New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has a “moko kauae” – a traditional Maori tattoo on her chin.
Wellington, New Zealand:
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday unveiled what she called an “incredibly diverse” cabinet that includes New Zealand’s openly gay First Deputy Prime Minister and a foreign minister with a Maori face tattoo.
The center-left leader reorganized her ministerial makeup following a landslide election victory, saying her priorities for the second term were to respond to Covid-19 and promote economic recovery.
Ardern appointed Grant Robertson deputy prime minister, making him the first openly gay person to hold the post.
Women and the Maori community are also heavily represented in the 20-member cabinet, including new Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta, who wears a moko kauae – a traditional Maori tattoo on her chin.
While expressing pride in the diversity of her cabinet, Ms Ardern also said that appointments were made on merit.
“It is both a firm with enormous merit and talent, which also happens to be incredibly diverse,” said the 40-year-old.
“I think that’s an important point to stress – these are people who have been promoted for what they bring to the cabinet, they also reflect the New Zealand that elected them.
“I think that as a country we should be proud of this.”
Robertson, 49, who was chief strategist during Ardern’s election campaign, retains the finance portfolio he held in the first term and also becomes minister of infrastructure.
Asked about the importance of having a gay man in the role, Ardern said her reasons for choosing him were his leadership qualities, not how he identified himself.
“One of the amazing things about New Zealand is that we are often in a space where these issues become secondary,” she said.
“The representation is there and it is not the first consideration, it is often not how our members identify themselves first and foremost.”
Ardern won the October 17 election campaign over New Zealand’s success against the coronavirus and his cabinet includes a new role of Covid-19 response minister, held by former Health Minister Chris Hipkins.
She said the change would allow Hipkins to focus on issues such as border control and isolation management, without distracting himself from the broader health portfolio.
While Ardern won the election by absolute majority, meaning her Labor Party can govern alone, she has also appointed two green lawmakers in ministries outside the cabinet.
One Greens co-leader, James Shaw, will become climate change minister and the other, Marama Davidson, will have a portfolio focused on preventing domestic and sexual violence.
The government will be sworn in on Friday.
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