His Cabinet Appointed Jacinda Ardern now leads one of the most powerful governments NZ has ever seen

OPINION: Jacinda Ardern’s new “Covid cabinet” is practically the same, and completely different, from all previous governments under the Mixed Proportional Membership (MMP) system.

The similarity implies the political agreement reached between Labor and the Greens. All governments formed since 1996 have relied on such agreements. This one does too.

The difference is that the Ardern administration was the first one-party majority government since the electoral rules changed in the mid-1990s. Add to that the deal with the Greens and they have a massive 74-seat bloc in the House. 13 more than necessary to govern.

In gross political terms, Ardern is at the head of one of (and perhaps the) largest parliamentary alliances in the nation’s history.

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Greens consolation prize

The agreement announced over the weekend is a cooperation agreement. Think of it as the smallest of the consolation prizes, which is offered to you when it is nice to have their support but not really necessary.

For the 15 percent of the Green delegates who voted against it, it was perhaps too small, and you can see their point. In the last government (when the party had eight instead of ten seats), the Greens had ten full or associated portfolios.

None of his ministers sat in the cabinet, it is true, but there were four in the executive. Now there are only two, with four portfolios between them, and they are not at the head table yet.

Take a closer look at the details, however, and things will get more interesting.

A new kind of MMP

Green ministers will participate in relevant cabinet committees and informal ministerial groups, have access to officials’ documents, and meet with the prime minister at least every six weeks. The Labor Party and the respective Greens chiefs of staff will also meet regularly.

Furthermore, the party will chair one parliamentary committee and obtain the post of deputy in another. In areas of mutual interest that do not belong to the portfolio, Green spokespersons will have access to Labor ministers and departmental advice.

All of this and they come to publicly disagree with the government on policies that fall outside the green wallets. That’s not bad policy for a party. Labor doesn’t need to form a government.

And there’s no way any of that would have happened under the one-party majority governments that we used to see under the old “first after post” system. So it may be a consolation prize, but it’s not really that small.

A more diverse government

In addition to being the first MMP government with a one-party majority, it is also diverse. In her first term, Ardern recognized the importance of having more women in the cabinet. Almost half (47 percent) of the new parliament – and the majority of the Labor group (53 percent) – are women.

To some extent, this is reflected in the composition of the executive. Eight of the 20 full members of the cabinet are women; in total, women represent 43% of the administration in general. There are more women in the ministry than in the National Party caucus.

The executive also contains a solid number of people of color: perhaps as many as a quarter of all parliamentary ministers and undersecretaries are not Pakeha.

On election night, the Maori Labor group delivered a direct message to the prime minister about the importance of a strong Maori presence in the cabinet. It seems to have listened.

Among them, Māori Labor MPs win five cabinet seats. Add positions outside the cabinet, as the Greens’ Marama Davidson and Māori comprise 25 percent of all executive members. Perhaps most notable is that Nanaia Mahuta becomes the country’s Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Ardern has also carefully looked at his back bench and the group of incoming MPs, leading some of them to the political executive. Jan Tinetti and Kiri Allan have been marked for higher things for some time, while the newly appointed MP, Dr. Ayesha Verrall, enters the cabinet directly as associate health minister.

Power and control

In certain circumstances, a large parliamentary assembly can be challenging. Frustrated egos, repressed ambitions, bouts of resentment: Once the excitement of the election result has worn off, managing the relationships between those in government and the parliamentary party in general will be one of the main challenges facing are facing Labor.

Green co-leaders aside, the Ardern executive comprises 40 percent of the Labor Party caucus. Given the conventions of collective cabinet responsibility, this means that members of the government have a close majority within the caucus, so discipline shouldn’t be an issue, yet.

It’s hard to overstate how much control Ardern has over New Zealand’s 53rd parliament. Even before special votes are counted, parliamentary arithmetic renders National, ACT, and the Maori Party virtually irrelevant.

Labor dominates the executive, and between them Labor and the Greens will dominate the legislature and its committees. The voters have placed considerable power in Ardern’s hands. Time to see what he does with it.

Richard Shaw is Professor of Politics at Massey University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.