1 00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:08,560 Speaker 1: Culor. I'm Richard Martin in for Chelsea Daniels and this 2 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:11,640 Speaker 1: is the Front Page, a daily podcast presented by the 3 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:18,800 Speaker 1: New Zealand Herald. Prime Minister Christopher Luxen has kicked off 4 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 1: the political year with the first major reshuffle of his cabinet. 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 2: Going to be a lot more to say in the 6 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 2: coming days and weeks ahead on our plan to unleash 7 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 2: growth this year. Today I can announce that that fresh 8 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:33,800 Speaker 2: focus also means refreshing my team. In addition to her 9 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:37,000 Speaker 2: role as Minister of Finance. I'm really pleased that Nicola 10 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 2: Willis will become Minister of Economic Growth. 11 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:42,839 Speaker 1: Doctor Shane Ritti has lost health to Simeon Brown and 12 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: has been bumped down cabinet rankings, while Melissa Lee has 13 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 1: been stripped of all portfolios in favor of first term 14 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: MP James Meaghan. Today on the Front Page, we're joined 15 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: by m Zied Herald political editor Claire Trevette to discuss 16 00:00:55,600 --> 00:01:01,279 Speaker 1: the big winners and losers. So first off, Claire, can 17 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,400 Speaker 1: you give us an overview of which portfolios of traded 18 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:06,760 Speaker 1: hands and who are national has a new job to do? 19 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 3: So the biggest moves, of course, was Shane Retty being 20 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 3: dumped out of health and simm and Brown being put 21 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 3: into health. That's the kind of one that scrabbed most 22 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 3: of their attention so far. Beneath that was Nikola Willis 23 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,399 Speaker 3: being given a much more kind of I've called her 24 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:26,640 Speaker 3: the Grand Poobar of all things to do with money 25 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:31,240 Speaker 3: in the economy. She's got her economic growth portfolio added 26 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 3: to her finance portfolio, which gives her more of a 27 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:38,039 Speaker 3: I guess helicopter view of the whole economic program that 28 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:40,920 Speaker 3: the government is trying to drive. So it puts the 29 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 3: Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment or mb as it's 30 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 3: easier to call it, under Nikola Willis's watch kind of 31 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 3: boosts up that side of things as well as finance, 32 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 3: which is mainly treasury, so they're kind of not really conflicting, 33 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 3: but you might say complimentary sectors of the kind of 34 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 3: fiscal management and economic management are now both under Willis's watch. 35 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 3: And that was the change that was mainly highlighted by 36 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 3: Christopher Upsy, because he's very keen to highlight his own 37 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 3: attempts to put a kind of laser focus on the economy, 38 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 3: which is one of the biggest areas of problem for 39 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:18,480 Speaker 3: any government, and at the moment. In particular, it's one 40 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 3: that the government can easily get on the back foot 41 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 3: on as his health, to be honest, so he's trying 42 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,120 Speaker 3: to kind of bring fixits in for two of the 43 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 3: biggest problems that they're facing the year. That meant Nichola 44 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 3: Willis lost her public service portfolio. She won't necessarily be 45 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 3: unhappy about that because she's a Wellington based MP who 46 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 3: stands in Wellington electorates and for the last year she's 47 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 3: had to stand there and tell all the public servants 48 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 3: of Wellington that they're going to be losing their jobs 49 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:44,799 Speaker 3: and there's cuts coming and all that kind of stuff, 50 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 3: So she won't be upset about that. That's gone to 51 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 3: the very capable hands of Judith Collins and Simeon Brown 52 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 3: has lost his beloved Potholes fund in the Transport portfolio 53 00:02:55,720 --> 00:03:01,000 Speaker 3: that's gone to Chris Bishop, and Energy and Local Government 54 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 3: have both gone to Simon Watts, who is something of 55 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 3: the kind of I guess quiet achiever. His ranking hasn't changed, 56 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 3: but he's been given those two pretty hefty portfolios, which 57 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:12,840 Speaker 3: is a reward for his competent handling of in his 58 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 3: first year. I guess as a Minister because he's performed 59 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 3: pretty creditably in his previous ones, so those are kind 60 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:21,720 Speaker 3: of the big keynotes. There's one minister out, which is 61 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 3: Melissa Ly. There was no real reason given for Melissaly 62 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 3: losing the place. She was the only MP of of 63 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:32,840 Speaker 3: Asian descent in the cabinet and was Ethnic Communities Minister. 64 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 3: She had been demoted from cabinet earlier because of lut 65 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 3: since dissatisfaction with her handling of the media and broadcasting portfolio. 