want the full risk assessment to happen."
Until such a day, Little has a lot to get on with. He is also in charge of the spy agencies the SIS and GCSB, a natural choice as he had been receiving the classified briefing awarded to the Leader of the Opposition until that August day.
The first two founding documents that are waiting to be placed on his walls reflect the other areas he is now in charge of - Justice and Treaty Negotiations.
He had expected Justice, but Treaty Negotiations had come as a surprise, albeit a welcome one.
It was Ngapuhi who foiled Chris Finlayson's dream of completing all major settlements before his time as minister ended.
Little started the job yesterday meeting the two rival groups for the mandate - Te Kotahitanga and Tuhoronuku. He continues today at a hui in Northland for Ngapuhi whanau.
Little's union negotiating skills will be put to the test getting Ngapuhi back to the negotiating table.
As for his fateful decision on August 1, Little says he did get an influx of messages of support afterwards which helped somewhat.
"Since I've stood down, I can literally say there would not have been a day gone by when I hadn't received a letter, card, email, Facebook message, someone stopping me in the street or ringing me up with what I would describe as a supportive message.
"It's wonderful. And I'm very happy."
The bells for Question Time begin to toll, and happy Little - who is yet to face a primary question from the Opposition whose fate his own sacrifice secured - prepares to leave.
