Peseta Samuelu Masunu "Sam" Lotu-Iiga (born 2 November 1970) is a former member of the

New Zealand Parliament The New Zealand Parliament () is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the Monarchy of New Zealand, Sovereign and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by his Governor-General of New Zeal ...

for the Maungakiekie electorate, having been elected in the 2008 election. Lotu-Iiga was one of two

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

Pasifika MPs. Lotu-Iiga holds the Samoan high chiefly title of Peseta.

Early life

Lotu-Iiga was born in

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. The Apia Urban A ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

in 1970. In 1973, Lotu-Iiga and his family moved to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

as a child. He grew up in

Māngere Māngere () is a major suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand, located on mainly flat land on the northeastern shore of the Manukau Harbour, to the northwest of Manukau, Manukau City Centre and south of the Auckland CBD, Auckland city centre. ...

South Auckland South Auckland ( or ) is one of the major geographical regions of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. The area is south of the Auckland isthmus, and on the eastern shores of the Manukau Harbour. The area has been populated by Tāmaki M� ...

and attended Mangere Central Primary School. He then studied at

Auckland Grammar School Auckland Grammar School (often simplified to Auckland Grammar, or Grammar), established in 1869, is a State school, state, Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding secondary school for Single-sex education, boys in Auckland, New Zealand. ...

and the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

, where he earned an MCom (Hons) and a

BCom A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bach ...

LLB A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

. He also studied at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

where he earned an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

Professional career

While studying, Lotu-Iiga worked as an intern at the

New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT; ) is the executive department of the Government of New Zealand charged with conducting the nation’s external relations, trade negotiations and international development programme. From its hea ...

and in the Samoan Ministry of Land, Surveys and Environment. After graduating he joined Russell McVeagh McKenzie Bartleet in Auckland as a solicitor, working in the area of corporate and commercial law. Lotu-Iiga later migrated to Britain, where he worked for

Bankers Trust Bankers Trust was a historic American banking organization. The bank merged with Alex. Brown & Sons in 1997 before being acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1999. Deutsche Bank sold the Trust and Custody division of Bankers Trust to State Street Corp ...

as a financial analyst. While at Cambridge, Lotu-Iiga played rugby for the

New Zealand Barbarians The New Zealand Barbarian Rugby Club Inc., nicknamed the ''Barbarians'', or ''Baa-Baas'', is a rugby union club headquartered in Kingsland, New Zealand, Kingsland, Auckland. The idea came from the concept of the Barbarian F.C. The Barbarians pla ...

. Lotu-Iiga moved to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and worked as an executive consultant with

Macquarie Bank Macquarie Group Limited (), more commonly known as Macquarie Bank, is an Australian multinational investment banking and financial services group headquartered in Sydney and listed on the ASX (). Macquarie's investment banking division is Au ...

. Later, he returned to New Zealand to work as a management consultant and adviser.

Political career

Local-government politics

Lotu-Iiga stood on the

Citizens & Ratepayers Communities and Residents (C&R) is a right-leaning local body ticket in Auckland, New Zealand. It was formed in 1938 as Citizens & Ratepayers, with a view to controlling the Auckland City Council and preventing left-leaning Labour Party contr ...

' ticket for a seat on the

Auckland City Council Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1989 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elec ...

during the 2007 Auckland local body election in the Tamaki-Maungakiekie ward. Following his successful election, Lotu-Iiga was appointed Chairman of the City Development Committee on the Council under Mayor John Banks.

Election to Parliament: 2008–2011

In February 2008 Lotu-Iiga put his name forward for the National Party selection for the Maungakiekie electorate. That month, incumbent Labour Party MP Mark Gosche, who held a majority of over 6,000 votes, announced he would stand down from the seat in the forthcoming general election. In April Lotu-Iiga defeated two other National Party nominees for the selection on the first ballot. While the electoral boundaries for Maungakiekie had changed, removing

Ōtāhuhu Ōtāhuhu is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand – to the southeast of the CBD, on a narrow isthmus between an arm of the Manukau Harbour to the west and the Tāmaki River estuary to the east. The Auckland isthmus is the narrowest connect ...

, the new boundary included the new suburbs of

Royal Oak The Royal Oak was the English oak tree within which the future King Charles II of England hid to escape the Roundheads following the Battle of Worcester in 1651. The tree was in Boscobel Wood, which was part of the park of Boscobel House ...

Onehunga Onehunga is a suburb of Auckland in New Zealand and the location of the Port of Onehunga, the city's small port on the Manukau Harbour. It is south of the city centre, close to the volcanic cone of Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill. Onehunga is ...

and

Point England Point England is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is under the local governance of the Auckland, Auckland Council. Demographics Point England covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2 ...

, which were considered to heavily favour the Labour Party. Gosche's large majority meant that Maungakiekie was still considered a safe Labour seat. Lotu-Iiga ran a high-profile campaign, capitalising on his high name-recognition as a City Councillor, and heavily engaged in grass-roots campaigning, including door-knocking the electoral district. On election night, Lotu-Iiga beat Labour List MP

Carol Beaumont Carol Ann Beaumont (born 6 October 1960) is a New Zealand unionist and Labour Party politician. She twice served as a list member of Parliament from 2008 to 2011 and 2013 to 2014, and was elected Labour Party senior vice president in 2021. Ea ...

by a margin of 1,942 votes in what was one of the largest electoral swings in the country. Lotu-Iiga became one of three National Party candidates in the Auckland region to claim a seat from Labour, along with

Nikki Kaye Nicola Laura Kaye (11 February 1980 – 23 November 2024) was a New Zealand politician who served as Deputy Leader of the New Zealand National Party and Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 22 May 2020 to 14 July 2020. Kaye served as the me ...

in and Paula Bennett in Waitakere. In his first parliamentary term, Lotu-Iiga served as the Deputy-Chairperson of the Commerce Committee and as a member of the Finance and Expenditure Committee. Lotu-Iiga faced some criticism for not resigning from his role as an Auckland City Councillor when he was elected as an MP. He missed a significant number of meetings, attending 12 out of 22 scheduled meetings. Lotu-Iiga responded: "People don't want a politician who's only going to meetings. It's only one part of our job. It's about going out meeting with people from the community. I feel like I'm doing fine. I'm busy but I'm on top of everything..." Lotu-Iiga eventually resigned his council post in October 2009.

Second term in Parliament: 2011–2014

In November 2011, Lotu-Iiga was reelected the MP for Maungakiekie, beating Carol Beaumont a second time with an increased majority. Following the election, Lotu-Iiga was elected Chairperson of the Social Services Select Committee, where he has presided over the Government's welfare reform legislation. In April 2013 he was one of 27 National MPs to vote against the

Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013 The Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013 is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand, which since 19 August 2013, allows same-sex couples to legally marry. The Act was proposed as a member's bill by MP Louisa Wall in May 2012, an ...

, claiming to support traditional values. In January 2014, Lotu-Iiga was promoted into cabinet, becoming Minister of Pacific Island Affairs, and Associate Minister of Local Government.

Third term: 2014–2017

On 8 October 2014, Lotu-Iiga received his warrants as Minister for Pacific Peoples, Minister for Ethnic Communities and Minister of Corrections. On 7 December 2015, Prime Minister

John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as leader of the National Party from 2006 to 2016. Following his father's death when ...

announced that Lotu-Iiga would be handing the Corrections portfolio over to returning Cabinet Minister

Judith Collins Judith Anne Collins (born 24 February 1959) is a New Zealand politician who has served as the attorney-general and minister of defence since 27 November 2023. She served as the leader of the Opposition and leader of the New Zealand National P ...

, and would take over the Local Government portfolio from Paula Bennett. The changes were effective from 14 December 2015. On 13 December 2016, Lotu-Iiga announced that he was quitting politics, to take effect at the 2017 general election.

Post-political career

Following the 2017 election, Lotu-Iiga became Manukau Institute of Technology's deputy chief executive Pasifika on 25 September 2017.

Personal life and community involvement

Sam Lotu-Iiga lives with his wife Jules in

. They have one daughter and one son. Lotu-Iiga is an active leader of the Pasifika community and holds the Samoan high chief (alii) title of Peseta. Lotu-Iiga is a patron of the Maungarei Cadets, the Dolphin Theatre and the Onehunga Bowling Club. Lotu-Iiga is a Christian and a member of the Royal Oak Baptist Church. He is also a member of the

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...

of Penrose. Lotu-Iiga has coached the Auckland under-14 rugby team and once served as a board member of the Primary health organisations of New Zealand.

References

External links

Peseta Sam Loti-Iiga's Twitter accountSam Lotu Iiga Parliamentary PageNational Party biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lotu-Iiga, Sam 1970 births People educated at Auckland Grammar School Living people New Zealand National Party MPs Politicians from Auckland University of Auckland alumni Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Auckland City Councillors Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Samoan emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates Government ministers of New Zealand Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand 21st-century New Zealand politicians New Zealand Baptists People from Apia Academic staff of Manukau Institute of Technology