Kiri Allan

Kiritapu Lyndsay Allan (born 1984),[3] known as Kiri Allan, is a former New Zealand politician and member of Parliament (MP) in the New Zealand House of Representatives. Allan was a member of the Labour Party, entering the House as a list MP in 2017, and going on to win the East Coast electorate in 2020.

The Honourable
Kiri Allan
Allan in 2019
51st Minister of Justice
In office
14 June 2022 – 24 July 2023
Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern
Chris Hipkins
Preceded byKris Faafoi
Succeeded byGinny Andersen
Minister for Regional Development
In office
1 February 2023 – 24 July 2023
Prime MinisterChris Hipkins
Preceded byStuart Nash (as Minister for Economic and Regional Development)
Succeeded byKieran McAnulty
14th Minister of Conservation
In office
6 November 2020 – 14 June 2022
Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern
Preceded byEugenie Sage
Succeeded byPoto Williams
27th Minister for Emergency Management
In office
6 November 2020 – 14 June 2022
Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern
Preceded byPeeni Henare
Succeeded byKieran McAnulty
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for East Coast
In office
17 October 2020 – 14 October 2023
Preceded byAnne Tolley
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Labour party list
In office
23 September 2017 – 17 October 2020
Personal details
Born
Kiritapu Lyndsay Allan

1984 (age 38–39)
Te Karaka, New Zealand
Political partyLabour
Spouse
Natalie Coates
​
​
(m. 2016; div. 2022)​
[1][2]
Children1[1]
ProfessionLawyer

Allan served in multiple ministerial portfolios after 2020, including serving as Minister of Justice from June 2022 to July 2023. In June 2023, concerns about how Allan treated her staff were raised, leading to her receiving coaching to promote a positive work environment.[4] She then took time off from her parliamentary duties after the breakup of her relationship with RNZ journalist, Mani Dunlop, and on 24 July 2023, resigned from her Ministerial roles after she was arrested for careless driving the previous day.[5][6]

Early life

Allan was born in Te Karaka,[7] of Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāti Tūwharetoa descent. She is the ninth of ten children.[8] As a baby, she was whāngai – given to an aunt and uncle, Gail and David Allan,[9] who lived in Paengaroa.[10] Her parents attended a Pentecostal Christian church, which contributed to her perspective on helping others.[8]

She spent a couple of years at Auckland Girls’ Grammar in Kahurangi, the reo-Māori unit.[8] She left high school at 16 and started work at a KFC franchise in West Auckland. She also joined the Service & Food Workers Union at that time. At 17, she hitch hiked south and took her next job as a cherry picker in Blenheim.[10]

At age 19, she enrolled at Victoria University of Wellington where she studied law and politics, and joined the Labour Party.[11][12] During her university studies she worked as an intern with Prime Minister Helen Clark.[13]

Career before politics

After finishing her law degree, she was a judge's clerk for a period before taking a role at law firm ChenPalmer, where she worked for two years.[8][12] Later she joined Kahui Legal, a specialist law firm focussed on issues related to Māori development[8] in Whakatāne before standing as Labour candidate for the East Coast in 2017.[7]

Political career
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2017–2020 52nd List 21 Labour
2020–2023 53rd East Coast 25 Labour

First term, 2017–2020

Allan stood for Labour in the East Coast electorate in the 2017 election and was placed 21 on Labour's party list.[14] She came second to Anne Tolley in the election, but entered Parliament via the party list.[15]

In 2018, she launched the down to earth political podcast Authorised By with Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick. She got on well with Swarbrick and they both felt the average Kiwi on the street was detached from politics.[16]

During the 52nd New Zealand Parliament she was Labour's junior whip, and therefore the junior government whip. She was also a member of various Select Committees, including the Epidemic Response Committee during the COVID-19 pandemic.[17] By the end of 2018, Allan was labelled a strong performer among backbenchers in Parliament.[18] She is also the chair of Labour's rural caucus.[19]

Ahead of the 2020 New Zealand general election, Allan was ranked at 25 on Labour's party list and was selected by the party to contest the East Coast electorate again. Anne Tolley, who had defeated Allan for the seat in 2017 had decided to contest the 2020 election as a List only candidate, and then had later decided to retire outright, leaving the seat open.[20]

