Kiri Allan’s courage ‘THIS JOURNEY HAS BEEN A GIFT’
Things are getting loud at Kiritapu Allan’s place in Gisborne. The kids are singing so enthusiastically, the Labour MP has to move outside and sit in the sunshine, where she can make herself heard. We get the feeling this isn’t the first time she’s been ousted from her own living room.
Family life is both beautiful and messy for Kiri and her partner of three years, Mani Dunlop. Both juggle parenthood with full-on careers – Mani as a presenter on RNZ National, and Kiri as our Minister for Conservation and Emergency Management.
They live between the East Coast and Wellington with their blended family that also includes daughters Pikiarero Hazel, four, and Hiwaiterangi Allan-Coates, four and a half.
“There’s no typical day for us,” admits Kiri, who is divorced from her former partner, lawyer Natalie Coates. “We manage to raise our children with a big colourful tribe of people who are a huge part of our lives.
