Shadow Cabinet of Judith Collins

The Shadow Cabinet of Judith Collins forms the official Opposition in the 52nd New Zealand Parliament. It comprises the members of the New Zealand National Party, which is the largest party not a member of the Government. Collins came to power after the resignation of Todd Muller on 14 July 2020.[1][2]

Formation

After gaining the leadership, Collins stated that she would formally announce portfolio assignations and the caucus rankings on 16 July. However, she indicated in her first press conference on 14 July that Paul Goldsmith would likely retain the Finance portfolio, suggested in a television interview that ousted deputy leader Nikki Kaye would likely keep the Education portfolio, and stated in her second press conference on 15 July that Shane Reti would replace Michael Woodhouse as Health spokesperson and join the front bench.[3][4]

Ahead of Collins' announcement, Kaye and Amy Adams, who had ranked third and been a key part of the leadership "triangle",[5][6][7] announced they would retire at the general election. Adams' retirement was apparently linked to the loss of her COVID-19 recovery portfolio.[5] The full list of party spokespersons was announced on 16 July.[8][9] Commentators noticed that the departures of senior MPs Kaye and Adams meant that the "minor" reshuffle Collins had foreshadowed was "more substantial" as a result.[6][10]

National's former leaders were ranked highly: Simon Bridges at four, the same rank he had given Collins when he was leader, and Muller at eight. Woodhouse, the former Health spokesperson, was demoted and given the Pike River recovery and regional economic development portfolios.[4] Mark Mitchell, who had contested the leadership against Collins, was also demoted, from ninth to 15th, and lost the Justice portfolio to Bridges.[11] Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis, who are regarded as members of the "liberal wing" of the National Party and were key players in Muller's coup two months earlier, were both promoted and received new roles.[6] Bishop became Shadow Leader of the House; Willis picked up the Education role. These promotions were regarded as replacing the more liberal but departing Kaye and Adams.[6] Another significant promotion was that of first-term MP Harete Hipango who was moved up 21 places and made Shadow Attorney-General. Deputy leader Gerry Brownlee took a new portfolio for COVID-19 Border Response. Adams' drug reform role went to the conservative MP Nick Smith who, other than Collins and Brownlee, is the last remaining member of former Prime Minister John Key's 2008 Cabinet.

As in previous National Party portfolio allocations, only MPs contesting the next election are assigned portfolios. The press release issued with most of the changes appears to have been incomplete; the National Party website shows Paulo Garcia holding the Land Information portfolio (which previously belonged to the now-retiring Hamish Walker), Agnes Loheni in an Associate Health role, and Jian Yang in the list of retiring MPs.[12]

Subsequent changes

Under pressure from Collins, the first-term MP for Rangitata, Andrew Falloon, resigned from Parliament on 21 July 2020 after sending sexually explicit text messages to young women.[13][14] Falloon had been ranked at 35 and was spokesperson for biosecurity, and an associate spokesperson for agriculture, economic development and transport.[9] The National Party website was updated to show that senior whip Barbara Kuriger was allocated Falloon's agriculture role and third whip Tim van de Molen had picked up Falloon's biosecurity and transport responsibilities; the associate economic development portfolio was not reassigned.[15]

