The new government

New Zealand’s new government is taking its final form. The Coalition Agreement was signed yesterday between the New Zealand Labour Party and New Zealand First, and the Confidence and Supply Agreement was signed between Labour the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. Today, the assignment of ministers was announced, and tomorrow the new government will be sworn in. And then it will all be official: The new government will be up and running.

New Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will, as she stated early on, keep Arts Culture and Heritage and a role in children’s issues. Specifically, she’ll take on the specific role of Child Poverty Reduction. Winston Peters will be Deputy Prime Minister, as he was in the 1996 Labour Government, and he’ll also be Minister of Foreign Affairs, as he was in the previous Labour-led Government, back in 2005.

The rest of the announced portfolios are strong and good choices, in my opinion, and many of them are grouped so that ministries with similar missions will have the same minister. Very smart.

Tomorrow the show really begins, though, as the new Government is sworn in, and we finally have a new government.