The Shadow Cabinet of Christopher Luxon formed the official Opposition in the 53rd New Zealand Parliament from December 2021 to November 2023, replacing the Shadow Cabinet of Judith Collins. Christopher Luxon was appointed Leader of the National Party and Leader of the Opposition in a party leadership election on 30 November 2021.
History Origins On 24 November 2021, National Party leader Judith Collins demoted National MP and former leader Simon Bridges over historical allegations of "serious misconduct" involving fellow MP Jacqui Dean. In reality, the "serious misconduct" was just a joke Bridges had made to Dean several years earlier, causing mild offense to her, for which he had already given an accepted apology. In response to Collins' demotion of Bridges, the National Party's parliamentary caucus passed a vote of no confidence in her leadership on 25 November. Deputy leader Shane Reti assumed the role of interim leader until a leadership vote was held on 30 November.
Bridges and Christopher Luxon announced they were running for the leadership while Nicola Willis announced she was running for the deputy leadership. Prior to the leadership vote on 30 November, Bridges withdrew from the race and endorsed Luxon. As a result, Luxon and Willis were elected as leader and deputy leader.
Formation In his first post-leadership election press conference on 30 November 2021, Luxon did not release many details on portfolio allocations that would be given out in the first iteration of his shadow cabinet, but it was confirmed that Wellington Central-based List MP Nicola Willis would be Deputy Leader of the Opposition and that she would most likely retain the Housing spokesperson portfolio.
The following day the Otago Daily Times reported that Michael Woodhouse, who shared the Finance portfolio with Andrew Bayly, was likely to not retain the role in Luxon's shadow cabinet. Luxon announced on 2 December 2021 that Bridges would be the finance and infrastructure spokesperson, ranked third in the shadow cabinet. Luxon announced the remaining portfolio allocations on 6 December. Only the first 20 were given numerical rankings, with the rest being listed by seniority. On 7 December, the caucus elected Chris Penk as senior whip and re-elected Maureen Pugh as junior whip.
Subsequent changes Luxon carried out his first shadow cabinet reshuffle on 16 March 2022 to account for the resignation of Finance and Infrastructure spokesperson Simon Bridges, who was ranked third in the line up. Bridge's Finance portfolio was given to Deputy Leader Nicola Willis while Infrastructure was given to Chris Bishop, who also moved up in the rankings from fourth to third, while replacing Willis in the Housing portfolio. Dr Shane Reti moved up from fifth to fourth in the rankings, with Justice spokesperson Paul Goldsmith moving up from 12th to replace Reti in fifth.
On 14 October 2022 Barbara Kuriger, Spokesperson for Agriculture, Biosecurity and Food Safety, resigned from her portfolios due to a personal conflict of interest between her and the Ministry for Primary Industries. Todd Muller picked up the roles in an acting capacity pending a larger reshuffle.
National MP Sam Uffindell entered Parliament as Simon Bridges' successor through the 2022 Tauranga by-election in June 2022, although was suspended from caucus the following month before being allocated any portfolio. Following an investigation into historical bullying allegations, Uffindell was reinstated into the National caucus and, in November 2022, he confirmed in an Instagram Q and A he was the party's new Associate Spokesperson for Research, Science, and Innovation, and Associate Spokesperson for Economic and Regional Development.
Luxon announced an election year reshuffle on 19 January 2023. Former leaders Judith Collins and Todd Muller were reported as the "big winners" with Collins returning to 10th position and Muller returned to the climate change and agriculture portfolios he had held between 2018 and 2020. New MP Tama Potaka became spokesperson for Māori Development. Senior MP Chris Bishop gained responsibility for reform of the Resource Management Act 1991, losing the COVID-19 portfolio to Health spokesperson Shane Reti. Barbara Kuriger was retained as Conservation spokesperson and Todd McClay was returned to the group of twenty ranked MPs.
