NZ’s cabinet has Indigenous female foreign minister, gay deputy PM

Keralite Priyanca Radhakrishnan became the first Indian to be sworn in as a minister in Arderns cabinet. The 41-year-old has been sworn in as the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector

NZ's cabinet has Indigenous female foreign minister, gay deputy PM

Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta with PM Jacinda Ardern. File pic/AFP

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern unveiled what she called an "incredibly diverse" cabinet on Monday that includes New Zealand's first openly gay deputy PM, a foreign minister with a Maori facial tattoo and first Indian minister.

Keralite Priyanca Radhakrishnan became the first Indian to be sworn in as a minister in Ardern's cabinet. The 41-year-old has been sworn in as the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector.

Ardern revamped her ministerial line-up in the wake of a landslide poll victory, saying her second-term priorities were responding to COVID-19 and promoting economic recovery.

She appointed Grant Robertson as deputy PM, making him the first openly gay person to hold the role. Women and the Maori community are also strongly represented in the 20-member cabinet, including new Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta, who has a moko kauae — a traditional Maori tattoo on the chin.

While expressing pride at her cabinet's diversity, Ardern also said appointments were made on merit. "It is both a cabinet with huge merit and talent, which also happens to be incredibly diverse," the 40-year-old said. "I think it's an important point to make — these are individuals who have been promoted for what they bring to the cabinet, they also reflect the New Zealand that elected them. "I think as a country we should be proud of this."

Ardern won the October 17 election campaigning on New Zealand's success containing coronavirus and her cabinet includes a new role of minister for COVID-19 response.

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