66 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 3: I was a little bit surprised by that move, to 67 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 3: be honest, and I'm assuming it's performance based, but Lutson 68 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 3: may have ongoing concerns about her performance, but he didn't 69 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 3: spell that out to his credit. Maybe that was a 70 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:55,119 Speaker 3: bit of an optical move for I guess a government 71 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 3: which has always struggled with questions around its diversity to 72 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 3: do that. So a little bit risky making that move, 73 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 3: but it hasn't got that much attention yet. 74 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 2: In twenty twenty five, health will also be a priority 75 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 2: area for our government and last year Shane RITTI worked 76 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 2: hard to reset the culture and also the performance of 77 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:16,720 Speaker 2: Health New Zealand. We established targets and we refresh the 78 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 2: leadership of Health New Zealand, and I'm confident the organization 79 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:22,279 Speaker 2: is heading in a much better direction than it was 80 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:25,560 Speaker 2: when we entered office. But I've also heard New Zealand's 81 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 2: as concerns they expect to see even more progress key 82 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 2: we's ensuring that they can access polity care they need 83 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,479 Speaker 2: when they need it, and so to deliver on that expectation, 84 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:39,720 Speaker 2: I've decided to appoint Simon Brown as Minister of Health. 85 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,720 Speaker 1: So did Shane Ritty actually do a bad job as 86 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:48,600 Speaker 1: Health Minister? Or is it just him taking the fall 87 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 1: for the issues that the health sector is facing anyway? 88 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:53,840 Speaker 3: And I think it's really necessarily either of those. I 89 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 3: don't think he did a bad job as such. He 90 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 3: did an adequate job of some of it. It's in 91 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 3: Christopher luxen Refe rained from putting it down to his 92 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:05,559 Speaker 3: performance as such. He kind of justified as saying, well, 93 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:09,280 Speaker 3: as circumstances change and as issues get more prominence, he 94 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 3: looks at whether or not the right person's in the 95 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 3: right job or not. Now, when Shane Betty was first 96 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 3: appointed to that was the health sector looked a lot different. 97 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:20,159 Speaker 3: The Government's found out a lot more since then, and 98 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 3: big changes have happened to it. It has become a 99 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:24,840 Speaker 3: big issue for the government. All the headlines are on 100 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:28,280 Speaker 3: things like deficits and sacking the boards and less the 101 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:33,719 Speaker 3: levy warning of radical reform being needed. There's ongoing. It's 102 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 3: always high in the public's mind. It's been creeping up 103 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 3: the issues of most concerned to voters, and so he's 104 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:40,840 Speaker 3: decided that the time has come to put a more 105 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 3: political hardball in. I guess which he thinks is Simmy 106 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:48,599 Speaker 3: and Brown, because Simeon has proved to be a fairly 107 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:52,359 Speaker 3: quick and decisive actor in his transport and local government 108 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 3: portfolios in particular. So it's kind of a big test 109 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 3: for Simon Brown. He has given lucks and reason to 110 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,159 Speaker 3: put that test to him. Be interesting to see what 111 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:03,719 Speaker 3: he does, So we will wait and see. It's the 112 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 3: first social kind of portfolio that Simeon has had. He's 113 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:10,120 Speaker 3: always had kind of economic portfolios, so it will kind 114 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 3: of round him out in that way. He's kept a 115 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,039 Speaker 3: vague foot in the door of the economic portfolios by 116 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:18,720 Speaker 3: kept getting state owned enterprises portfolio as well. She used 117 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:21,279 Speaker 3: to be with Paul Goldsmith, and I think that's predominantly 118 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 3: so he still has some economic portfolio under him, and 119 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 3: interestingly he's also maintained the jobbers minister for Auckland, which 120 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 3: is predominantly because he's built a very constructive relationship with Auckland, 121 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 3: where Wayne Brown. 122 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 1: Judith Collins and Chris Bishop as well are picking up 123 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:49,119 Speaker 1: quite a lot of slack in this announcement. With seven 124 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 1: portfolios each, is that a bit too much for a 125 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:54,240 Speaker 1: minister to handle? Do you think it is? 126 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:57,720 Speaker 3: It is quite a lot. It often depends on the portfolios. 