There’s a ruthless element to every reshuffle and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon spelled out what that looked like when he was explaining the demotion of Shane Reti – both from the health portfolio and from his top-five kitchen Cabinet.
He started by saying it hadbeen “a tough conversation to have with a friend” – but the push he wanted to fix up the mess in health would be better handled by Simeon Brown, the great deliverer.
So Reti was dumped from health unceremoniously. While the rumours of it had been spreading for months, it seems Reti was the only one who did not believe them – until Saturday, when Luxon got in touch and told him he was gone.
It was a justifiable move, although it was brutal, whatever Luxon says about his confidence in Reti to handle his new, much lighter portfolios.
Only a handful of ministers have the political heft and canniness to carry health off and a medical background is not a prerequisite. Knowing how to navigate the politics and push through changes is. The Government considers it has put a lot of money into it – but is constantly on the defensive.
Brown’s performance in transport and local government had given Luxon – notoriously impatient with the pace at which the public sector moves – the confidence Brown could bang heads together, hard.
The switch grabbed much of the attention in the reshuffle, which Luxon is hoping will help with the problems facing the Government: the two biggest being the never-ending flow of dire economic and health news in time for the next election in 2026.
Fixing those problems is the prerequisite for fixing Luxon’s other problem: the polls.
So Brown inherits the possibly poisoned chalice of health, while Finance Minister Nicola Willis has been made a Grand Poobah of all things to do with money: becoming not just Finance but Economic Growth Minister – a new portfolio which seems to be a more on-brand version of the old Economic Development one.
Simeon Brown (from left), Nicola Willis and Chris Bishop get new ministerial appointments. Composite Photo / NZME
The latter is effectively taking on MBIE – the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment – which was created by the former Minister of Everything, Steven Joyce. It gives Willis greater sway and oversight over the economic-related portfolios, and access to the resources MBIE has to tap into the sectors critical to the economy, rather than Treasury’s more narrow remit.
There is a bit of optics to this: it is partly aimed at proving Luxon’s promise to have a “laser focus” on the economy by having a stronger focus on it at the top of the Cabinet ladder.
The other advantage for Willis is that the capable hands of Judith Collins will take on the public service portfolio, meaning the Wellington-based Willis will no longer have to be the face of the redundancies and spending cuts across the public sector.
It almost inevitably resulted in a handful of ministers doing the lion’s share of the big stuff while others have precious little to do and must be breathing a sigh of relief for surviving.
Every Prime Minister has the right – and should – replace mediocre or under-performing ministers. Luxon is unenthusiastic about doing reshuffles for the sake of it, usually preferring the nip-and-tuck technique of making small changes as the need arises.
However, doing a reshuffle after the first year in government is a good time to do it.
It is also a good time for Luxon to take stock of how his ministers have been performing and make the required changes – hampered slightly because he cannot change out any of his coalition partners’ ministers at the same time.
The vast bulk of the ministers were untested prior to being appointed at the end of 2023. A year is enough time to work out which ones are up to the job, who could do more and who is either in the wrong portfolios or struggling. Luxon’s was not a big refresh – only one minister was out (Melissa Lee) and one in (James Meager). That is partly because the rest of his caucus is predominantly made up of new MPs still learning the ropes.
The end result has rewarded the likes of Simon Watts, who has proved calm and competent, Judith Collins and Brown (though he may not think it is a reward for long) and Mark Mitchell, who gets the added bonus of the sport and recreation portfolio. Losing that would be a blow for Bishop, although he kept an associate role, presumably for the cricket – which Mitchell is not such a fan of as he is.
Ministers tracking well were left well alone, including the law and order ministers and Education Minister Erica Stanford.
Why on earth Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is still in Cabinet at all with just one main portfolio left to his name is less clear. He lost ACC, Tourism and Hospitality, Youth and his associate transport portfolio to other ministers.
Doocey’s tenure in Cabinet is presumably due to the need to have a South Islander in Cabinet. Yes, that is important.
However, Doocey was not anointed the newly created position of South Island Minister – that honour went to the newcomer, James Meager, who will be a minister outside Cabinet.
It might be seen as a slightly peculiar kind of “diversity” for Luxon to get hung up on in the same reshuffle in which he dumped Melissa Lee, who is Korean, and instead made Mark Mitchell his Ethnic Communities Minister.
