Christopher Luxon, the new prime minister, has pledged to reduce the number of public service employees and redirect state resources towards the government’s goals. He aims to address the high cost of living, restore law and order, and cut 6.5% of public service costs.
Despite having a total of 30 ministers and under-secretaries, Luxon insists his government is not overly large. He pointed out that his predecessor, Jacinda Ardern, had the same number of ministers in 2017. However, his government has three more ministers outside the Cabinet than John Key’s 2014 administration.
Luxon and his ministers were officially sworn in at a ceremony in Wellington, pledging their loyalty to King Charles. The Governor-General, Dame Cindy Kiro, formally appointed Luxon as Prime Minister. The new Cabinet will start its meetings this week, with Luxon planning to finalize the government’s plan for its first 100 days in office.
Winston Peters, who will serve as Luxon’s deputy for the next 18 months before handing over to ACT Party leader David Seymour, criticized TVNZ and RNZ reporters for biased journalism. He referred to the government’s Public Interest Journalism Fund, set up in 2020 to support news media during the Covid-19 downturn, as a “bribery.”
Peters also promised that his controversial policy agenda, which includes changing the names of government departments from te reo Māori to English, would improve race relations. However, neither Peters, Luxon, nor Seymour could provide details on when the name changes would begin, how long they would take, or how much they would cost. Luxon stated that all non-Māori facing government agencies would have their names changed to English.
