October 10, 2017
Portfolio-less Seymour wants ministerial cut
ACT leader David Seymour says the minister for Maori affairs should be scrapped as part of a reduction in the number of ministerial portfolios.
Mr Seymour says rather than seeking extra ministerial positions as baubles of office in his coalition talks, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters should fix the mistake that has led to the last Government having 28 ministers and 76 portfolios.
The Epsom MP held the position of under-secretary for education responsible for charter schools, which was his party's flagship policy.
He says Mr Peters campaigned on reducing the number of MPs in parliament, but MPs are there to hold the Ministers and their departments to account.
Mr Seymour proposes 35 portfolios held by 20 Ministers in Cabinet.
Climate Change, Conservation, and Environment could be merged to one person accountable for New Zealand’s environmental performance, and the three building, housing and construction ministries could also be one.
He says Maori, Ethnic Affairs, Pacific Peoples, Youth, Seniors, and Women are population portfolios that are not needed by the populations involved, who get their Health, Education, and Infrastructure from real Ministers like everyone else.
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