A Cabinet reshuffle sparked by the departures of Kris Faafoi and Trevor Mallard has seen Christchurch East MP Poto Williams lose her police minister portfolio.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Faafoi had decided to leave Parliament to spend time with his family as his son starts school.
He had said he wanted to leave at the last election but Ardern had asked him to stay on. He would be greatly missed, she said.
Mallard would also stand down in August. He will be taking a diplomatic post in Europe.
New MPs Dan Rosewarne and Soraya Peke-Mason will replace Faafoi and Mallard from the Labour list.
Adrian Rurawhe would be put forward as Mallard's replacement. Kiri Allan would take on the Justice role from Faafoi and associate role in Finance.
Williams has been changed out of her Police portfolio. Ardern said they had agreed the focus had been lost.
Williams was "capable" minister but change was required. She would take on Conservation and disability issues, Ardern said.
Ardern said her and Williams both agreed the focus of where the Police portfolio "needed to be" was lost.
Williams had presided over large increase in police workforce, but along with other reforms they "need to get back to basics".
When Williams was appointed it was a different environment with the AOS and culture change. She was the right fit then but the culture had now changed.
Chris Hipkins will be the new Police Minister. He will co-lead a youth justice team to inquire about recent spikes in offending.
To free him up, a significant part of his Education portfolio will go to Associate Minister Jan Tinetti.
Michael Wood would take on Immigration. Willie Jackson would take over Broadcasting.
Priyanca Radhakrishnan would now move into Cabinet, retaining her current roles.
Labour whip Kieran McAnulty would become a minister outside of Cabinet.
Duncan Webb would replace McAnulty as Chief Whip.
Dr Ayesha Verrall would take on Covid-19 and Research and Innovation.
Public Housing, Building and Construction would now come under Megan Woods.
These changes acknowledged the two departing colleagues along with a nod to the future, Ardern said.
A more comprehensive review would take place at the beginning of next year, Ardern said.
On Mallard's recent controversy at the Wellington protest, Ardern said at the last election he said over this term he wanted someone else to move into his role.
It was not brought forward due to pressure he was under, she said. He had a hard job "exacerbated" by other issues but those were not the reasons, she said.
Ardern did not consider it to be an "overwhelming" reshuffle, she said.
Asked about implications for the TVNZ-RNZ merger, Ardern said Faafoi had done a huge amount of work in this area. That agenda would continue.
Ardern said she believed although Faafoi intended to leave, his heart was in the job.
The Immigration reset was significant, made even more so by the border closure. Now that and broadcasting were largely delivered there was some closure allowing him to stand down.
Asked about Hipkins being overloaded with work, Ardern said much of the Education portfolio would now be with Tinetti.
