Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Andrew Little - who first entered Parliament in 2011 - has confirmed he will not take a list seat and will retire from politics - but not without taking a parting shot at the "sheer and utter ignorance" of the incoming government's views on the Treaty of Waitangi.
Shanan Halbert is next on the list, and would be able to remain.
"I'm grateful for the opportunities my country and party have given me to serve the community," Little said.
Little first entered Parliament in 2011, and led the party in the lead-up to the 2017 election but stood down to make way for Jacinda Ardern's leadership in the face of poor personal polling.
The move was typical of Little's humble nature, something that was emphasised on Tuesday when he arrived to speak to reporters after confirming he would leave politics.
"You look like you have someone important to hear from so I'll keep this brief," he began.
"I think I said to the caucus just now, you need ego in politics but you also need humanity, you need self-awareness and you need to know that when it's not working then you've got to let others who you have confidence can do the job to step up."
He said with Labour going into opposition, it was important to give the next Labour government every opportunity "to hone their skills and cement a strong team".
"I think it's important for the party to straightaway start to build the talent that it needs for the seventh Labour government. Labour has had two incredible intakes in 2017 and 2020 - there's a huge depth of talent, some of whom won't be part of the 54th parliament but may well be interested in coming back after that.
"By me stepping aside it'll make room for at least one more, but I think also expresses my view that the party now needs to think not just about what opposition looks like but what the next government looks like and identify the faces for that - and I am not the face of the seventh Labour government."
"Politics is a team sport, so the team must be strong... they are the face of the future and we've got to let them come forward and to flourish.
"I can get very clinical about my personal decisions, it's just the approach I take, sometimes it catches up with you afterwards but I think very carefully about the party, the interests of the party."
He said despite the election result, the party was "in very good heart, and in very good spirits... the party is very strong".
"I think Labour Party governments do an extraordinary amount for New Zealand, I think the Labour party is the nation-building party of our political system."
"The Labour movement is bigger than any caucus or parliamentary term, and bigger than any individual," he said.
"Labour stands for the fundamental values of millions of New Zealanders: a fair day's pay for a fair day's work, opportunities for the many not just the few, and respect for all people and communities."
Mutual respect
Labour leader Chris Hipkins paid tribute to the work Little had done.
"Andrew Little, I think, has shown on multiple occasions an enormous amount of humility, an enormous amount of team spirit and commitment to the wider cause.
"He has been an outstanding minister for six years, he led the Labour party through a really difficult period after the 2014 election, I want to pay absolute tribute to the enormous contribution that he has made as a member of our team."
Speaking to Checkpoint on Tuesday afternoon, Little said he would like Hipkins to remain as leader.
"Yes, I think he should. I think the caucus needs it and the party needs it. We've still got to go through our own kind of review and reflection on the campaign, but I think he should stay there."
Little has held high-profile portfolios including Health, Justice, Immigration, Defence, Courts, Workplace Relations, Treaty Negotiations, Public Service, and as the minister for the spy agencies.
He has also held more specialised roles as Minister for Pike River Re-entry, and the Government's Response to the Royal Commission's Report into the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques.
"I know it's a cliché, but being a minister is just an extraordinary privilege. I've had a lot of portfolios, I've enjoyed every single one of them," he said.
"There's a lot I'm proud of ... Pike River project was one of them, getting the criminal cases review commission in place, seeing through the health reforms at a difficult time: we now have a consolidated entity that can really manage the huge resources that the health system has but think of it as a national system as opposed to 20 different systems.
"I've enjoyed my time in defence and getting the pay rise ... Immigration has been challenging but I think we've given enough signals to Immigration New Zealand about our expectations."
The Pike River Reference Group members thanked Little for his work and support, with Anna Osbourne saying his dedication to the families and their pursuit of truth.
"The way we were able to work with Andrew helped us figure out what we needed in the public service standard for working with survivors. He worked with us as equals and with respect, he was always up front even when the news was bad, and he made sure that everyone worked together."
Little said one thing he did regret was not quite finishing the national security reform.
"It was a recommendation out of the royal commission of inquiry into the mosque attacks ... I was a co-ordinating minister so there was a limit to what I could do. The two prime ministers as the ministers of national security, they had a whole heap of other challenges and we just didn't get the progress that we wanted."
"I think it's all set up, ready to go, if the new government wants to pick it up. National security institutions do need strengthening ... that's an area that I'd like to see some progress on.
'Sheer and utter ignorance'
On Checkpoint, Little took aim at the likely coalition partners, National, NZ First and ACT, on their policies regarding race relations. ACT wants a referendum on the Treaty of Waitangi, and while National ruled it out during the campaign, appears now the election is over to be open to the idea.
"I saw what happened during the campaign and the sort of statements that were made and the pledges that had been made by not, you know, not, not just the ACT party but New Zealand First and the National Party too," Little said.
"My biggest worry is that a lot of those statements were made in sheer and utter ignorance of the kind of recent history of the Treaty in his place, particularly the jurisprudence, the legal jurisprudence, the legal recognition of the Treaty, what it stands for, and frankly by people who know better.
"I mean, [NZ First MP] Shane Jones knows better. I suspect [NZ First leader Winston] Peters probably does. [ACT leader] David Seymour, I couldn't vouch for because I don't think he cares much in spite of the party saying they care about the rule of law - I don't think they actually do.
"The National Party knows better as well. The problem is I don't see in the National Party a Sir Doug Graham or Chris Finlayson, who can pick up that area and be responsible and forging ahead as indeed Doug Graham and Christopher Finlayson both did."
Future plans
Little was previously a labour lawyer and said he intended to return to practising.
"The funny thing you find is as a minister you never leave the law behind, I've had some interesting experiences using my legal knowledge as a minister, but anyway I also know a fair amount about public law now.
"The thing that I'm most looking forward to is - being a minister is pretty much seven day a week - is getting my Sundays back to do my things."
They included mountain biking and pulling out the golf clubs for the first time in four years.