I was born in Apia, Samoa, and moved to New Zealand with my family when I was a child. I grew up in South Auckland and went to school at Auckland Grammar. While studying at the University of Auckland for my Bachelor and Masters in Commerce (Hon) and Bachelor of Laws, I worked as an intern at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and for the Ministry of Land, Surveys and Environment in Apia.

After graduating I joined Russell McVeagh as a solicitor, working in the area of corporate and commercial law. I later moved to England, where I worked for Bankers Trust as a financial analyst. I went on to earn my MBA from the University of Cambridge (Queens College) before moving to Sydney where I became an executive consultant with Macquarie Bank.

In 2007 I was elected to the Tamaki-Maungakiekie seat on the Auckland City Council and was appointed Chairman of the City Development Committee.
In 2008 I was elected as the MP for Maungakiekie with a margin of 1,942 votes. I’m currently the Deputy-Chairman of the Commerce Select Committee and a member of the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee.

I was honoured to be given the high chief title of Peseta. I’m a board member for the First Foundation, the Great Potentials Foundation and am the patron of the Maungarei Cadets. I'm also a mentor for the I Have a Dream Trust and am an active member of the Rotary Club of Penrose and the Royal Oak Baptist Church.

In my spare time I enjoy playing rugby – many years ago I played rugby for the New Zealand Barbarians – and I coached the Auckland Under-14 rugby team. I also like playing golf when I get the chance.

My family and I live in Onehunga, a place we’re proud to call home.

Top 5 Issues

1. Building a stronger economy
   • Balance the books sooner.
   • Borrow less so we can have lower interest rates for longer.
   • Keep personal taxes lower to encourage hard work.
   • Make New Zealand more competitive so our exporters can sell more overseas and create more real jobs.
   • Encourage savings and investments.
   • Use the mixed-Ownership model to fund infrastructure to help us grow faster.
   • Invest in skills training and tertiary education that gets results.
2. Building world-class infrastructure
   • Ultra-fast broadband for greater innovation.
   • More, and better, roads to ease congestion.
   • Investing in more rail and public transport.
3. Building a safer New Zealand
   • Staying strong on crime – tougher sentencing, stronger bail laws, and a focus on victims.
   • Keep working to lower the crime rate further so our families are safer.
   • Making our roads safer, so we can keep the road toll lower.
4. Rebuilding Christchurch
   • $5.5 billion recovery fund
   • Re-establishing essential infrastructure
   • More construction-related training
5. Building better public services
   • Better Schools – identifying and helping children falling behind, school reports in plain English.
   • World-class healthcare –more doctors and nurses, more operations, shorter waiting times.
   • Effective welfare- more people back into work, more incentives to work, payment cards for teens on benefits.

Personal Profile