Kiwiblog

Here is the full list:

1. Phil Goff Leader, SIS
2. Annette King Deputy Leader, Social Development
3. David Cunliffe Finance
4. Ruth Dyson Health
5. Parekura Horomia Maori Affairs, Fisheries
6. Clayton Cosgrove Law & Order (incl Police & Corrections), SOEs, Assoc. Finance
7. Chris Carter Education (overall – compulsory), Ethnic Affairs
8. Nanaia Mahuta Environment, Tourism, Assoc. Maori Affairs
9. Maryan Street Trade, Tertiary Education
10. Darren Hughes Senior Whip, Transport
11. David Parker A-G, Electoral Reform, ACC, Assoc. Finance
12. Shane Jones Local Government, Building & Construction, Infrastructure
13. Trevor Mallard Labour, Economic Development, Sports & Recreation
14. Lianne Dalziel Justice, Commerce
15. Charles Chauvel Climate Change, Energy, Assoc. Commerce
16. Pete Hodgson Immigration, Defence
    Helen Clark Foreign Affairs, Arts, Culture & Heritage
    Michael Cullen Shadow Leader of the House, Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations
17. Winnie Laban Pacific Island Affairs, Assoc. Health (Aged Care), Assoc. Economic Development
18. Moana Mackey Rural Affairs, Research & Development, Science & Technology
19. Steve Chadwick Junior Whip, Conservation
20. Sue Moroney Women’s Affairs, Education – ECE
21. Rick Barker Courts, Veterans Affairs
22. Ross Robertson Small Business, Senior Citizens, Racing, Assoc. Disarmament & Arms Control
23. George Hawkins Housing
24. Mita Ririnui Forestry, Assoc. Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Assoc. Agriculture
25. Lynne Pillay Disability Issues, Assoc. Justice – Victims Rights
26. Ashraf Choudhary Food Safety, Agricultural Science, Assoc. Ethnic Affairs
27. Darien Fenton Transport Safety, Assoc. Labour
28. Su’a William Sio Customs, Assoc. Pacific Island Affairs, Assoc. Local Government
    New members, alphabetical order
29. Jacinda Ardern Youth Affairs, Assoc. Justice – Youth Justice
30. Carol Beaumont Consumer Affairs, Assoc. Labour
31. Brendon Burns Broadcasting, Assoc. Environment – Water Quality
32. Clare Curran Communications & IT
33. Kelvin Davis Biosecurity, Assoc. Education
34. Chris Hipkins Internal Affairs, Assoc. Energy
35. Raymond Huo Law Commission, Statistics, Assoc. Ethnic Affairs
36. Iain Lees-Galloway Land Information, Assoc. Defence, Assoc. Health – Drugs & Alcohol
37. Stuart Nash Revenue, Assoc. Trade, Assoc. Forestry
38. Rajen Prasad Voluntary & Community Sector, Assoc. Ethnic Affairs, Assoc. Social Development – Family & CYF
39. Grant Robertson State Services, Assoc. Arts, Culture & Heritage, Assoc. Foreign Affairs
40. Carmel Sepuloni Civil Defence, Assoc. Tertiary Education, Assoc. Social Development
41. Phil Twyford Disarmament & Arms Control, Auckland Issues, Assoc. Foreign Affairs – Development Assistance
    Progressive Leader Jim Anderton – Agriculture

Some comments:

• Already commented on most of the front bench. But have to say Maryan Street seems an odd choice for trade as she has no background there and is from the left which can be anti free trade. However maybe Goff gave it to her on purpose as an area she can’t do much in.
• Shane Jones in Local Government looks good. He will enjoy taking on Rodney but also may agree with Rodney on some issues around keeping rates down. If Jones and Rodney can agree on future for Auckland once Commission reports that will be a good thing.
• Mallard in Labour keeps the unions happy and he will fight against anything that weakens them. Also good choice to go against Brownlee in Economic Development
• Dalziel is safe in Justice and Commerce but won’t find much to do.
• Chauvel is politically astute (except when announcing his own promotions) and giving him climate change gives him a real opportunity to shine as National’s suspension of the ETS is one of the few areas Labour can score runs about early on
• Hodgson in Immigration & Defence suggests this is his last term.
• All the existing MPs who did not make shadow cabinet – nos 21 to 28 are expendable and will be pressured to retire this term.
• Giving Jacinda Ardern Youth Justice as well as Youth Affairs is a good move. Ardern will be front bench one day and is alreadt a capable politician. Youth Affairs by itself would not have been challenging.
• Former CTU boss Carol Beaumont gets Associate Labour. No surprise.
• Burns media background makes broadcasting a good fit.
• A bit disappointing that Comms/IT has gone from one of the most important portfolios to so far down the list, but Clare Curran should prove a quick learner in the area, and I expect she will be in Cabinet when Labour make it back.
• Stuart Nash gets one of the bigger portfolios for newbies – Revenue. An opportunity for him.
• Grant Robertson also gets a very big portfolio – State Services. Sensible choice for the Wellington Central MP. Expect to see him in the Shadow Cabinet soon. He also looks to take Arts, Culture and Heritage when H1 goes. Again will help him keep his seat.

Goddff has done pretty good job overall, if a bit uninspiring. He could have put one or two of the newcomers straight into the Shadow Cabinet.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 5:49 pm and is filed under NZ Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.