Nicola Willis appointed National Party Finance spokesperson

Public Policy / news

National Party Deputy Leader Nicola Willis appointed Finance spokesperson; Housing portfolio passed on to Chris Bishop

16th Mar 22, 10:00am by Jenée Tibshraeny

Nicola Willis

National Deputy Leader Nicola Willis has been appointed the party's Finance spokesperson, following Simon Bridges on Tuesday announcing his resignation.

Willis has previously been an active member of Parliament's Finance and Expenditure Committee, held management roles at Fonterra, and worked for Bill English when she was fresh out of university. She is known for being a hard worker.

Like Finance Minister Grant Robertson, Willis lives in central Wellington.

As Housing spokesperson, Willis recently worked with the Government on its policy to tweak the Resource Management Act to allow for more housing intensification in the country's main centres.

She is part of the more liberal wing of the party, and along with Chris Bishop, backed Todd Muller and Nikki Kaye when they rolled Bridges and Paula Bennett in a leadership contest in 2020.

Her Housing portfolio has been given to Bishop, who will be moved up the rankings to number three on the list. He will also get Infrastructure and hold onto his Covid-19 Response portfolio.

Shane Reti has been promoted to number four and Paul Goldsmith to number five.

Quizzed by media on Wednesday morning on her position on various financial matters, Willis held the party line, calling for more prudent government expenditure, adjusting income tax brackets, considering whether the Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Committee should only target inflation and not employment, etc.

National Leader Christopher Luxon said, “Kiwis are going backwards under Labour, and Nicola will take the Government to task over the cost of living crisis and their wasteful spending decisions.

“Nicola has an incredible intellect, prodigious work ethic and proven ability to hold the Government to account as we’ve seen her do on housing. She will build on National’s track record as the best economic managers to help Kiwis get ahead."

Bridges said he decided to quit politics to pursue commercial opportunities and spend more time with his young family. He has been in politics for 14 years, during which time he was a Cabinet minister, was Leader of the party, was rolled, put his hat in the ring for the position again, and then rose up the party's ranks again to get the Finance role.

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49 Comments

by Tee | 16th Mar 22, 10:04am 1647378272

Finance given to a trusted lieutenant. Luxon has cemented his position, after the favourable polling.

by HouseMouse | 16th Mar 22, 10:14am 1647378853

National's stock of talent doesn't look any deeper than Labour's, to me.

by Foxglove. | 16th Mar 22, 12:38pm 1647387523

Aye. There it is. Can’t argue with that myself. Still National has opportunity to get it’s A into G and start introducing candidates of calibre & standing before the next election. Starting with the by election soon in Tauranga in fact. If National has not learnt by now, how some of the shenanigans of some of their low level mps, has cost them drastically in the last years, then they don’t deserve to exist. As well, some of the relics & deadwood need to disappear too and be replaced with some energy & modern thinking.

by Advisor | 16th Mar 22, 1:19pm 1647389963

What good are high-calibre candidates if the leadership doesn't want to actually reform our economy and instead feed off the same old low-hanging fruits of low-wage migration and housing inflation?

Shane Reti's political talents aside, his PhD in medical sciences from Harvard comes of no use to NZ if National wishes to carry on with Key's fiscal conservatism of starving health and education to pay down public debt.

by Foxglove. | 16th Mar 22, 1:53pm 1647391983

Yes agreed. But it can happen. The Lange Douglas government, whether you like them or not, arrived with a dynamic & radical agenda, which I suspect most New Zealanders including me, had very little inkling of. Hard to know though isn’t it, but at least if there is some talent in the swamp there is a chance it might percolate up and make a difference. But really, from all sides of the house, there have been identities that have had neither the integrity nor capability, to fulfil the serious requirements of serving in parliament and have to say, their influence has been both negative and shameful. So, at the risk of being a hopeless optimist, a better talent pool might reverse that?

by imhenry | 17th Mar 22, 7:52am 1647456736

Australia could be a good place for you to go

by linklater01 | 17th Mar 22, 8:24am 1647458665

Advisor,

Who the hell can I vote for then? I briefly thought that i might be able to vote National, but as soon as Luxon went down the tax cutting route, I knew that wasn't on.

