Politicians from across the House are paying tribute to Louisa Wall, who announced on Tuesday she is resigning from her position as a Labour MP after 14 years.
Green Party co-leader James Shaw said Wall would go down in history as "quite a remarkably effective member of Parliament".
"She never served as a Minister, obviously, but she has been an incredibly effective legislator," Shaw said.
He recalled calling his mums Cynthia and Susanne after Wall's law change for marriage equality passed in Parliament.
Shaw said it was thanks to the work of Wall and Green MP Kevin Hague that people like his mums could feel like they belonged.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Wall had an "extraordinary career".
"Louisa has been part of many historic moments in this place. Her career has meant that people's lives are better as a result.
"Not everyone who comes into this place can, hand on heart, say that."
Labour's deputy leader Kelvin Davis called her a "very powerful contributor to the Māori caucus" and added, "she'll be missed".
When 1News asked if the resignation of a strong caucus member was damaging for the party, Davis said there were plenty of strong wāhine Māori within Labour ready to fill Wall's shoes.
National's Chris Bishop said he was "very sad" to see Wall's resignation.
"Louisa achieved more as a MP than almost all Ministers from the party she is a member of," Bishop tweeted.
"I admire her spirit, her enthusiasm and her passion. I will miss her and I think the Parliament will too."
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi tweeted Wall was "a great loss to Labour".
"Ngā mihi nui ki a koe e te tuahine, thank you for your service."
During her time in Parliament, Wall was well-known for advancing the rights of and advocating for women, indigenous people and the Rainbow community.
She ushered in marriage equality for same-sex couples, closed a loophole for 'revenge porn' offenders, worked with female MPs across the House to ban female genital mutilation and introduced 'safe zones' around abortion clinics.
She currently has a bill going through the House that aimed to explicitly protect journalists' sources.
“As an MP my approach has been to identify problems and work to fix them with whoever I can. And that has often meant building wide Parliamentary support from all parties in Parliament," Wall said.
"When you look back at my successful Member's Bills one thing that stands out is the cross-section of support I often had to build to get them passed, often forming collaborative alliances."
Despite being one of the most successful MPs in getting her Member's Bills pulled from the ballot, her relationship with the Labour Party through the years has been tumultuous.
Wall was first elected in 2008 as a Labour List MP. She also held the seat of Manurewa from 2011 to 2020.
In her statement announcing her resignation, Wall said her resignation "has come about following events during the 2020 election". She said she wouldn't be providing any further comment than her statement.
"Leaving parliament is always tinged with some sadness but I do so still passionate about serving New Zealanders."
Wall was promoted under the leadership of David Shearer and David Cunliffe. She was then demoted under Andrew Little.
During the 2020 election, Wall gave up trying to defend her Manurewa electorate seat. Tensions around the selection of a candidate for the electorate nearly became a legal battle. In return for withdrawing her nomination, clearing the way for newcomer Arena Williams, Wall was granted the winnable number 27 spot in Labour's list that year.
After entering Parliament after that election as a list MP, despite having been an MP for 12 years, Wall was disappointed when she wasn't granted a ministerial position, Stuff reported.
In July 2021, Wall was overlooked by Labour to speak in the House about the Zero Suicide Aotearoa report, something that she was heavily involved with. The National Party gave her a speaking spot as a result.
That came one week after Wall broke ranks and accused China of harvesting the organs of political prisoners and using Uyghur Muslims as slave labour. Ardern clarified that Wall wasn't speaking on behalf of the Government, but as a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China that monitored the Chinese Communist Party.
ACT leader David Seymour made a note of the strained relationship between Wall and Labour in his reaction to her resignation.
He said Wall was "the kind of person that every Parliament needs".
"She's a maverick. I think the Labour Party has really had trouble with her.
"I don't understand enough about the Labour Party's internal workings, but I think it's a pity someone who stands up for what she believes in hasn't found a place within Labour's culture."
When asked if Wall had a fair deal during her time in Parliament, the Prime Minister said: "Absolutely."
Ardern said Wall had been part of the Labour family for years now and would continue to have the support of the party.
"There will be members of Parliament across their careers who would have hoped to have taken on different roles in their time," she added.
"What Louisa has demonstrated is that has not meant that she hasn't been able to achieve a significant amount. She has."
Lemauga Lydia Sosene is the next person on Labour's list and is likely to replace Wall.
Wall will deliver her valedictory statement in the House on April 14.
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