Who are the winners and losers from the first Cabinet reshuffle - The Front Page

While several ministers are celebrating new portfolios, one minister’s future is hanging in the air after the first major reshuffle of Christopher Luxon’s front bench.

The Prime Minister announced a reshuffle on Sunday, notably taking health from Dr Shane Reti and assigning it to Simeon Brown, and giving Nicola Willis the revised portfolio of economic growth to manage alongside finance.

NZ Herald political editor Claire Trevett told The Front Page, the Herald’s daily news podcast, that Luxon clearly sees Brown as a “decisive actor” to tackle the issues that emerged in the health sector since Reti was first appointed.

" It’s always high in the public’s mind. It’s been creeping up the issues of most concern to voters. And so he’s decided that the time has come to put a more political hardball in.”

That keenness to focus on voter concerns is also behind giving Willis economic growth, which includes oversight of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

“He’s very keen to highlight his own attempts to put a kind of laser focus on the economy, which is one of the biggest areas of problem for any Government and at the moment in particular it’s one that the Government can easily get on the back foot,” Trevett said.

The reshuffling also saw Melissa Lee, who last year lost her broadcasting portfolio, removed from all her portfolios.

Trevett said she was surprised by the move, particularly as it means there are no ministers of Asian descent left in Cabinet.

Her spot outside Cabinet has been taken by first-term MP James Meager, who takes on three portfolios, including the newly created Minister of the South Island.

Trevett said his ascension was a warning shot to Matt Doocey, who remains in Cabinet with only the mental health portfolio, despite colleagues Judith Collins and Chris Bishop now overseeing seven.

“To be honest, the only reason he is still in Cabinet is because he’s the only South Island MP, I suspect.

“So that’s a clear sign that, next time Luxon moves, it’s likely Doocey will slip out of Cabinet. He’s clearly not that enamoured with Doocey’s performance if he cannot trust him to have more than one portfolio.”

Listen to the full episode for more analysis of Christopher Luxon’s first big reshuffle.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.

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