Second term, 2020–present
Electoral portrait, 2020

Allan was elected as MP for East Coast in the 2020 election, which saw a landslide victory for the Labour party.[21] She defeated National's candidate Tania Tapsell by 6,331 votes.[22]

On 2 November 2020, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced she would enter Cabinet during her second term in parliament, becoming Minister for Conservation and Minister for Emergency Management. In addition, she also assumed the associate ministerial portfolios for Arts, Culture and Heritage and Environment.[23]

In a June 2022 reshuffle, Allan was promoted from Conservation to instead be Minister of Justice.[24] Following Jacinda Ardern's resignation as Prime Minister in 2023, Allan was speculated to be a Labour leadership candidate, but declined to run.[25][26][27]

2023 Radio New Zealand speech

Allan made a controversial speech at Radio New Zealand's (RNZ) Wellington office on 31 March 2023 as part of the farewell event for departing employee Māni Dunlop, who was her fiancé at the time. Dunlop had been a front runner to take over Susie Ferguson's role on Morning Report,[28] but resigned when the role was offered to Ingrid Hipkiss.[29] Commentators have suggested the reason Dunlop wasn't offered the role was because she was engaged to Allan, a senior Cabinet Minister, which would make it difficult for her to cover crime and justice related stories.[30][31]

However, at the farewell event, Allan chose to comment on RNZ's alleged inability to retain Māori employees and suggested the senior leadership team needed to look into it. Allan later acknowledged that her comments might have been interpreted as giving RNZ instruction on how to manage its staff or organisation, which Ministers are not allowed to do. She later apologised and stated that was not her intent.[32][33] Three months later, it was reported that Allan and Dunlop were no longer in a relationship.[34]

2023 bullying allegations

In June 2023, concerns were raised by the heads of two government agencies, the Department of Conservation (DOC) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) about how Allan treats her staff in her Cabinet office. This followed information that someone on secondment from DOC working in her office left early "due to the working relationships in the office".[35] Allan responded to the allegations saying that no one had laid a formal complaint about her behaviour.[36] Prime Minister Chris Hipkins reminded ministers about the need to treat their staff with respect and stated that he would discuss her workplace issues with her after he had returned from his trip to Europe.[37]

On 14 July, Hipkins confirmed that Allan would return from leave on 17 July to resume her ministerial duties, and that she would also receive extra coaching to help her promote a "positive work environment." Allan also issued an apology for her past behaviour and offered to speak to anyone who wanted to talk to her individually. She also resolved to promote a positive workplace environment.[4]

Criminal charges and resignation of portfolios

On 23 July 2023, Allan was arrested for careless use of a motor vehicle and refusing to accompany a police officer, after crashing her ministerial car into a parked car. Following the incident, Allan was located approximately 500 m away from the crash site.[38] She was also issued an infringement notice for having excess breath alcohol. Allan acknowledged she was still struggling with mental health issues, and resigned her ministerial portfolios the following morning.[5][6][39] In a statement, she acknowledged that she was unable to juggle her personal difficulties "with the pressure of being a Minister".[4] Allan's porfolios were subsequently allocated to other ministers, with Ginny Andersen assuming her justice portfolio.[40] On 25 July, Allan announced that she would not contest the 2023 New Zealand general election but would remain MP for East Coast until October 2023. She also apologised to Hipkins, her cabinet colleagues, and constituents.[41]

On 11 September 2023, Allan was granted the use of the honorific prefix The Honourable for life, in recognition of her term as a member of the Executive Council.[42]

Responses from politicians

Hipkins described the incident as an "absolute tragedy", stating that "had I been able to foresee this, of course there would have been more things that we might have been able to do." National Party leader Christopher Luxon expressed support for Allan but criticised the Prime Minister for allegedly failing to set expectations for his Cabinet ministers. Similar sentiments were echoed by ACT Party leader David Seymour, who criticised the Labour Government's recent turnover of cabinet ministers.[40] By contrast, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer claimed that Allan was the latest in a series of Māori women MPs who had not been looked after in Parliament.[43] National MPs Sam Uffindell and Todd Muller expressed sympathy and support for Allan.[44]

