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Infectious disease expert Dr. Ayesha Verrall, also a member of the LGBT community, was catapulted directly into Cabinet as a first-term list MP with various roles, including Associate Minister of Health and Minister of Food Safety.
LGBT Labor MP Kiri Allan has been appointed Conservation Minister, replacing Green MP Eugenie Sage.
Three ministers in the 20-member cabinet are also of Pasifika descent: Poto Williams, Carmel Sepuloni and Kris Faafoi.
“It is a cabinet of great merit and talent, which also happens to be incredibly diverse,” Ardern told reporters Monday after his announcement.
“I think it’s an important point to make: these are people who have been promoted for what they bring to the cabinet, they also reflect the New Zealand that elected them.”
Here’s what the headlines say:
“Ardern’s cabinet changes represent a bold political statement that places women, Maori and other minority groups in important decision-making roles,” reported the Financial Times.
“It should help silence internal critics on the political left, who have argued that their government will be incremental rather than transformative, said Bronwyn Hayward, professor of politics at the University of Canterbury.”
The Guardian reported that New Zealand’s new diverse government would focus on “containing COVID-19 and economic recovery.”
“Of the 20-member cabinet, eight are women, five are Maori, three are Pasifika and three are LGBT,” wrote contributing writer Phil Taylor from Auckland.
Nanaia Mahuta
Most of the news about New Zealand’s new cabinet focused on the appointment of Mahuta as foreign minister.
The Guardian article referred to Mahuta as a “pioneering MP”, noting her historic achievement as the first woman to hold the portfolio.
The Financial Times called his appointment the “biggest surprise” in the new cabinet.
