1. Kristopher John Faafoi was born on 23 June 1976 and is a former New Zealand television journalist and Labour Party politician.
25 Facts About Kris Faafoi
1. 2.
Kris Faafoi was the Member of Parliament for the Mana electorate from 2010 until 2020, when he became a list MP.
3.
Kris Faafoi's father was sent to New Zealand to study at secondary school, and later became a primary-school teacher.
4.
Kris Faafoi's mother came to New Zealand as part of a repatriation scheme, and later worked in a factory.
5.
Kris Faafoi has stated that he did not have a typical Tokelau upbringing and does not speak fluent Tokelauan.
6.
Kris Faafoi trained as a journalist and is a graduate of the New Zealand Broadcasting School at CPIT.
7.
Kris Faafoi worked for TVNZ and the BBC as a reporter and as a political commentator.
8.
Kris Faafoi joined Labour Party leader Phil Goff's office after the 2008 general election, serving as chief press secretary.
9.
Kris Faafoi was chair of the party's Rongotai Pacific branch.
10.
Four people contested the selection, with Kris Faafoi defeating business manager Michael Evans, barrister Peter Foster and communications adviser Josie Pagani.
11.
Kris Faafoi won the by-election with 10,980 votes, becoming the first MP of Tokelauan descent.
12.
Kris Faafoi was elected as a Minister of Civil Defence, Commerce and Consumer Affairs and Associate Minister of Immigration, outside Cabinet by the Labour Party caucus following Labour's formation of a coalition government with New Zealand First and the Greens.
13.
On 30 August 2017, Kris Faafoi announced that the Government was investing NZ$5.2 million into supporting "rapid response teams" to support communities in emergencies.
14.
When Minister of Customs Meka Whaitiri "stood aside" in August 2018 over a "staffing matter" pending an investigation that same day, Kris Faafoi assumed the Customs portfolio.
15.
On 7 September 2018 Kris Faafoi was appointed Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media upon the resignation of Clare Curran.
16.
On 27 June 2019, Kris Faafoi was appointed Minister of Government Digital Services, complementing his role as Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media.
17.
Kris Faafoi assumed the position of Associate Minister for Public Housing.
18.
Kris Faafoi relinquished his position as Minister of Civil Defence and Minister of Customs, which were assumed by Peeni Henare and Jenny Salesa respectively.
19.
On 6 December 2019, Kris Faafoi apologised to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for promising to speed up an immigration visa application for Opshop singer Jason Kerrison's father.
20.
In early November 2020, Kris Faafoi was appointed as Minister of Justice, while retaining his "Broadcasting and Media" and Immigration portfolios.
21.
In July 2021, Justice Minister Kris Faafoi introduced the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill, which seeks to ban conversion therapy.
22.
On 13 June 2022, it was announced that Kris Faafoi would resign his seat in Parliament soon in order to spend more time with his family, particularly his school-aged youngest son.
23.
Kris Faafoi had wanted to resign during the 2020 general election but Ardern had convinced him to stay for another year.
24.
Kris Faafoi's resignation triggered a cabinet reshuffle within the Sixth Labour Government, in which Faafoi's immigration, justice and broadcasting portfolios were assumed by Michael Wood, Kiri Allan, and Willie Jackson, respectively.
25.
Kris Faafoi's elder brother Jason is a TV presenter and musician.