Personal life

Allan married Natalie Coates in 2016 after same-sex marriage was legalised in New Zealand.[10] They had a baby just before the 2017 election,[45] of whom fellow Labour MP Tāmati Coffey is the biological father,[46] and Allan brought the baby to Parliament.[47][48] They divorced in May 2022.[2] Allan had a previous relationship with another Labour Party MP, Meka Whaitiri.[49]

In April 2021, Allan announced she would be taking medical leave from parliament after being diagnosed with stage 3 cervical cancer.[50][51] In December 2021 she announced that after treatment she was cancer-free and encouraged others to have regular testing for different forms of cancer.[52]

In 2022, Allan became engaged to RNZ National presenter Māni Dunlop,[53][54] but they broke up in 2023.[55] In June 2023, Allan took leave from Parliament following the breakup. On 3 July, Allan went on leave again. This decision followed concerns raised by public servants about her management style and her relationships with staff in her office.[37]

On 23 July 2023, Allan was involved in a car crash in Wellington, and was charged with careless driving and refusing to accompany a police officer. She also received an infringement offence for excess breath alcohol.[56] The following day, Allan resigned from all ministerial portfolios.[57] Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, noted that Allan's behaviour was related to the break-down of her relationship with former RNZ journalist, Māni Dunlop.[58] On 4 September, Allan revealed that she had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.[59]

References
  1. Malone, Audrey (20 January 2018). "Ardern's baby already has friends in high places". Stuff.
  2. @KiriAllan (2 May 2022). "As of today, I'm officially a divorcee. I don't know how I feel about that! But, very lucky baby's mum and I are best mates (forever). But wow. Divorced. What a vibe. Grateful to everyone in our little tribe for putting our babies first and foremost always :)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. "Roll of members of the New Zealand House of Representatives, 1854 onwards" (PDF). New Zealand Parliament. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  4. "East Coast MP Kiri Allan to resume duties after speaking with PM on staff allegations". Radio New Zealand. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  5. Ellis, Stan (23 July 2023). "Live: Justice Minister Kiri Allan charged after car crash, resigns as minister". Stuff. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  6. McCulloch, Craig (24 July 2023). "Kiri Allan charged with reckless driving and resisting arrest, resigns as Justice Minister, PM says". Radio New Zealand.
  7. "Candidate Allan ranks 20 on Labour list". Gisborne Herald. 2 May 2017. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  8. Husband, Dale (20 September 2020). "Kiri Allan: Always raising eyebrows". E-Tangata. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  9. Malone, Audrey (17 January 2017). "Labour East Coast candidate Kiritapu Allan says National stalwart's time is up". Stuff. Archived from the original on 3 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  10. Allan, Kiri (16 November 2017). "'Nana, I stand here to honour your name': Kiri Allan's maiden speech". The Spinoff. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
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  12. Sachdeva, Sam (22 September 2017). "Fighting for a future on the East Coast". Newsroom. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  13. Malone, Audrey (27 January 2017). "Labour East Coast candidate Kiritapu Allan says National stalwart's time is up". Stuff. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
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  20. Chumko, Andre (27 June 2020). "Anne Tolley to retire from Parliament this year". Stuff. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
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  25. "Contenders coy as Labour leadership race begins". Otago Daily Times Online News. 20 January 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
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  27. "Who's in and who's out? The race to be the next PM". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 19 January 2023. She declined to say if she would put her name forward to be leader, saying that was a Caucus process.
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  44. Desmarais, Felix (25 July 2023). "Uffindell on Allan arrest: Politics a 'blood sport', sends support". 1 News. TVNZ. Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
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  47. "Parliament's new parents Willow-Jean Prime and Kiri Allan pass on congratulations to PM and partner". The New Zealand Herald. 18 January 2018. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
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  50. "Labour minister Kiri Allan diagnosed with stage 3 cervical cancer". Newshub. Archived from the original on 6 April 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  51. Russell, Emma (6 April 2021). "Labour MP Kiri Allan praised by Cancer Society – specialists say NZ urgently needs to change screening method". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 6 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
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