Shanan Kiritea Halbert (born 1982) is a New Zealand politician. As of 2020 he is a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

for the Labour Party.

Early life and career

Halbert has affiliation to

Rongowhakaata Rongowhakaata is a Māori ''iwi'' of the Gisborne region of New Zealand. Hapū and marae There are three primary ''hapū'' (subtribes) of Rongowhakaata today: Ngati Kaipoho, Ngai Tawhiri and Ngati Maru. Ngāti Kaipoho Ngāti Kaipoho descend fr ...

and

Ngāti Whitikaupeka Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

through his father, while his mother is

pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non- Māori New ...

. He grew up in Napier, and moved to Auckland after graduating from high school. He has a BA in education and Māori from the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn ...

and a certificate in Contemporary Performing Arts from

AUT AUT may refer to the following. Locations *Austria (ISO 3166-1 country code) * Agongointo-Zoungoudo Underground Town, Benin *Aktio–Preveza Undersea Tunnel, Greece *Airstrip on Atauro Island, East Timor (IATA airport code) Organizations * Arr ...

. He started, but did not complete, an MBA. Halbert has worked at Glenfield College, where he set up the Health Sciences Academy, and at Catholic college

Hato Petera Hato Petera College (formerly called St Peter's Māori College) was an integrated, co-educational college in Northcote Central, Auckland, New Zealand for students from Year 9 to Year 13. It existed for 90 years, opening on 3 June 1928 and closi ...

. He was the Head of Relationships at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.

Political career

Halbert stood as a list-only candidate for Labour in the 2014 general election. His party list ranking of 48 was too low to win a seat. In the 2017 general election, he sought the Labour Party selection for the seat, losing to Helen White. He instead contested the electorate; he neither won the electorate nor won a list seat on his party list ranking of 51. In 2018, after the resignation of Jonathan Coleman, Halbert again contested the Northcote by-election as Labour's candidate, having been chosen for the candidacy over Paul McGreal and

Auckland Council Auckland Council ( mi, Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau) is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is a ...

lor Richard Hills. He was defeated by National's Dan Bidois. In the

2020 general election The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...

, Halbert was again ranked 51st on the Labour party list and contested the Northcote electorate. This time, Halbert won the seat from incumbent Dan Bidois by 2534 votes. Halbert has for years campaigned on improving public transport, as congestion in the Northcote electorate—located at the northern landing of the

Auckland Harbour Bridge The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane motorway bridge over the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It joins Saint Marys Bay, New Zealand, St Marys Bay on the Auckland city side with Northcote, Auckland, Northcote on the North S ...

—is a defining issue for many voters. For the 2020 campaign, he also campaigned in support of local businesses and advocated for improved access to mental health services. His father died of lung cancer on election day.

Personal life

Halbert is one of 13 MPs in the 2020 Parliament who identify as LGBTQI+.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halbert, Shanan 1982 births Living people New Zealand Labour Party MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Rongowhakaata people Unsuccessful candidates in the 2014 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election Candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election LGBT members of the Parliament of New Zealand Gay politicians Māori MPs People from Napier, New Zealand Auckland University of Technology alumni University of Auckland alumni Ngāti Whitikaupeka