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WELLINGTON: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern unveiled on Monday what she called an “incredibly diverse” cabinet that includes New Zealand’s openly gay First Deputy Prime Minister and a Foreign Minister with a Maori facial tattoo.
The center-left leader renewed her ministerial lineup in the wake of a landslide electoral victory, saying her priorities for the second term were responding to Covid-19 and promoting economic recovery.
Ardern appointed Grant Robertson as deputy prime minister, making him the first openly gay person to hold the post.
Women and the Maori community are also heavily represented in the 20-member cabinet, including the new Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta, who has a moko kauae – a traditional Maori tattoo on the chin.
While expressing pride in the diversity of his cabinet, Ardern also said the appointments were made on merit.
“It is a cabinet of great merit and talent, which also happens to be incredibly diverse,” said the 40-year-old.
“I think this is an important point to highlight: they are people who have been promoted for what they bring to the cabinet, they also reflect New Zealand that elected them.
“I think that as a country we should be proud of this.”
Robertson, 49, who was chief strategist during Ardern’s election campaign, retains the finance portfolio he had in the first term and also becomes minister of infrastructure.
When asked about the importance of having a gay man in the role, Ardern said his reasons for selecting him were his leadership qualities, not how he identified.
“One of the amazing things about New Zealand is that we often find ourselves in a space where these questions become secondary,” he said.
“The representation is there and that is not the first consideration, often that is not how our members identify themselves first and foremost.”
Ardern won the October 17 election campaign on New Zealand’s success with the coronavirus and her cabinet includes a new ministerial role for the Covid-19 response, held by former Health Minister Chris Hipkins.
He said the change would allow Hipkins to focus on issues like border control and managed isolation, without distracting from the broader healthcare portfolio.
While Ardern won the elections with an absolute majority, meaning that his Labor Party can govern alone, he also appointed two Green lawmakers to ministries outside the cabinet.
One Greens co-leader, James Shaw, will become climate change minister and the other, Marama Davidson, will have a portfolio focused on preventing family and sexual violence.
The government will be sworn in on Friday.
