The new three party coalition government will feature Winston Peters as Deputy Prime Minister for the first-half of its three-year term, and David Seymour for the second half.
The NZ First leader will also be Minister of Foreign Affairs, with the ACT Party leader Minister for Regulation.
The 20-member Cabinet will have 14 National Ministers, three ACT Ministers and three NZ First Ministers. National Party Deputy Leader Nicola Willis will be Minister of Finance, ACT's Brooke van Velden will be Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, and Shane Jones will be Minister for Regional Development.
There will also be five ministers from National, two from ACT and one from NZ First outside Cabinet
As part of National’s agreement with NZ First, its proposed foreign house buyer tax won't go ahead. However, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says National's proposed tax package will "continue to be funded through a combination of spending reprioritisation and additional revenue measures."
"Policy changes will help offset the loss of revenue from that change. National’s fiscal plan also had buffers which give confidence that tax reduction can still be funded responsibly," Luxon says.
"The coalition parties have adopted ACT’s policy to speed up the rate at which interest deductibility for rental properties is restored."
Pledges in the National-ACT agreement include disestablishing the Productivity Commission, rewriting the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act "to protect vulnerable consumers without unnecessarily limiting access to credit," amending the Overseas Investment Act "to limit ministerial decision making to national security concerns and make such decision making more timely," reforming market studies introduced by the Commerce Amendment Act "to focus on reducing regulatory barriers to new entrants to drive competition."
Also; restoring mortgage interest deductibility for rental properties with a 60% deduction in 2023/24, 80% in 2024/25, and 100% in 2025/26, repeal the clean car discount, narrow the Reserve Bank's monetary policy mandate to price stability by removing the second target of maximum sustainable employment, take advice on replacing "medium term" with specific time targets, repeal the Fair Pay Agreement regime by Christmas 2023, expand 90-day trials to apply to all businesses, legislate to make the medium density residential standards (MDRS0 optional for councils, with the need for councils to ratify any use of MDRS, including existing zones, and work with Auckland Council to implement time of use road charging to reduce congestion and improve travel time reliability.
Pledges in the National-NZ First agreement include; keeping the superannuation age at 65, investigating the reopening of Marsden Point Refinery, progress work examining connecting the railway to Marsden Point and Northport from the Northern Main Truck Line, progress a business case for a dry dock at Marsden Point to service domestic and international shipping needs and to support Navy vessels, require the electricity regulator to implement regulations "such that there is sufficient electricity infrastructure to ensure security of supply and avoid excessive prices," and ensure climate change policies "are aligned and do not undermine national energy security."
The agreement also says a select committee inquiry into banking competition will be established, with "broad and deep criteria" to focus on competitiveness, customer services, and profitability. The new government will also "explore options to strengthen the powers of the Grocery Commissioner, to improve competitiveness, and to address the lack of a third entrant to remove the market power of a duopoly."
And; stop the current review Emissions Trading Scheme review "to restore confidence and certainty to the carbon trading market," progress work to recognise other forms of carbon sequestration, including blue carbon, incentivise the uptake of emissions reduction mitigations, such as low methane genetics, and low methane producing animal feed, support farm environment plans administered by regional councils and targeted at a catchment level, adopt standardised farm level reporting, "cut red tape and regulatory blocks" on irrigation, water storage, managed aquifer recharge and flood protection schemes.
Plus; establish a National Infrastructure Agency under the direction of relevant Ministers to coordinate government funding, connect investors with NZ infrastructure, and improve funding, procurement, and delivery to "prioritise strategic infrastructure to improve the resilience of heavy industry in New Zealand," and establish a Regional Infrastructure Fund with $1.2 billion in capital funding over the Parliamentary term.
National will nominate Gerry Brownlee to be Speaker.
Other roles include Chris Bishop as Minister of Housing, Minister for Infrastructure, and Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Shane Reti Minister of Health, Simeon Brown Minister for Energy, Minister for Transport and Minister of Local Government, Erica Stanford Minister of Education and Minister of Immigration, Paul Goldsmith Minister of Justice, Minister for State Owned Enterprises and Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Judith Collins Attorney General, Minister of Defence and Minister for Digitising Government, Todd McClay Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Forestry, Simon Watts Minister of Climate Change and Minister of Revenue outside Cabinet, and Andrew Bayly Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing and Minister of Statistics, also outside Cabinet.
