Alfred Ngaro
(Minister for Pacific Peoples, Community and Voluntary Sector, Assoc Minister for Children, Assoc Minister for Social Housing)
National MP Alfred Ngaro says he is "shocked" to be the newest member of Cabinet.
The second-term MP has been promoted straight from the back bench - a move which Prime Minister Bill English said was recognition of his "unique type of experience for a National MP".
Ngaro is the first Cook Island MP in New Zealand and was raised in a Labour-supporting, working class family in Ponsonby. His mother was a cleaner and his father a labourer, and he trained as an electrician and later became a pastor at his mother's insistence.
He has a particular interest in social issues and has chaired Parliament's Social Services Committee. In his new ministerial roles, he will be focusing on social housing and vulnerable children.
"I think social justice has a number of different meanings," he said yesterday.
"It doesn't matter who you are, you should have the same rights to education, to health, and employment opportunities.
"So to me, I am a big believer in that.
"On the flipside, I think what's also important is that I come from a working class background. So we're of the belief that we work hard for what we get.
"We didn't come here for handouts, we came for opportunity. And all we ask for is the same opportunity as anyone else."
Despite his Labour roots, Ngaro was drawn to the National Party by Maungakiekie MP Sam Lotu-Iiga, another compassionate conservative. He took over the National candidacy for Te Atatu from Tau Henare in 2014 but lost to Labour's Phil Twyford by 2800 votes.
English called to give Ngaro the news about his promotion while he was leaving his church, St Giles Presbyterian, in Te Atatu and on the way to lunch at the Swanson RSA.
Mark Mitchell
(Minister for Land Information, Statistics, Assoc Minister of Justice)
Mark Mitchell is a former policeman who joined Parliament in 2011 in the safe National seat of Rodney. Before Parliament, he also worked as a private security contractor, living in Kuwait, and was involved in hostage negotiations in Afghanistan, Somalia and Darfur.
He was raised in a political family - his grandfather Frank Gill represented National in East Coast Bays and his father ran for mayor in Rodney.
Mitchell's main interest is in trade, and he has chaired the Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee, which recently considered the Trans Pacific Partnership legislation. As Land Information Minister, he will be responsible for the politically sensitive issue of overseas investment in New Zealand.
Mitchell is married to Peggy Bourne, the widow of rally driver Possum Bourne.
It's understood a NZDF aircraft and multiple helicopters are involved.