The serial incompetence of this lot isn't my main issue with them. Sadly, I don't expect the government to be all that efficient, but Ardern's government has become ever less transparent, secretive and wants to centralise everything. The 3 waters reform as proposed is anti-democratic and a cost/benefit analysis of the amended light rail project is appalling. The last figure I saw was $29 billion.

by Spike2 | 16th Mar 22, 10:16am 1647378960

Anybody know what her financial credentials are? Education/experience?

by GV 27 | 16th Mar 22, 10:19am 1647379195

Hasn't been a stumbling block for Finance Ministers since the 1990s. Almost none have had finance backgrounds.

by lastlegs | 16th Mar 22, 10:50am 1647381053

ruth richardson had a law degree and yet was outstanding in her field.

by Advisor | 16th Mar 22, 11:05am 1647381953

I suppose the technical credibility of portfolio ministers is out of question when political ideology and the party leader's public image have dictated policy decisions in NZ for the better part of 2 decades.

Wouldn't be wrong to say that the general public and our country come in further down in the list of priorities for MPs; who see serving the interest of their party, the leadership and loyal voter bases as primary ways to stay in power, not necessarily in that order.

by Eschaton | 16th Mar 22, 10:22am 1647379363

By the way she talks down to the general public I would guess pre-school teacher.

by HouseMouse | 16th Mar 22, 10:34am 1647380042

As a key sponsor of the new mandated density rules (pretty much at least 3 storey development almost everywhere), she's not going to be very popular in Auckland in about 4-5 weeks when the council consults on the proposed changes.

Mind you, it was an agreement with Labour so perhaps won't hurt her / National too much.

by Carlos67 | 16th Mar 22, 12:45pm 1647387951

The same school as Jacinda was teaching at ? or maybe she just learned that talking to the general public like we are all still in pre-school is cool.

by Brock Landers | 16th Mar 22, 10:29am 1647379768

She graduated with a first-class honours degree in English literature from Victoria University of Wellington in 2003, and earned a post-graduate diploma in journalism from the University of Canterbury in 2017.

by billsay | 16th Mar 22, 10:39am 1647380386

and, as the article above says: "held management roles at Fonterra, and worked for Bill English when she was fresh out of university." Let's see, that is English Literature degree, journalist degree and then Bill English and then Fonterra. It would be interesting to hear any details on her roles and accomplishments at Fonterra.

by Brock Landers | 16th Mar 22, 10:54am 1647381277

The journalism diploma was completed in 2017.

by J.C. | 16th Mar 22, 11:08am 1647382100

It would be interesting to hear any details on her roles and accomplishments at Fonterra.

The corporate daycare center of NZ's best and 'brightest'.

by gnx | 16th Mar 22, 11:18am 1647382688

Her LinkedIn profile says she did a few years in government relations at Fonterra then had a few 12 mth commercial roles.

Four roles in four years.... yeah nah

What is of note is her former time at the NZ Initiative. That lobbying company that passes itself off as an association.

by Advisor | 16th Mar 22, 2:10pm 1647393052

Isn't that also what government relations means? A job that involves encouraging policymakers to look the other way when higher prices are being squeezed out of NZ consumers' pockets than what our export markets pay.

by nigelh | 16th Mar 22, 12:29pm 1647386988

An aside note from my records.

Muller (the 30day? leader) started his role at Fonterra as Manager of Local Government and Regional Relations from February 2011 through to May 2012. He then became Group Director of Co-operative Affairs from May 2012 until June 2014, when he left the dairy company in order to focus on campaigning for the 2014 general election after being selected as the National Party candidate for the Bay of Plenty electorate

Surprise surprise Nicola Willis started at Fonterra in 2012

by imhenry | 17th Mar 22, 7:53am 1647456839

why not read her cv

by house hunter | 16th Mar 22, 10:24am 1647379491

This appointment might not be so important. Isn't it likely that Seymour will be Finance Minister if Nats+ACT win the next election?

by JimboJones | 16th Mar 22, 1:19pm 1647389952

Will ACT have any bargaining power, or just be a lame duck like the greens? I doubt Labour would ever form a coalition with them, so why would National give them finance minister?

by GV 27 | 16th Mar 22, 10:25am 1647379520

Kind of feel like Housing needs an Auckland MP fronting on it. The issues are many times worse here than in other parts of the country, ditto for the infrastructure shortfall relative to population.

