Luxon swings his first axe as Melissa Lee and Penny Simmonds ...
Public Policy / news
Media Minister Melissa Lee dumped from Cabinet with Penny Simmonds losing the Disabilities Issues portfolio
The Coalition Cabinet meets for the first time in late 2023
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon dismissed his first ministers on Wednesday, taking the media portfolio away from Melissa Lee and disabilities portfolio off Penny Simmonds.
Both dismissals come after high profile problems in these ministers' respective areas.
Lee has been struggling to respond to the impending closure of Newshub, and Simmonds faced problems after a sudden pause in some Whaikaha funding.
Luxon said the reshuffle's happening because issues in these portfolios had become more prominent and needed more senior ministers to handle them.
“It has become clear in recent months that there are significant challenges in the media sector. Similarly, we have discovered major financial issues with programmes run by the Ministry of Disabled People,” he said in a statement.
Paul Goldsmith will take the media and communications portfolio, replacing Melissa Lee who will drop out of Cabinet.
She will retain her ethnic communities, economic development, and ACC portfolios.
Luxon said there were “significant synergies” between the media portfolio and arts, culture and heritage which was already held by Goldsmith.
However, he warned there were “limited levers” the Government could pull, but Goldsmith would complete work already underway to ensure regulatory settings were appropriate.
Louise Upston will take responsibility for disabilities issues, as it is already a departmental agency that sits within the Ministry of Social Development.
Simmonds will continue with her environment and tertiary education portfolios.
The big winner of this reshuffle will be Simon Watts, the Minister for Climate Change and Revenue, who will now take Lee’s seat at the Cabinet table.
Luxon said he wanted to ensure the right people were in the right jobs and he would be willing to shift responsibilities as issues changed throughout the term in government.
He said it was disappointing for Lee, and that she he had said that to him, but he retained full confidence in her and Simmonds in their remaining portfolios.
