Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick has revealed details of one of her last meetings with the late Fa'anānā Efeso Collins, saying she had to apologise to him after accidentally saying a blasphemy.
Collins, 49, died suddenly last Wednesday morning after he collapsed during a charity event in the Auckland CBD.
He was one of several well-known Kiwis taking part in the ChildFund Water Run to get clean drinking water to communities in the Pacific Islands.
Swarbrick joined AM on Monday morning as part of her weekly political panel and was asked about how she and the Green Party have been coping since the death of Collins.
Swarbrick told AM she's been in "quite a haze" since Collins' death last Wednesday.
She revealed details of one of her last meetings with Collins last Tuesday evening.
"On Tuesday night, we were in the parliamentary debating chamber, and myself and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer were chatting back and forth about the Government's agenda and Efeso was in between us," she said.
"We all know that he's a man of God, [I] accidentally said a blasphemy and apologised to him for that."
Swarbrick told AM Collins' "booming laughter" is what she remembers about him and it "keeps coming back to me".
"I think he symbolised a lot of the best of us in terms of humanity, humility and the ability to bridge parliamentary and partisan divides by holding to values that are higher than and ideals that all of us should aspire to."
She said her love and heart go out to his whānau and his community.
Collins is currently lying in state at Tipene Funerals in Ōnehunga. A public service celebrating his life will be held at Due Drop Events Centre in Manukau at midday on Thursday.
Family spokesperson Taito Eddie Tuiavii said "droves" of whānau, community, friends and people who didn't know Collins have paid their respects over the weekend.
Parliamentary colleagues, staffers and councillors are among those expected to visit the funeral home this week ahead of the funeral.
Due to the large amounts of people expected, Hill Street will be closed during the day between 7am and 7pm on Monday to Wednesday with traffic management in place.
"We are also asking mourners attending, to carpool where possible due to the limited number of parking spaces on the street," Tuiavii said.
"Mourners are also asked to arrive into Hill Street from Princess Street (rather than Church Street). Right turns onto Hill Street from Princess Street will be restricted to avoid disrupting normal traffic."
Watch the full political panel above
