But the minister says his work is just getting started.
South Island Minister James Meager, who is also Minister for Youth and Minister for Hunting and Fishing, said much of his work would be done "on the ground, not at the Cabinet table".
He said this after a Green Party search revealed Mr Meager had produced no cabinet papers about South Island issues and sent scant correspondence to ministers.
"As a proud mainlander born and raised in Timaru, it’s a privilege to have the opportunity to advocate for all of the South Island’s regions and its people," Mr Meager said yesterday.
"Upon coming into the role in January, I began meeting stakeholders, including councils, mayors, businesses, workers, students and civic leaders, to listen to their issues and understand their priorities for me.
"I am now using that grassroots information to develop some key priorities to deliver for the South Island, the main one being delivering growth for our regions."
Green MP Francisco Hernandez said this was not good enough.
"The minister hasn’t taken a single paper to cabinet in the period asked.
"[He] hasn’t sent a single letter to the Minister for Rail to advocate for a piece of infrastructure so critical to the mainland and hasn’t sent a single letter about the new Dunedin hospital project.
Mr Hernandez said it was sad to see the South Island lacking effective advocacy.
"The government’s words about commitment to the South Island are proven empty yet again.
"We deserve a minister who will stand up for the things that our communities are crying out for: rail-enabled ferries to connect the North and South Islands, climate action in South Dunedin and the fully-funded hospital rebuild we were promised."
"As much as we would love to have a minister advocating for us, the new role of Minister for the South Island is just lip service and was created to show this National government has some idea that life exists south of Wellington.
"The minister is not in Cabinet; he has hardly any staff resourcing, very little if any dedicated budget.
"He has been silent on the issues that matter such as the new Dunedin hospital, rail-enabled ferries and cuts to the national airline Air New Zealand’s flight servicing.
"So he seems irrelevant really."
But Mr Meager put a different spin on things.
"I think South Islanders expect me to be engaging constantly with ministers, bringing them to the South to understand our issues, and advocating for South Island issues and projects with them directly.
"Fortunately, we have so many talented ministers who understand what is important to mainlanders.
"And you saw that with the recent announcement of the Dunedin Hospital rebuild going ahead, and [Minister for Rail] Winston Peters’ work on finding a Cook Strait ferry solution after the previous government’s massive budget blowout.
"There is much more advocacy work to be done in so many other areas, so I am thankful that for these two particular topics, they are top of mind for the government.
"We’ve also seen some great South Island announcements in the past couple of weeks.
"... new investment in airport and port infrastructure on the West Coast, and funding for conservation and tourism enhancements in the likes of Fiordland, the Mackenzie Country, and Southland."
Mr Meager said he hoped to share more at the South Island Field Days in Kirwee at the end of this month.