Bishop is an effective MP and speaks well, but he hasn't seemed that imaginative when it comes to Auckland issues and no one in National seems to appreciate the urgency around dealing with things like congestion in Auckland, which will turn back into a hell-hole post-Omicron as things open up. Bus lanes in ten years' time won't cut it, nor will endlessly holding out for self-driving cars/buses which are always just five years away.

Many white collar workers will be facing declining house values underwritten with big mortgages and less and less time with family, and may decide it's time to see whether the grass is greener on the other side of the ditch.

by Brock Landers | 16th Mar 22, 10:32am 1647379973

Congestion will be less than you think. Working from home is normalised and many people can't afford petrol anymore

by GV 27 | 16th Mar 22, 10:38am 1647380282

That varies wildly across Auckland. Throughout L4, SH16 was one of the busiest in the country. It didn't take long for us to get back to hour long commutes at Level 1. West Auckland is poorly served by assumptions that it commutes like the rest of the city because generally it doesn't and the people who live there often don't have a choice about their hours or where they work.

by HouseMouse | 16th Mar 22, 10:49am 1647380982

Hopefully the half price public transport fares become permanent, and we can start seeing more apartment development near train stations / major bus interchanges.

Especially if petrol keeps rising, $25-$30 pw return from say New Lynn (for example) to the CBD, with the new CRL in place and quicker travel time, starts to look quite appealing.

by GV 27 | 16th Mar 22, 11:01am 1647381694

Unfortunately the really fast growing bits of West Auckland are far away from the railway line and there's no plans within the next five years for bus interchanges in the North West quarter.

by RickStrauss | 16th Mar 22, 3:42pm 1647398565

Unbelievable that SH16 had all that work done on it while Westgate was developing but they completely neglected to put in a separated bus lane and park and ride. Incredible. What were NZTA and National thinking back then? The prime opportunity, completely missed.

by solardb | 16th Mar 22, 10:09pm 1647421791

NZTA equalled roads. Public transport or rail were just something to pay lip service too.

by kpnuts | 16th Mar 22, 11:19am 1647382784

hopefully not - a third of the rate money goes to subsidise an ineffectual and virtually unusable system unless you are actual on a main link and work in the central city - for the vast majority of the Auckland region its completely useless -- Central government will not continue -- and it will be back to ratepayers again -- yet another " targeted rate " = along with Water, fuel, waste added to rates but still allowing the mayor to say he did not put rates up by more than 5% -- been going on for years now and will likely continue given that the greens have endorsed the Labour candidate - and National seem unwilling to really contest the position. so the only choice is complete lunatic fringe candidates

by GV 27 | 16th Mar 22, 3:51pm 1647399093

The CRL is solving the exact issue of trains only going to the CBD and stopping at a dead end in Britomart, which means they can keep moving through the network and people should see far more trains per hour. It's the difference between the kind of turn up and go system other places have and our network, that you wouldn't use if you really have to be somewhere, and it will make cross town journeys possible without waiting around for your connecting train - because there'll always be one.

Agreed though, it's not doing a lot for people who don't already have access to rail.

by HouseMouse | 16th Mar 22, 10:45am 1647380703

She seems steady, competent and pleasant, but far from inspiring. I've seen her debating in parliament, and she's calm and considered, but far from amazing intellectually, in how she grapples with issues.

by JimboJones | 16th Mar 22, 1:23pm 1647390196

But interesting that numbers 2 and 3 are now the more progressive side of National (not sure where they classify Luxon)

by Jonny.Foe | 16th Mar 22, 10:46am 1647380775

Same old crap:

Cut Govt spending (apart from tax cuts for your voters);
Keep a healthy bufferstock of desperate people unemployed to keep wages low (whilst pretending to be focused on jobs and providing opportunity for all);
Encourage private landlords to build housing for extortionate rent and profit (and directly subsidise it)
Throw in a few apprenticeship schemes for the poors (whilst attracting skilled people from overseas that you don't have to pay to educate)
Go hard on law and order (but not on corporates)

by HouseMouse | 16th Mar 22, 10:58am 1647381489

Yeah uninspired.