List of spokespersons

Rank		MP	Portfolio
	1	Hon Judith Collins	Leader of the Opposition Spokesperson for National Security and Intelligence
	2	Hon Gerry Brownlee	Deputy Leader of the Opposition Spokesperson for the GCSB Spokesperson for the NZSIS Spokesperson for COVID-19 Border Response
	3	Hon Paul Goldsmith	Spokesperson for Finance Spokesperson for the Earthquake Commission
	4	Hon Simon Bridges	Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Spokesperson for Justice
	5	Shane Reti	Spokesperson for Health
	6	Hon Todd McClay	Spokesperson for Economic Development Spokesperson for Tourism
	7	Chris Bishop	Spokesperson for Infrastructure Spokesperson for Transport Shadow Leader of the House
	8	Todd Muller	Spokesperson for Trade
	9	Hon Louise Upston	Spokesperson for Social Development Spokesperson for Social Investment
	10	Hon Scott Simpson	Spokesperson for the Environment Spokesperson for Climate Change Spokesperson for Planning (RMA Reform)
	11	Hon David Bennett	Spokesperson for Agriculture
	12	Hon Michael Woodhouse	Spokesperson for Regional Economic Development Spokesperson for Pike River Mine re-entry Deputy Shadow Leader of the House
	13	Nicola Willis	Spokesperson for Education Spokesperson for Early Childhood Education
	14	Hon Jacqui Dean	Spokesperson for Housing and Urban Development Spokesperson for Conservation
	15	Hon Mark Mitchell	Spokesperson for Defence & Disarmament Spokesperson for Sport & Recreation
	16	Melissa Lee	Spokesperson for Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Spokesperson for Data and Cyber-security
	17	Andrew Bayly	Spokesperson for Revenue Spokesperson for Commerce Spokesperson for State-Owned Enterprises Spokesperson for Small Business and Manufacturing Associate Spokesperson for Finance
	18	Hon Nick Smith	Spokesperson for State Services Spokesperson for Electoral Law Reform Spokesperson for Drug Reform
	19	Hon Alfred Ngaro	Spokesperson for Pacific Peoples Spokesperson for the Community and Voluntary Sector Spokesperson for Children Spokesperson for Disability Issues
	20	Barbara Kuriger	Senior Whip Spokesperson for Food Safety Spokesperson for Rural Communities Spokesperson for Women Associate Spokesperson for Agriculture
	21	Harete Hipango	Shadow Attorney-General Spokesperson for Crown-Māori Relations Spokesperson for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Spokesperson for Māori Tourism
	22	Jonathan Young	Spokesperson for Energy & Resources Spokesperson for Arts, Culture and Heritage
	23	Hon Tim Macindoe	Spokesperson for ACC Spokesperson for Skills and Employment Spokesperson for Seniors Spokesperson for Civil Defense
	24	Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi	Spokesperson for Ethnic Communities Associate Spokesperson for Justice
	25	Matt Doocey	Junior Whip Spokesperson for Mental Health
	26	Stuart Smith	Spokesperson for Immigration Spokesperson for Viticulture
	27	Simon O'Connor	Spokesperson for Customs Associate Spokesperson for Social Development Associate Spokesperson for Housing and Urban Development (Social Housing)
	28	Lawrence Yule	Spokesperson for Local Government
	29	Denise Lee	Spokesperson for Local Government (Auckland)
	30	Parmjeet Parmar	Spokesperson for Research, Science and Innovation Spokesperson for Statistics
	31	Brett Hudson	Spokesperson for Police Spokesperson for Government Digital Services
	32	Simeon Brown	Spokesperson for Corrections Spokesperson for Tertiary Education Spokesperson for Youth Associate Spokesperson for Education Associate Spokesperson for Drug Reform
	33	Ian McKelvie	Spokesperson for Racing Spokesperson for Fisheries Spokesperson for Forestry
	34	Jo Hayes	Spokesperson for Whanau Ora Spokesperson for Maori Development
	35	Matt King	Spokesperson for Regional Development (North Island) Associate Spokesperson for Transport
	36	Chris Penk	Spokesperson for Courts Spokesperson for Veterans
	37	Erica Stanford	Spokesperson for Internal Affairs Associate Spokesperson for the Environment Associate Spokesperson for Conservation
	38	Tim van de Molen	Third Whip Spokesperson for Building and Construction Spokesperson for Biosecurity Associate Spokesperson for Transport
	39	Maureen Pugh	Spokesperson for Consumer Affairs Spokesperson for Regional Development (South Island) Spokesperson for West Coast Issues
	40	Dan Bidois	Spokesperson for Workplace Relations and Safety
	41	Agnes Loheni	Associate Spokesperson for Small Business Associate Spokesperson for Pacific Peoples Associate Spokesperson for Health
	42	Paulo Garcia	Spokesperson for Land Information

Unranked MPs (retiring at 2020 election)

• Hon Amy Adams
• Hon Maggie Barry
• Hon Paula Bennett
• Rt Hon David Carter
• Hon Nathan Guy
• Hon Nikki Kaye
• Hon Anne Tolley (Deputy Speaker)
• Hon Nicky Wagner
• Sarah Dowie
• Alistair Scott
• Hamish Walker
• Jian Yang

References

1. Graham-McLay, Charlotte (14 July 2020). "Judith Collins named New Zealand National party's new leader". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
2. "Judith Collins undecided if Michael Woodhouse will keep health role in wake of Covid-19 patient info leak". 1 NEWS. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
3. "Michael Woodhouse stripped of National Party's health portfolio". RNZ. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
4. "Covid-19 leak: Judith Collins drops Michael Woodhouse from health role, replacing him with Shane Reti". Stuff. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
5. Malpress, Luke (16 July 2020). "The end of the triangle and National's road ahead". Stuff. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
6. Cooke, Henry (16 July 2020). "Judith Collins looks to stabilise chaotic party in first reshuffle". Stuff. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
7. Vance, Andrea (18 July 2020). "Better the devil you know: the inside story of how Judith Collins became National's leader". Stuff. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
8. New Zealand National Party (16 July 2020). "Judith Collins announces caucus reshuffle". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
9. New Zealand National Party (16 July 2020). "National Party Spokesperson Allocations July 2020" (PDF). Retrieved 16 July 2020.
10. "Collins makes careful caucus moves as more MPs go". Newsroom. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
11. "Reti rises, Mitchell misses in Collins' National reshuffle". Newsroom. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
12. New Zealand National Party. "Our Team". Retrieved 17 July 2020.
13. "New sex-text claims: National MP Andrew Falloon quits politics immediately; Judith Collins says she 'no longer trust his story'". NZ Herald. 20 July 2020. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
14. Devlin, Collette; Daly, Michael (20 July 2020). "Andrew Falloon resigns - follows push from National Party leader Judith Collins". Stuff. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
15. New Zealand National Party. "Our Team". Retrieved 20 July 2020.