New government is announced – and a new science Minister is named

“Science” was sparsely mentioned in the documents released when Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced details of the agreement reached in post-election coalition negotiations among the National, ACT and New Zealand First Parties.

One mention was in the list of ministers in the new government:  Judith Collins was named Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.

Another mention was in the agreement struck between the National and ACT Parties.

One plank of agriculture policy under that agreement is to…

“Maintain a split-gas approach to methane and carbon dioxide through to 2050 and review the methane science and targets in 2024 for consistency with no additional warming from agricultural methane emissions.”

On its initial reading of the documents, AgScience found no mention of “research”.

Announcing the new coalition government of National, ACT and New Zealand First MPs, Mr Luxon declared:

“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 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
  • The 20-strong Cabinet will have 14 National Ministers, three ACT Ministers and three New Zealand First Ministers
  • 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

One list of policies can be found in ACT’s coalition agreement.

Another can be found in New Zealand First‘s coalition agreement.

The Ministers with responsibilities most likely to affect scientists, science students, farmers and horticulturalists are:

      • Judith Collins –

Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology

      • Todd McClay

Minister of Agriculture

Minister of Forestry

      • Simon Watts

Minister of Climate Change

      • Penny Simmonds

Minister for the Environment

Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills

      • Andrew Hoggard (outside Cabinet)

Minister for Biosecurity

Minister for Food Safety

Associate Minister of Agriculture (Animal Welfare, Skills)

Associate Minister for the Environment

      • Simon Court MP

Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform

      • Mark Patterson (outside Cabinet)

Minister for Rural Communities

Associate Minister of Agriculture

Author: Bob Edlin

Editor of AgScience Magazine and Editor of the AgScience Blog