Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (left) with former Media and Communications Minister Melissa Lee (centre) and Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The latest Cabinet reshuffle has set the tone for Christopher Luxon’s premiership.
The Prime Minister today announced that Penny Simmonds would lose her Disabilities portfolio, while Melissa Lee would lose Media and Communications and be demoted out of Cabinet.
The move comes after controversies in both the portfolios over funding for disabled people’s carers, and the closure of Newshub and several TVNZ shows.
On the Tiles podcast host and deputy political editor Thomas Coughlan told The Front Page that Lee’s struggles to get a handle on her portfolio are particularly bad, after holding it for six years while in Opposition and having the time to prepare.
“Christopher Luxon, for example, came into Parliament, became leader and then became Prime Minister and has adjusted pretty well. It’s pretty damning to be in Parliament for much more than a decade, to have this portfolio for six years and then to bungle it within a few hundred days.”
He said that Luxon has talked a lot about having a different style of leadership to other Prime Ministers, but until now has stuck to similar courses to them.
“Certainly having quite a dramatic reshuffle so soon into his tenure, that is probably something that’s a wee bit different. Now obviously, reshuffling ministers, you only ever really do it if there’s a problem, so it’s not a great thing to be doing, but probably Luxon emerges stronger from this in the long term, because it does sort of signal to people, this guy is not mucking around and this guy doesn’t tolerate a weak... Cabinet.”
Coughlan said that was a strong attribute for both Helen Clark and Sir John Key when they were leaders, and expects it’ll be a “net positive” for Luxon.
Listen to the full episode for more on the reshuffle, why the ministers lost their portfolios, and if there is a path back into Cabinet for Lee.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
On the Tiles is the Herald’s politics podcast, hosted by Thomas Coughlan. New episodes are available every Friday.
You can follow The Front Page podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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