The Ministers of the 50th Parliament
The full list is here. I’ve summarised the changes in the table below.
| Min | New Rank | Old Rank | Change | Gain | Lose |
| Key | 1 | 1 | |||
| English | 2 | 2 | Infrastructure | ||
| Brownlee | 3 | 3 | Transport, EQC | MED, Energy | |
| Joyce | 4 | 14 | +10 | MED, Science | Transport, ICT, Ass Inf. |
| Collins | 5 | 7 | +2 | Justice, ACC, Ethnic | Police, Correct, Vets |
| Ryall | 6 | 5 | -1 | SOEs | State Sector |
| Parata | 7 | 20 | +13 | Education, Pacific | Ethnic, Womens |
| Finlayson | 8 | 9 | +1 | Ass Maori | |
| Bennett | 9 | 16 | +7 | ||
| Smith | 10 | 6 | -4 | Local Govt | ACC |
| Carter | 11 | 10 | -1 | Primary Industries | |
| McCully | 12 | 11 | -1 | ||
| Tolley | 13 | 8 | -5 | Police, Corrs, Dep House | Education |
| Coleman | 14 | 18 | +4 | Defence, State Servs, Ass Fin | Immigration, Broadcasting |
| Groser | 15 | 12 | -3 | ||
| Heatley | 16 | 17 | +1 | Energy | Fisheries |
| Wilkinson | 17 | 19 | +2 | ||
| Guy | 18 | 22 | +4 | Immig, Racing, Vets, Ass Primary | Internal Affairs |
| Foss | 19 | 23 | +4 | Commerce, Broadcasting | Civil Defence, Senior Cits, Racing |
| Adams | 20 | Int Affairs, ICT, Ass Cant | |||
| Williamson | 21 | 21 | Small Bus, Ass Cant | ||
| Tremain | 22 | Civil Def, Consumer Affairs | |||
| Goodhew | 23 | Comm & Vol, Women, Senior Cits | |||
| Borrows | 24 | Courts, Ass Justice, Ass Soc Dev | |||
| Dunne | Ass Cons | ||||
| Banks | Reg Reform, Small Bus | ||||
| Sharples | |||||
| Turia | Whanua Ora, Ass Housing, Ass Tert Ed | Comm & Vol | |||
The brand new Cabinet Minister is Amy Adams, the third of the 2008 intake to make it after Joyce and Parata. She is joined by Craig Foss and Nathan Guy who were Ministers outside Cabinet.
Three new Ministers outside Cabinet are Chris Tremain, Jo Goodhew and Chester Borrows. They are all from the class of 2005, and I suspect that is a signal from the PM that all future Ministers will now come from the 2008 and 2011 intakes.
The cabinet rankings are more symbolic than a reflection of actual power. For example last term Joyce and McCully were on the second row, but both are very influential. However the symbolism is important to a degree.
Parata moves up 13 places which is a huge vote of confidence in her, and Joyce moves up 10. Paula Bennett also moves up seven spots and Jonathan Coleman up four.
A significant reshuffle in terms of portfolios. Brownlee is freed up to keep working on Christchurch, but gets Transport.
Joyce’s role with Economic Development and Science and Innovation will be at the heart of National’s second term agenda.
Collins gets Justice, so expect to see further reforms.
Tony Ryall gets to be the Minister who sells off minority stakes in SOEs as he did such a good job of it last time. He keeps Health of course.
The move of Parata to Education is inspired – Hekia will champion measures to improve the lot of the 20% who are failing – many of whom are Maori.
Tolley gets Police and Corrections. Her experiences with the NZEI and NZPF will stand her in good stead for these portfolios!
Coleman gets Defence, which is handy as he has Devonport Naval Base in his electorate.
Amy Adams gets Comms/ICT, which will fit in quite well with having Internal Affairs also.
Tremain and Goodhew become Ministers as expected, and they are joined by Chester Borrows who should make a good Courts Minister as a former cop and former lawyer – knows both sides!
Worth noting that 10 portfolios have been disestablished or incorporated into other portfolios.