List of spokespersons The list of portfolio spokespersons, , is as follows. RankMPPortfolio1Christopher Luxon Leader of the Opposition Spokesperson for National Security and Intelligence2Nicola Willis Deputy Leader of the Opposition Spokesperson for Finance Spokesperson for Social Investment3Chris Bishop Spokesperson for Housing Spokesperson for Infrastructure Spokesperson for RMA Reform – Urban Development4Dr Shane Reti QSM Spokesperson for Health Spokesperson for COVID-19 Response Spokesperson for Māori-Crown Relations Spokesperson for Pacific Peoples5Hon Paul GoldsmithSpokesperson for Justice Spokesperson for Workplace Relations and Safety Spokesperson for Regulatory Reform6Hon Louise UpstonSpokesperson for Social Development and Employment Spokesperson for Child Poverty Reduction Spokesperson for Family Violence Prevention7Erica Stanford Spokesperson for Education Spokesperson for Immigration Associate Spokesperson for Ethnic Communities8Matt Doocey Spokesperson for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Spokesperson for Youth Associate Spokesperson for Health Associate Spokesperson for Transport9Simeon Brown Spokesperson for Transport Spokesperson for Auckland Spokesperson for the Public Service Deputy Shadow Leader of the House10Hon Judith Collins Spokesperson for Science, Innovation and Technology Spokesperson for Foreign Direct Investment Spokesperson for Land Information Spokesperson for Digitising Government11Hon Mark Mitchell Spokesperson for Police Spokesperson for the Serious Fraud Office Spokesperson for Counter-Terrorism Spokesperson for Corrections12Todd Muller Spokesperson for Agriculture Spokesperson for Climate Change13Melissa Lee Spokesperson for Broadcasting and Media Spokesperson for the Digital Economy and Communications Spokesperson for Ethnic Communities14Andrew BaylySpokesperson for Small Business Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Spokesperson for Manufacturing Spokesperson for Revenue15Hon Gerry Brownlee Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Spokesperson for the GCSB & NZSIS Spokesperson for Emergency Management16Hon Todd McClay Spokesperson for Trade Spokesperson for Tourism Spokesperson for Hunting and Fishing17Hon Michael WoodhouseSpokesperson for State Owned Enterprises Spokesperson for Economic Development Spokesperson for Sport & Recreation Shadow Leader of the House18Stuart SmithSpokesperson for Energy & Resources Spokesperson for the Earthquake Commission Spokesperson for Viticulture19Hon Scott Simpson Spokesperson for the Environment Spokesperson for Water Spokesperson for Oceans and Fisheries20Penny Simmonds Spokesperson for Tertiary Education and Skills Spokesperson for Workforce Planning Spokesperson for Early Childhood Education Associate Spokesperson for Education Associate Spokesperson for Social Development and EmploymentSimon O'Connor Spokesperson for Customs Spokesperson for Internal Affairs Spokesperson for Arts, Culture and Heritage Associate Spokesperson for Foreign AffairsBarbara Kuriger Spokesperson for ConservationMaureen Pugh ONZM Junior Whip Spokesperson for Disability and Carers Spokesperson for the Community and Voluntary SectorHarete Hipango Spokesperson for Whānau Ora Spokesperson for Children/Oranga TamarikiChris Penk Senior Whip Shadow Attorney-General Spokesperson for Courts Associate Spokesperson for JusticeTim van de Molen Spokesperson for Defence Spokesperson for Veterans Spokesperson for Building and Construction Spokesperson for ACCNicola Grigg Spokesperson for Rural Communities Spokesperson for Animal Welfare Spokesperson for Biosecurity Spokesperson for Food Safety Spokesperson for Women Associate Spokesperson for AgricultureJoseph Mooney Spokesperson for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Spokesperson for Forestry Spokesperson for Space Associate Spokesperson for Tourism Associate Spokesperson for AgricultureSimon Watts Spokesperson for Local Government Spokesperson for Regional Development Spokesperson for Statistics Associate Spokesperson for Finance Associate Spokesperson for InfrastructureSam UffindellSpokesperson for Horticulture Associate Spokesperson for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTama Potaka Spokesperson for Māori Development Associate Spokesperson for Housing – Social HousingHon David Bennett Spokesperson for RacingHon Jacqui Dean Assistant SpeakerIan McKelvie Spokesperson for Seniors
Policies Agriculture On 19 April 2023, National unveiled its 19-point plan called "Getting Back to Farming." Key policies include scrapping two existing local and Central Government policies for every new policy brought in, doubling the number of Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme workers from 19,000 to 38,000, creating a residency pathway for RSE workers via the Accredited Employer Work Visa, scrapping the requirement to pay migrant workers the median wage of $30 an hour, banning foreign investors from buying farms to convert into carbon farming, resuming live animal exports, amending the Government's proposed drinking standards, and deferring winter grazing rules. Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor and Green Party environment spokesperson Eugenie Sage criticised National's proposal to scrap every two existing policies, with the former describing it as "ridiculous" and the latter expressing concern about the rollback of environmental regulations. Federated Farmers national president Andrew Hoggard praised National's proposal to defer winter grazing rules while O'Connor criticised National for its alleged unwillingness to give clear guidelines to farmers. The Green Party and Greenpeace Aotearoa New Zealand opposed the proposed resumption of animal live exports on animal welfare grounds.
Childcare In early March 2023, Luxon announced National's childcare tax rebate policy known as "Family Boost" during his "State of the Nation" speech in Auckland. As part of the Family Boost policy, National if elected at the 2023 New Zealand general election would order the public service to slash consultancy bills by NZ$400 million. National would reallocate these funds to giving a 25% rebate to most families' childcare bills. Under National's proposed childcare policy, families earning below NZ$140,000 per annum would get a weekly rebate of NZ$75, totalling to an annual rebate of NZ$3,900. Families earning between NZ$140,000 and NZ$180,000 would be eligible for a progressively smaller rebate while those earning above NZ$180,000 would not qualify for the rebate. National's public service spokesperson Simeon Brown announced that a future National Government would also reduce the amount of public funds spent on hiring consultants and contractors. In response, Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni claimed that National's childcare rebate policy was not well designed and would not help the bottom income earners.
Climate change In late March 2023, Luxon launched the National Party's "Electrify New Zealand" policy with the aim of doubling the country's supply of affordable clean energy. The first part of this policy include encouraging new renewable power projects including solar, wind and geothermal by requiring decisions on resource consents to be issued in one year and consents to last for 35 years, and encouraging investment in transmission and local lines by eliminating the consents requirements for upgrades to existing infrastructure and most new infrastructure. To fix the resource consent process, National has promised to issue National Policy Statements on the Resource Management Act 1991 and "Renewable Electricity Generation."
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