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ANALYSIS: With her new Cabinet, Jacinda Ardern has radically reshaped the Government. She cast political deadwood, promoted heavily on talent, and reflected the diversity of the recently expanded Labor Party.
In an announcement yesterday in the Beehive, Ardern appointed Finance Minister Grant Robertson as deputy prime minister after Labor Deputy Leader Kelvin Davis indicated he did not want the job.
The real bolter has been the local government minister, Nanaia Mahuta, who has been promoted to the position of foreign minister, left vacant by Winston Peters. She will be the first woman to fill the position. It wasn’t an expected date and Ardern clearly enjoyed the element of surprise. Mahuta spoke about the importance of bilateral relations for New Zealand and the rules-based international order.
The new executive jolt didn’t end there. Former minister David Clark, but now rehabilitated, has returned as minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Digital Economy and Communications and State-Owned Enterprises. Meanwhile, former Transport and Housing Minister Phil Twyford has been expelled into the political underworld as Minister of Disarmament (out of Cabinet). Yes, New Zealand still has a minister for that.
READ MORE:
* Cabinet shakeup: the winners and losers of Jacinda Ardern’s new lineup
* Jacinda Ardern announced the Cabinet Lineup, the new Covid-19 Minister role assumed by Chris Hipkins
* Cabinet reshuffle: Andrew Little, new Health Minister, but Chris Hipkins will take over Covid-19 response
ROBERT KITCHEN / Things
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern entering a press conference to reveal the cabinet lineup for the new government.
But it is in the area of finance and economic development that the crucial appointments have been made, spreading the theme of reconstruction that the Labor Party led to the elections. The front bank reorganization signals a clear focus of the Government in the economic and health areas of the Covid-19 recovery. Economic reconstruction, in particular, has been full of rhetoric to date: a definite direction of travel and broad brushstrokes, but scant on concrete details.
The finance ministers of the new government are Robertson, Megan Woods and David Parker. Robertson will also become the new Minister of Infrastructure, formalizing a role that he had come to fill prior to Covid-19 when he effectively took over New Zealand’s upgrade infrastructure and transportation package. Woods is Minister of Housing, Energy and Resources, as well as of Science and Innovation. David Parker is Minister of Finance, Environment and Attorney General. He is in charge of the extensive reforms to the Resource Management Act that Labor led to the election.
Between them, the three ministers are in charge of the key levers, or choke points, in New Zealand’s economic development: finance, housing, infrastructure, the Resource Management Act and energy. How these ministers, and the political areas they are in charge of, come together will be crucial to the government’s success or failure.
In this space, the new Minister of Economic and Regional Development will be supported by Stuart Nash. Ardern was determined to have a regional Labor MP fill this position.
The other great appointment in this area is Michael Wood as Minister of Labor Relations and Transportation. He will be the minister in charge of important pending matters of the previous Government. It will be up to him to guide you through Fair Pay Agreements (industry-wide employment agreements) that NZ First put in place in the last period. He will also be in charge of light rail, however he proceeds, although it remains to be seen exactly whether he or Robertson is driving the size and reach.
Chris Hipkins has been appointed as the new Covid Czar, as the Minister of Covid-19 Response, while retaining his state education and services portfolios. You will now be in charge of everything to do with the Covid response, from testing to border protection. It appears to be a highly operational role, now separate from the job of Minister of Health, which has passed to Andrew Little.
Dr. Ayesha Verrall, best known as an infectious disease expert who was chosen with the new work cohort, will be parachuted directly into the Cabinet as Associate Minister of Health, as well as Minister of Food Safety and the Elderly.
It’s a good sign that the Prime Minister has not felt constrained by seniority and has promoted someone whose experience she clearly believes she will need. But it will be a steep learning curve for Verrall. Being respected as an expert and a doctor and being a cabinet minister, which is about evaluating compensation and then making decisions, are two very different things.
ROBERT KITCHEN / Things
From left to right, new Maori Labor ministers and undersecretaries. From left to right: Kiri Allan, Peeni Henare, Nanaia Mahuta, Kelvin Davis, Meka Whaitiri, Willie Jackson, Adrian Rurawhe and Rino Tirikatene.
There is a sizeable Maori contingent in the new cabinet, with Mahuta in Foreign Affairs, Peeni Henare Minister of Defense and Whanau Ora, Willie Jackson in Maori Development, Kelvin Davis as Minister of Corrections, Crown-Maori Relations and Minister for Children, and Kiritapu Allan in Conservation. Meka Whaitiri, who was a former cabinet minister before being fired for alleged staff mistreatment, is returning as a minister outside the cabinet.
Add to that Rino Tirakatene as Parliamentary Undersecretary and this looms as a Maori representation of historical size and importance in government.
There are many other changes in addition and the precise jobs of the associate ministers have yet to be determined. The prime minister will deliver a speech in Auckland on Thursday for BusinessNZ outlining the pre-Christmas priorities for the new government – what it will propose to legislate with and what it will implement with. In particular, it is expected to outline the next steps to provide business certainty around post-Covid support.
One thing is clear: Although New Zealand has returned to Level 1, Covid and its associated effects remain. The border is closed, Europe is returning to various stages of blockade. Without the specter of an election looming over everything, the only political limitation on the government’s response to Covid is its own imagination and its appetite for risk. It will not be easy.
The first Ardern government was, by nature, technocratic. This new government is an extension of that. The way the new ministries have been designed puts the effective power of the crucial levers on a few competent hands in plaster of support. It appears to be sensibly organizing portfolios so the government can “get down to business,” as Ardern said Monday.
Without having to worry about negotiating bits of legislation with other parties, Labor will have a luxury: Once a new policy is decided, it will be able to bring it into legislation quickly if necessary.
Now there is nowhere to hide. This new ministry is by and from Ardern Labor. The workforce will increase or decrease depending on the program you design and how you implement it.
