WELLINGTON: New Zealand has achieved gender parity for the first time at the highest level of government, with a cabinet comprised of 10 men and women each.
This comes after the promotion of Northland MP Willow-Jean Prime as a cabinet minister.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins called the development a “good milestone to reach” and said, “It is nice to have a cabinet that reflects the New Zealand population.”
He said Prime’s appointment as a cabinet minister is based on her skills and existing portfolios.
Prime, who is of Māori descent, holds the conservation and youth ministerial portfolios. Her promotion also takes Māori representation in the cabinet to a record of six ministers.
World’s most diverse parliament
The 2020 general elections in New Zealand saw the formation of one of the world’s most diverse parliaments with 58 women elected into the country’s 120-strong house.
About one in 10 of the New Zealand’s parliamentarians identify as LGBTQ+, while 25 are Māori people.
Prime is the third women to be promoted to the top level of government in the last three months after Hipkins became the country’s prime minister. Wellington-based MPs Ginny Andersen and Barbara Edmonds entered the cabinet in February.
