Watch: PM stumbles when asked about Māori National Party ministers in Cabinet
Tuesday, 7 April 2026
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was asked a straightforward question during a TVNZ Breakfast interview with Tova O’Brien following his Cabinet reshuffle: How many Māori MPs are in the National Party portion of the Cabinet.
In the exchange that followed, Luxon declined to give a number, named an MP who is not in Cabinet, and then appeared to forget Cabinet minister Tama Potaka — while also briefly mixing up names.
O’Brien began: “How many Māori MPs are in your Cabinet?”
Luxon responded: “We’ve probably got the most Māori MPs in our coalition government, I think of any Government.”
“In the National Party wedge of the cabinet, Prime Minister,” O'Brien said, clarifying her question.
“We’ve got a number, but the key thing here is …” Luxon responded.
O’Brien interjects: “What is the number?”
“I don’t need to do that Tova, we’re not going to play that game. What we’re really focusing on …” Luxon replies.
O’Brien presses further: “It’s not a game. How many Māori MPs do you have in the National Party portion of the cabinet? Is it just one?”
Luxon: “James Meager. Yep.”
Meager is the National Party MP for Rangitata.
O’Brien then asks: “Is James Meager in the Cabinet now?”
“No, he’s not in Cabinet, he’s one of our ministers,” Luxon said, before pivoting to the reshuffle.
“I just say to you Tova that the point of the cabinet reshuffle is to make sure that we’ve got those big portfolios reallocated. Two, we make sure that we’ve got a big focus on the energy and the fuel crisis, and three, that we’re bringing through talent …”
O’Brien then asks: “Is Tama Potaka not in cabinet?”
“He is in cabinet,” Luxon says. ”Tama is there. Yep. He’s doing a great job.“
O’Brien follows up: “Ok. Did you just forget about him?”
Luxon then stumbles over names while responding: “Uh, sorry, I might of Tama, Tova, Tama yes … Tama does a great job …”
Potaka who holds the Hamilton West seat for National, is currently the Minister in charge of Conservation, Māori Crown Relations, Māori Development, Whānau Ora and is the associate minister for Housing.
Luxon then returned to his broader message about the reshuffle.
“I get what you’re trying to say, but the bigger point here is actually making sure we’ve got the right talent to be able to get on and get the job done. We’ve got great Māori representation in our cabinet across the parties.”
The exchange came as Luxon defended his Cabinet reshuffle, saying the focus was on reallocating key portfolios and responding to the fuel and energy situation.
“Most importantly, we’ve got to make sure we focused on this fuel crisis, and actually, we’re getting New Zealand through it on the other side,” he said.