Last night, among his colleagues and whānau, Shanan Halbert delivered his maiden speech to Parliament.
After two unsuccessful attempts at winning the Northcote seat, he won it in October. Sadly for Halbert though was getting the news the morning of the election that his father, Winston, had died. He had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in October last year.
In his maiden speech, Halbert acknowledged his dad and in Te Reo Māori said that his work in Parliament would be his way of acknowledging him.
"Ko te tohu Māori e kī ana, nāu ngā tatau o te ao Pāremata i huaki, anei ahau tō tamaiti te tomo atu nei. Waiho ko taku kawe i ō akoranga, me taku mahi i ngā mahi hei mihi māku ki a koe, moe mai e pā, moe mai, moe mai, moe mai rā."
"Dad's with me ā wairua today since he died and it's being a blessing that, with a sad occasion, it's bittersweet that we get something to celebrate, to be happy about. The fact he passed on election day is a milestone. We have had a bit of laugh actually that, when he died, he must have seen the numbers before we did," he said.
Whakapapa
Standing on the shoulders of his ancestors, he acknowledged his tupuna, a former member of Parliament. His whānau, and other descendants of this ancestor, were present at Parliament to honour that history.
"I especially mention one of my tupuna, Hiraka Te Rango, a gifted leader who was a part of the Kotahitanga movement to establish the first Maori Parliament in the 1890s. My iwi is proud that 115 years later, that we are also represented here."
Work Ahead
He has his sights on his new role with the Labour Party as the chair of the land and transport caucus committee. Auckland's troubled public transport is an issue Halbert's ready to tackle head-on.
"Probably a big priority for me as the new member for Northcote is transport and infrastructure. We know the congestion challenges that people in Tamaki Makaurau face and in my neighbourhood that's incredibly difficult. I've got to champion better transport options"