by nigelh | 16th Mar 22, 5:45pm 1647405931

My wife heard a radio comment that Luxon said there are an extra 14,00 civil servants since Labour became govt. Now generally National cut the civil service to the bone so I would expect an increase of 3 or 4 thousand when Labour get in and Covid has added 3-4000? extra contract workers. Can anyone verify these numbers?

by imhenry | 17th Mar 22, 8:02am 1647457364

Oh boy your panties are in a knot

by GenerationY | 16th Mar 22, 11:40am 1647384018

I keep wanting National to inspire me. Show me they are ready to govern. We have chosen a English and journalism graduate to be our finance leader. Commercial roles - Stakeholder Management and Government lobbying at Fonterra. So no background in economic understanding. Why do we accept this level of mediocrity from both parties.

We not only have a crisis of leaving costs.

We have a crisis of talent across all the political parties.

It is imperative our public system and government have smart, innovative, moral people joining them if we want to progress. A question would be, how do we reform politics to encourage this?

Maybe it is for this reason (lack of economic understanding) that national seams to believe government spending is driving inflation. Not that fact that the reserve bank financed that spending. Or the even larger elephant - the federal reserve has driven inflation of nearly every asset class globally with their money printing.

by Tigadee | 16th Mar 22, 12:27pm 1647386834

It is imperative our public system and government have smart, innovative, moral people joining them if we want to progress. A question would be, how do we reform politics to encourage this?

Follow the Singapore model - well-compensated for well-qualified with well-accountable... Ministers are paid half a million a pop (PM is a million $, I believe). No excuses of "I have to pay my poor sick mother's medical bills". If you are involved in corruption, you have no excuses and you're not only out, but thrown in jail.

Public servants are trained in hard sciences as well as public, national and international affairs. Someone is not considered qualified if they do not have a relevant background, e.g. Finance minister used to be economist, banker, analyst, etc. Again, well-compensated.

Cronyism is frowned on and dealt with harshly. An old legend is that Lee Kuan Yew (former and founding PM of Singapore) found out about a minister who'd taken bribes and was about to have the minister prosecuted. The minister came to Lee and confessed, pleading for mercy, that he'd return the money, resign his post and to please spare his family the shame. Lee said absolutely not and had the full force of the law throw the guilty minister in jail.

by HouseMouse | 16th Mar 22, 12:29pm 1647386943

Cut the number of MPs by 30-35%, and up their salaries by 30-35%.

I guarantee the calibre will improve.

by HouseMouse | 16th Mar 22, 12:32pm 1647387178

People will know I'm 'centre-left', but I would actually respect and potentially vote for a National Party that was actually clever and strategic in it's vision around our economy.

I don't see this at all with Luxon et al. It's just more of the same stuff which has led us to the problems we now face.

by Tigadee | 16th Mar 22, 12:42pm 1647387751

That's what you get when you get two major centre parties? One a little left and one a little right? Only minor differences?

by GenerationY | 16th Mar 22, 1:15pm 1647389724

I'm have no real position ranging from left all the way to right. I support green policies, act policies, labour and national policies. But I support little of what I'm hearing from national of late. Despite Luxons original statements that he would focus on Rising productivity and focusing on education, all we get is tax cuts for the wealthy and asset rich. Yay tax cuts - everythings solved now!

by Tigadee | 16th Mar 22, 1:35pm 1647390934

Yes, but little known fact: he used to run an airline!

by Average Kiwi | 16th Mar 22, 2:56pm 1647395789

Hard to miss that one, he talks a lot about how he turned Air NZ around. Running an airline must be difficult, but easier if you take over an airline where Norris and Fyfe have already done the heavy lifting.

by Whatwillhappen | 16th Mar 22, 1:12pm 1647389569

This would make Nicola Willis only the second finance spokeswoman for either National or Labour in their whole history Ruth Richardson being the first.

Happy to be corrected.

by nktokyo | 16th Mar 22, 2:01pm 1647392514

She was great on housing. Good appointment.