Parliament's question time is replaced by tributes to the late Green MP, Efeso Collins. Video / Parliament TV
The empty chair of Green MP Efeso Collins was draped in a siapo or tapa cloth, and his desk garlanded with a Tokelauan lei when Parliament met this afternoon to mourn the MP after he died while participating in a charity event in Auckland this morning.
Parliament had been scheduled to meet for a regular sitting day, including Question Time, but following Collins’ death MPs from all parties agreed to adjourn until Tuesday.
Green Party co-leader James Shaw, fighting back tears, led the tributes, saying he would be missed by the country, and the Green caucus.
“Aotearoa needed him, we needed him. Efeso Collins was a good man.
“He conducted himself quietly and gracefully ... and full of empathy.”
Shaw said Collins’ maiden speech, made last week, would also serve as his valedictory.
Collins dies at charity run: ‘There was a scream’
Collins, 49, died at the ChildFund Water Run outside Britomart in central Auckland.
Emergency responders gave him CPR and defibrillation, treating him for more than an hour before an event organiser confirmed to the Herald he had died.
A St John spokesperson said response teams were on the scene with one ambulance and one rapid response vehicle.
A representative for the event said Collins was “happy and jovial” in the moment before he collapsed.
“Everyone was just in shock, it happened so quickly,” the man said.
People working at the event “jumped into action quickly” and started performing CPR on him immediately before the defibrillator was brought out.
One ambulance and four staff have been performing CPR on him “for at least 15 minutes” he said.
“Everyone’s just waiting here, you know, praying for the best outcome for him at the moment,” the representative said while paramedics were working on Collins.
“We are obviously very upset and shocked.”
An eyewitness said the incident happened a few minutes after the race winner was announced.
“They’d just announced the winner and everyone was standing around - then there was a scream. I turned around and he’s collapsed to the ground.”
‘He had a promising political career’ - Luxon
Speaking on behalf of the three governing parties, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he was shocked and saddened by Collins’ death.
He said they had bumped into each other at Parliament recently and discussed the challenge of balancing family life with one’s obligations as a parliamentarian.
“He was what I would call a true servant leader,” Luxon said.
“I think he had a promising political career ... I have no doubt he would have been very good for this place.”
The empty seat of Green Party MP Efeso Collins in the debating chamber at Parliament. MP Celia Wade-Brown can be seen crying at the right of the frame. Collins died during a charity event in Auckland this morning. Photo / Thomas Coughlan
Gesturing across the House, Luxon extended his thoughts to the Greens and Labour, noting Collins had been a member of the Labour Party before he became a Green.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins recalled meeting Collins as a student politician.
Collins was a rugby fan and enjoyed the odd milkshake, Hipkins said, to a chuckle from across the House. Hipkins only spoke briefly, yielding the rest of his time to his deputy Carmel Sepuloni, who knew Collins better.
Green MP Huhana Lyndon cries during a tribute to Efeso Collins at Parliament in Wellington on Wednesday 21 Feb 2024. Green MP Efeso Collins collapsed and died while taking part in the ChildFund Water Run in Auckland. Credit: Hagen Hopkins.
Green MPs Chloe Swarbrick and Julie Anne Genter look on during to a tribute to Efeso Collins at Parliament in Wellington on Wednesday 21 Feb 2024. Green MP Efeso Collins collapsed and died while taking part in the ChildFund Water Run in Auckland. Credit: Hagen Hopkins.
“He was and continued to be a force to be reckoned with,” Sepuloni said.
“Losing Efeso is a loss to our country and to our Pasifika community,” she said
“You lead through service, you were a leader and your legacy of service and leadership will be remembered,” she said.
Sepuloni said Collins, who started as a Labour member and moved to the Greens, had begun life in Labour’s fale, and moved next door.
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer paid tribute to Collins’ family.
“We can only imagine the gap he leaves,” she said.
Referencing Collins’ history of party hopping, Ngarewa-Packer joked that she sometimes wondered whether he might join her party one day, such was his love and warmth for all.
Parliament had been meant to sit today and for the rest of the week. However, Leader of the House Chris Bishop motioned that it should rise for the rest of the week and resume on the next scheduled sitting day, Tuesday.
It is rare to have such a long unscheduled adjournment, but it has been decades since a sitting MP died on a sitting day.
