Carmel Sepuloni

On the grounds of Ancient Tonga, Sepuloni’s newfound family gathered to put on a traditional welcome, or hā’unga.

“The Tongan side, I think, knows that my Grandfather married a Samoan woman and raised his family in Samoa,” Sepuloni told those gathered.

“We grew up knowing very little of our Tongan side, except that we were Tongan and Samoan.”

Tagata Pasifika reports Sepuloni discovered that her Father’s Tongan roots began on the island of Niuatoputapu, through which she also shares a family connection with Mate Ma’a Tonga captain Sika Manu.

Sepuloni first entered Parliament after the 2008 general election as a List member, becoming New Zealand's first MP of Tongan descent.

She is the MP for Kelston and has been New Zealand's Minister for Social Development since 2017.

She is also Minister for ACC and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage.

She was also previously the Minister for Disability Issues, but last year passed that portfolio to colleague Poto Williams.

Born and raised in Waitara, Taranaki, Sepuloni moved to Auckland in 1996.

He said Pacific people should be confident that his associate minister, Carmel Sepuloni, will provide a strong Pacific voice in the government's executive.

Ms Sepuloni is the minister of social development and Aupito says the minister of building and construction, Jenny Salesa, will also offer a Pacific perspective.

He says whether inside cabinet or not, the minister of Pacific peoples needs to be able to forge strong working relationships with other ministries.

Sepuloni also picked up Minister for Disability Issues, Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage and Associate Minister for Pacific Peoples.

Of Tongan-Samoan descent, Sepuloni says she's humbled to have been selected as a Cabinet Minister and they're ready to lead the country.

"For those of us that have run for the last three or four elections, we really do know what's involved and we've had lots of time to think about what policy we think can address the challenges that we face as a country," she says. 

The two MPs are Jenny Salesa and Carmel Sepuloni.

The 16 Labour MPs who will make up the majority of the cabinet ministers of the new government are in alphabetical order:

Jacinda Ardern
David Clark
Clare Curran
Kelvin Davis
Chris Hipkins
Iain Lees-Galloway
Andrew Little
Nanaia Mahuta
Stuart Nash
Damien O'Connor
David Parker
Grant Robertson
Jenny Salesa
Carmel Sepuloni
Phil Twyford
Megan Woods

Labour has also announced a further five ministers who will sit outside Cabinet: