Will big be better?

It comes in the form of ‘mega government department’ called the Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT). The Minister responsible for elements in all those departments, Chris Bishop says the new mega ministry will support the Government’s ambitious reform agenda in housing, transport, urban development and the environment.

He says it  will bring together the Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, the Ministry of Transport, and local government functions from the Department of Internal Affairs into one coherent new agency.

“The new agency will be at the heart of tackling some of New Zealand’s greatest economic and environmental challenges – from housing affordability, our infrastructure deficit, and adaptation to climate change,” he says.

This move comes just days after the government introduced two new bills into parliament to replace the controversial RMA and  virtually a week after Bishop announced plans to reform local government and suggestions that regional councils will be done away with and their role taken over by district and city councils.

Collectively this omnibus package of reforms is the largest the country has seen in almost a century.

But has with the other reforms announced, including the RMA and that of local government the reaction from stakeholders is subdued. The clear message that Rural News is getting is ‘ let’s see the detail’. In the past large super ministries such as MCERT have not always lived up to the notion that big is best. As well, it seems Chris Bishop has his work cut out for him managing such a multiplicity of complex reforms in a relatively tight time frame.

A Chief Executive will be appointed for MCERT  in the first half of 2026, and is said to be operational by July.