The full ministerial list is here.
The National-ACT agreement is here.
The National-NZ First agreement is here.
Luxon's statement is below.
National, ACT and New Zealand First to deliver for all New Zealanders
The new coalition government of National, ACT and New Zealand First will be stable, effective and will deliver for all New Zealanders, National Leader and incoming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says.
“Despite the challenging economic environment, New Zealanders can look forward to a better future because of the changes the new Government will make,” Mr Luxon says.
“I said on election night that we would be a government that would deliver for every New Zealander, regardless of who we are, where we are and whatever our life circumstances. How the coalition parties do that has been at the core of our negotiations.
“New Zealanders have put their trust in us. In return, we trust New Zealanders. We believe in this country. We are ambitious for it. We know that, with the right leadership, the right policies and the right direction, together New Zealanders can make this an even better country.”
The three-party coalition government is the first in New Zealand’s MMP history, with all parties represented in Cabinet.
- New Zealand First Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters will be Deputy Prime Minister for the first half of the three-year Parliamentary term
- ACT Leader David Seymour will be Deputy Prime Minister for the second half of the term
- Mr Peters will be Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Mr Seymour Minister for Regulation.
- The 20-strong Cabinet will have 14 National Ministers, three ACT Ministers and three New Zealand First Ministers
- Nicola Willis will be Minister of Finance, Brooke van Velden will be Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety and Hon Shane Jones will be Minister for Regional Development
- There will be five ministers from National, two from ACT and one from New Zealand First outside Cabinet
- ACT and New Zealand First will each have one Parliamentary Under-Secretary
“The Government will manage a strong economy that will ease the cost of living and deliver tax relief, restore law and order, deliver better public services and strengthen democracy.
“The coalition documents between National and ACT, and National and New Zealand First, provide for both ACT and New Zealand First to support the major elements of National’s policy programme including our 100-day plan, our 100-point economic plan, and our tax and fiscal plans, with some adjustments.
“The National and ACT agreement provides that the Government will progress a range of ACT initiatives, and these will be supported by New Zealand First. Equally, the National and New Zealand First coalition agreement outlines a range of New Zealand First priorities, which will be supported by ACT.
“The coalition parties believe people should be rewarded for their effort and hard-working Kiwis should keep more of what they earn. National campaigned on that commitment and, next July, the Government will deliver it.
“The tax package will continue to be funded through a combination of spending reprioritisation and additional revenue measures. However, as part of National’s agreement with New Zealand First, the proposed foreign buyer tax will no longer go ahead. Policy changes will help offset the loss of revenue from that change. National’s fiscal plan also had buffers which give confidence that tax reduction can still be funded responsibly.
“The coalition parties have adopted ACT’s policy to speed up the rate at which interest deductibility for rental properties is restored.
“Delivering tax relief is just one part of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy. The Government will ease the cost of living, reduce wasteful spending, and lift economic growth to increase opportunities and prosperity for all New Zealanders.”
“Restoring law and order will be as important to the Government as it is to the public. In addition to National’s policies to tackle gangs and youth crime, the parties have agreed with ACT to re-write the Arms Act, and agreed with New Zealand First to train no fewer than 500 new Police.
“Part of treating taxpayers’ money with respect is getting better value from public services. We will set targets, like shorter wait times in hospitals, and public services will be delivered on the basis of need.
“To lift educational performance, every class will undertake an hour a day each of reading, writing and maths. The parties have agreed to adopt ACT’s policies to reintroduce partnership schools and to allow state schools to become partnership schools.
Other key policies in the agreements include:
- A new agency, accountable to the Minister for Regulation, will assess the quality of new and existing regulation. This agency, proposed by ACT, will be funded by disestablishing the Productivity Commission
- A Regional Infrastructure Fund, proposed by New Zealand First, that will have $1.2 billion in capital funding
“I thank the public for their patience since Election Day. It’s a credit to our country that we now handle the MMP process with such calm and maturity.
“I also thank the caretaker government for their assistance during the transition period.
“It’s exciting to be on the cusp of delivering a big policy programme with two coalition partners who, alongside National, are determined to make New Zealanders’ lives better.
“On election night, I said that we’d listened to the public and heard a description of a better New Zealand. New Zealanders want change that makes our lives easier. We want change that improves our opportunities. We want change that makes this great country even better. The Government is going to deliver that change and we are ready to get on with it.”
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