‘The Prime Minister wants to give other people a chance to develop’ - Government’s quiet committee reshuffle

When the Finance and Expenditure Committee returned to work today, grilling Finance Minister Nicola Willis on her Budget Policy Statement and Treasury’s HYEFU, there was a slight change in line-up.

The committee’s usual chair, Stuart Smith, was not in the chair. The MP, who has represented the Kaikōura electorate for a decade, had been replaced by first-term Upper Harbour MP Cameron Brewer. A vote on the new chair is set to take place this morning. Brewer is acting chair until that vote.

Brewer was not even a member of the committee, often known by its abbreviation FEC, and a member of the Justice Committee and deputy chair of the Governance and Administration Committee. The reshuffle is significant as the chair of FEC is often one of the last jobs an MP will do before a Prime Minister elevates them to a role in the executive.

FEC is not the only Committee to see a change in chair. The Māori Affairs Committee will now be chaired by David MacLeod, replacing Dan Bidois, meanwhile Scott Simpson loses his place chairing the Environment Committee to Catherine Wedd.

National MP for Upper Harbour Cameron Brewer, the new Finance and Expenditure chair. Photo / Mark Mitchell

In all cases, longer-serving MPs were replaced by first-termers, suggesting a refresh. Bidois entered Parliament in a 2018 byelection, lost his seat in 2020 but returned in 2023. Simpson has been an MP since 2011.

Smith told the Herald that he was told “the Prime Minister wants to give other people a chance to develop”.

He accepts the call and is moving to the Transport and Infrastructure and Governance and Administration Committee.

Willis announced some details of her Budget, including Budget Day, which will be May 22. She said that alongside the traditional fiscal announcements in the Budget including how much the Government will tax and how much it will spend, this Budget will include regulatory announcements.

“We will be introducing new legislation that is there to support economic growth,” Willis said.

Thomas Coughlan is Deputy Political Editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.