127 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 3: Bishop's a pretty big and there's a lot happening in 128 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:04,040 Speaker 3: all of them. He's lost his favorite portfolio, which is 129 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:07,599 Speaker 3: s bored in recreation, but he's kept an associateship. It's 130 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:09,480 Speaker 3: often the case, and it was the same with the 131 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 3: former Labor government, that a handful of ministers get a 132 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:16,520 Speaker 3: massive workload and the rest of them don't get quite 133 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 3: so much of a workload. So he's picked up transport 134 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:21,800 Speaker 3: of course, which does dovetail in a bit with his 135 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:25,240 Speaker 3: infrastructure portfolio and also with housing when it comes to 136 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 3: things like new housing developments and stuff like that. But yeah, 137 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 3: that's quite a lot. Judith Collins is the most experienced 138 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 3: minister that they have, so she will be fine some 139 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 3: of her portfolios aren't that public facing, so she hasn't 140 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 3: got the same public pressure on her. The biggest one 141 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:44,559 Speaker 3: she's picked up is that public service one, and she's 142 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 3: shared science, Technology and Innovation to Shane Theirs, which is 143 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 3: one of his new portfolios. So they have kind of 144 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,160 Speaker 3: had something taken off their hands to fit in the 145 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:56,600 Speaker 3: new portfolios that they've taken on. But it is a 146 00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:58,680 Speaker 3: start contrast from some of the ones at the bottom 147 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 3: of the cabinet ranking, such as Matt Doc who has 148 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 3: had one, two, three portfolios taken off him and an 149 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:11,600 Speaker 3: associate portfolio and now as only Minister for Mental Health, 150 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 3: and to be honest, the only reason he is still 151 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 3: in cabinet is because he's the only South Island mp 152 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:19,400 Speaker 3: I suspect, So that's a clear sign that he is 153 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 3: kind of Next time LUTs and moves, it's lightly Doc, 154 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 3: you'll slip out of cabinet. He's clearly not that enamored 155 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 3: with Dooce's performance if he cannot trust him to have 156 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:28,680 Speaker 3: more than one portfolio. 157 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:33,640 Speaker 2: I've also decided to appoint James Meager as a minister 158 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 2: outside cabinet. 159 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 4: Prime minister with great power comes great responsibility and I 160 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 4: know that you will discharge that responsibility as a man 161 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:49,319 Speaker 4: with great courage, conviction, conscientiousness and compassion. 162 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 2: He will take on responsibility for the Hunting and Fishing 163 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:58,640 Speaker 2: and Youth portfolios and become an Associate Minister of Transport. 164 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 2: He'll also take on a newly created role of Minister 165 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 2: for the South Island. 166 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:07,040 Speaker 1: And then on the other hand, we've got a first 167 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: term MP James Meager who's stepping up now are three 168 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: portfolios and an associate. What can you tell us about him? 169 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:15,360 Speaker 1: Do you think he's sort of one of National's next 170 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:16,200 Speaker 1: big stars. 171 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:19,400 Speaker 3: Yeah, James Megha's quite well known. He used to work 172 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:22,600 Speaker 3: in Parliament. He used to work for some ministers back 173 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:25,360 Speaker 3: in the day and so he kind of knows the 174 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 3: ropes a little bit, which is always a bit of 175 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:30,959 Speaker 3: an advantage he's been given. He's been made Minister for 176 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,480 Speaker 3: the South Island, which is the other signal for Ducy 177 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:35,959 Speaker 3: that he could well be replaced by James Meager if 178 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:39,360 Speaker 3: Mega works well. He was chosen by Christopher Luxen to 179 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:41,920 Speaker 3: give one of the first two maiden speeches. The other 180 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 3: one was Katie Nimman. I suspect that when he was 181 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:47,080 Speaker 3: deciding who he would put in Luxeon was tossing up 182 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:50,920 Speaker 3: between James Mega and Katie Niman and opted for James 183 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:53,960 Speaker 3: because he was the South Island option and because he 184 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,560 Speaker 3: does have that previous experience in Parliament and they have 185 00:09:56,720 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 3: only been in p's for a year, so that's kind 186 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 3: of probably where came into play. So he is also 187 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 3: the chair of the Justice Select Committee, so he's had 188 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:06,400 Speaker 3: a chance to show that he's up to the job, 189 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 3: you know, up to a fairly senior job because the 190 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:10,600 Speaker 3: Justice Select Committee has been one of the most tested 191 00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:13,640 Speaker 3: over the last years the government's justice reforms have gone through. 192 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 3: He will stay as chair as well as being the 193 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:20,160 Speaker 3: Minister for the Treaty Principal's Bill submissions because he's started 194 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:21,720 Speaker 3: all the work on that, so they didn't want to 195 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:24,280 Speaker 3: disrupt all that at the last minute. So it's a 196 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 3: good opportunity for him and I'm sure that he will 197 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 3: be pretty quickly into Cabinet if he proves his stuff. 198 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 1: Any other surprises that we with mentioning about this reshuffle, 199 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,520 Speaker 1: Mark Mitchell getting ethnic Communities is an interesting choice. 