New Zealand's first Tongan-born and Tongan-speaking Cabinet minister says she's not proud New Zealand is now number one for homelessness in the OECD.
But Jenny Salesa told 1 NEWS soon after being sworn in today she is glad that Labour has a plan to address the issue.
The Minister for Building and Construction, and Ethnic Communities, brings to Cabinet the same experience as more than 41,000 Kiwis living through homelessness.
Ms Salesa says her family was homeless for three years after moving to South Auckland from Tonga, driving her motivation to improve housing conditions and supply.
She says her family moved from house to house many times, living with other families, before being able to afford a one bedroom property.
"I could honestly say that when I serve people that come to my office in Otara, and they come to me and they are homeless themselves, working families, it really brings home to me memory of myself being in their shoes," an emotional Ms Salesa said.
"I've walked in their boots."
Ms Salesa said she is excited to be in Government, and to know it's a Government that cares, has a plan, is committed to building affordable homes "and to making sure that we stop selling our state houses and to making sure that we have a solution for homelessness".
She said: "You know, I am not proud of the fact that Aotearoa New Zealand is number one for homelessness now in the OECD. And I'm so glad that Labour has a plan to address that."
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