He contested the 2022 Auckland mayoral election as an independent, backed by the Labour and Green parties,[n 2] losing to Wayne Brown.

[2] Less than a week after giving his maiden speech, Collins attended a fun run on lower Queen Street, Auckland, as part of a charity event for ChildFund.

[6] As an adult, Collins bore the Samoan matai title of Faʻanānā from his mother's village of Satufia, Satupaitea, Savaiʻi.

[14] In childhood, Collins lived for several years with his mother's family in Savaiʻi where he attended Vaega Primary School.

[18] Collins' subsequent career included positions as a youth worker, a broadcaster, in the education sector and in the public service.

He was stood down from his position after he questioned a lack of transparency in the process by which a private company called the Pacific Islands Economic Development Agency was given a $4.8 million Government grant.

Collins won the council's support to lobby the government to ban the sale of fireworks to the public, citing safety concerns.

The then Health Minister Chris Hipkins had earlier reassured the Pasifika community that the Government would not use any information collected during testing for immigration purposes.

[39] On 25 July 2021, Collins disclosed that he and his family had received a death threat on 19 June in response to his comments criticising TVNZ's Police Ten 7 programme for its negative depiction of the Māori and Pasifika communities.

[44] His campaign was officially launched in September 2022 by Māori development minister Willie Jackson and Auckland University of Technology law school dean Khylee Quince.

[8] During the campaign, Collins stated his support for the Labour government's proposed Three Waters infrastructure reforms and co-governance between iwi Māori and elected representatives, and opposed the sale of council assets including Auckland Airport.

[46] In public opinion polling conducted from July through early September, he led eight other declared candidates but only saw a peak of 29% support.

After Leo Molloy and Viv Beck withdrew, endorsing Wayne Brown, Collins' lead dissipated in two mid-September polls.

[51] In February 2023, Collins announced he was seeking selection as the Green candidate for Panmure-Ōtāhuhu and a place on the party list.

The man admitted fault and completed a Te Pae Oranga restorative justice process involving Police and Māori iwi (tribal) partners.

"[58] Collins spoke in Parliament on only three other occasions, opposing the re-introduction of 90-day trials in most workplaces, speaking in support of a social worker registration scheme, and asking a question about the government's proposed Treaty Principles Bill.

"[11] On abortion, Collins said in 2022: "I won't get in the way of women and people who are pregnant making their own, deeply personal decisions.

[73][68] Less than an hour after Collins collapsed Green Party co-leader James Shaw expressed the caucus's "profound shock and sadness".

[74] Shaw continued that despite his long service in Auckland local government "in many ways Efeso's political career was only just beginning.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, Labour MP Barbara Edmonds and former Prime Minister Helen Clark also submitted tributes via social media.

[80] Collins' funeral, held on 29 February at the Due Drop Events Centre in Manukau, was attended by his family, friends and colleagues.

Political figures including Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and James Shaw, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Labour leader Chris Hipkins, Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee, Mayor of Auckland Wayne Brown, and Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi also attended.

Scammers had promoted fake, paid livestreams on Facebook; victims who lost money included a church minister.