200 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:38,880 Speaker 3: Yeah, there is a little bit of logic in that. 201 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:43,640 Speaker 3: I mean, they didn't have anyone who hearted from the 202 00:10:43,679 --> 00:10:47,880 Speaker 3: Asian communities or other ethnicities really to give it to, 203 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:50,040 Speaker 3: and it went to Mark from what I can gather, 204 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:54,080 Speaker 3: because he already deals relatively closely with those communities and 205 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:57,520 Speaker 3: his police portfolio or in order and crime is always 206 00:10:57,559 --> 00:11:01,880 Speaker 3: a big issue at the meeting involving the Asian community, 207 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:05,080 Speaker 3: so he already meets with them very regularly. He's also 208 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:08,880 Speaker 3: on Auckland Empey, which is where it's concentrated, and he 209 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:11,400 Speaker 3: pretty much goes to every event that there is happening, 210 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:13,720 Speaker 3: so it adds a bit of a load on him. 211 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:18,280 Speaker 3: He also picked up spored and recreation, which is quite 212 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:20,440 Speaker 3: a good one to have, to be honest, but he 213 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:22,880 Speaker 3: hasn't lost anything, so it's a bit of an increased workload. 214 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:25,640 Speaker 3: It's not that great in terms of perception. I guess 215 00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:29,360 Speaker 3: that there are no Asian politicians for that portfolio to 216 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 3: go to, and he will be relying on the likes 217 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:36,079 Speaker 3: of their kind of backbench MP's Paula Garcia and Nancy 218 00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:39,520 Speaker 3: Low to help him with that one. So it has 219 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:41,480 Speaker 3: caused a little bit of mirth, I have to admit, 220 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 3: and so we'll see how he goes on that. But 221 00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:47,960 Speaker 3: he's just a naturally chatty person and always turns up 222 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:50,400 Speaker 3: to things. So I guess the bonus. The bonus for 223 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 3: those ethnic communities is the meant their minister is now 224 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:56,720 Speaker 3: in cabinet again, whereas Melissaly was outside cabinet. So there's 225 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 3: that too. 226 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:00,640 Speaker 1: And so just to wrap it up just overall clear, 227 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:02,439 Speaker 1: do you think this is a winning reshuffle? 228 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:05,400 Speaker 3: Well, we'll wait and see. I think that it's the 229 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:07,360 Speaker 3: right time to do it because he's had a year 230 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,000 Speaker 3: to assess whether or not which ministers are performing well 231 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,839 Speaker 3: in their portfolios and which aren't. And the ones who 232 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:15,320 Speaker 3: are performing well haven't changed that much. And that includes 233 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,680 Speaker 3: the Law and order groupings that includes Erica Stanford, the 234 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:20,680 Speaker 3: lights of those, they've been left to focus on what 235 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:24,320 Speaker 3: they're doing well Already. He's clearly attempting to address the 236 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:27,959 Speaker 3: economy and health. It's a big test for sim and Brown. 237 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:31,600 Speaker 3: We'll see how that goes off. I suspect that Simeon 238 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:34,040 Speaker 3: will be He has said that his main focus will 239 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:37,400 Speaker 3: be improving waiting times for GPS and the time it 240 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 3: takes for patients to get surgical treatments. That kind of 241 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 3: thing takes time. Their issues, there are staff shortages and 242 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:45,720 Speaker 3: stuff like that. So I suspect he will be also 243 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:47,960 Speaker 3: wanting to get a few quick runs on the board 244 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:51,680 Speaker 3: through things like the infrastructure spending in health like they 245 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 3: rebuilt of Dunedin Hospital is rankled in the South Island 246 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:55,800 Speaker 3: for a long time now and they need to come 247 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:57,840 Speaker 3: up with a solution for that. That kind of stuff 248 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:00,079 Speaker 3: is what I suspect he'll be trying to get his 249 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 3: kind of quick early hits on to show that he's effective. 250 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 3: But say, yeah, we'll see how it goes. It's kind 251 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:08,199 Speaker 3: of aimed at setting them up for the twenty twenty 252 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 3: six election. I'm sure there'll be a few nips and 253 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:12,880 Speaker 3: tacks between then and now, but I wouldn't be expecting 254 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:16,040 Speaker 3: to see another massive reshuffle prior to election yere and 255 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:19,240 Speaker 3: other than if ministers decide that they're leaving in their 256 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:21,839 Speaker 3: twenty twenty six they'll get reshuffled out when they make 257 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:25,679 Speaker 3: those decisions. But yeah, it's a medium sized reshuffle. I 258 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 3: aimed at scratching some issues of concern for lux in 259 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,240 Speaker 3: health and economic growth and showing they're focusing on those areas. 260 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:33,440 Speaker 3: So we'll see how it goes. 261 00:13:33,559 --> 00:13:39,040 Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us, Claire, a pleasure. That's it for 262 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:41,200 Speaker 1: this episode of the Front Page. You can read more 263 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:44,839 Speaker 1: about today's stories and extensive news coverage at zidherld dot 264 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:48,120 Speaker 1: co dot nzied. The Front Page is produced by Ethan Sills. 265 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:51,360 Speaker 1: I'm Richard Martham. Subscribe to The Front Page on iHeartRadio 266 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:54,319 Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts, and tune in tomorrow 267 00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:56,120 Speaker 1: for another look behind the headlines.