Andre Afamasaga (Sāmoan: Afega, Fasito‘otai) was born in Lower Hutt and is proud to be Brooke’s uncle. For more than two decades, he has worked in government, community, youth, health, education, and communications sectors in New Zealand and Australia. In acknowledgement of his work, he has been nominated for awards on both sides of the Tasman. His professional experience includes senior roles at the NZ Human Rights Commission, and the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet, and 11 years as a Pastor in Sydney and Wellington.

On a personal level, he is passionate about religious and cultural settings being inclusive and accepting of Rainbow/LGBTIQ+ peoples. At the end of 2019, at a time of intense homophobic debate, Andre came out publicly as a gay in a viral opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald that was also published in The Age (Melbourne), Stuff (NZ), and the Samoa Observer. Since then, Andre has become a well-known face and advocate for social justice, inclusivity, and wellbeing -- not only locally, but globally too. Andre appears in the media and speaks at conferences regularly, and later this year, a documentary about his life will be released on Australian TV.