Halbert has affiliation to Rongowhakaata and Ngāti Whitikaupeka through his father,[4] while his mother is pākehā. He grew up in Napier, and moved to Auckland after graduating from high school. He has a BA in education and Māori from the University of Auckland and a certificate in Contemporary Performing Arts from AUT. He started, but did not complete, an MBA.[5] Halbert has worked at Glenfield College, where he set up the Health Sciences Academy, and at Catholic college Hato Petera.[6] He was the Head of Relationships at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.[7]
Halbert has for years campaigned on improving public transport, as congestion in the Northcote electorate—located at the northern landing of the Auckland Harbour Bridge—is a defining issue for many voters.[11] For the 2020 campaign, he also campaigned in support of local businesses and advocated for improved access to mental health services.[6] His father died of lung cancer on election day.[12]
Halbert faced criticism in both the 2020 and 2023 election campaigns for misleading advertising. In 2020, he published a flyer in which Labour claimed, “We’ve built over 600 houses for our growing Northcote family.” A complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority noted that only 74 homes had been built. Labour apologised for the flyer and pulled it from stalls. In 2023, another flyer from Halbert celebrates “1700 new warm, dry homes as part of the Northcote Development”, but these homes were not scheduled for completion until 2026. This flyer also faced a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority, but the Authority dismissed it. An article by Tova O'Brien criticised the flyer for being unclear which points were prior actions by Labour and which were promises if re-elected. Halbert also stated on Facebook that the National Party plans to decrease sick leave to five days per year, which is not its policy.[13][14]
In 21 September 2023, Halbert was the subject of bullying allegations by several former staff, who claimed he was manipulative, scheming, narcissistic, and intimidated them. Labour whips were first alerted to the allegations by a bullying and harassment coach in August 2022 but no action was taken since staff wished to remain anonymous. In response to the bullying allegations, Halbert said that he had a good relationship with parliamentary and other staff, while acknowledging he had encountered employment issues but had done his best to resolve them professionally. Halbert urged disaffected staff members to engage with Parliament's complaint process.[15] During an election debate in Northcote, Halbert denied the bullying allegations and claimed he had not received any complaints when confronted by Newshub journalists.[16]
In early February 2024, the simultaneous resignations of both Labour MPs Kelvin Davis and Rino Tirikatene allowed Halbert and Tracey McLellan to reenter Parliament on the Labour Party list.[18] During a shadow cabinet reshuffle triggered by the resignation of Grant Robertson, Halbert assumed the Auckland Issues and newly-created Rainbow Issues portfolios.[18][19]
In response to Destiny Church's protest against a Drag Queen Story Hour event in Gisborne in late March 2024, Halbert described the church's behaviour as "very disappointing." While Halbert supported the right to protest, he condemned what he regarded as "vicious discrimination against young people and their families." He also criticised the National-led coalition government's plan to remove sexuality guidelines from schools. Halbert's claim that the National-led government wanted to remove hate speech laws was disputed by Justice MinisterPaul Goldsmith, who said that the Government had no plans to remove hate speech protections in law but opposed Labour's proposed hate speech legislation on the grounds that they would have undermined free speech.[20]
^Normally, list MPs do not have individual predecessors or successors, but Davis resigned during a sitting parliament and therefore was succeeded by Halbert.
