Former National figures appointed Crown negotiators for regional deals

Friday, 29 August 2025

Chris Bishop and Wayne Eagleson pictured together at an Australia/New Zealand cricket test at the Basin Reserve last year.

The Government has appointed two senior National Party figures – former finance minister Steven Joyce and ex-chief of staff Wayne Eagleson – as Crown negotiators in city and regional deal talks with councils.

Eagleson, a former chief of staff to Prime Minister John Key, has been assigned to Auckland, while Joyce, the former finance and transport minister, will take charge in the Bay of Plenty.

The pair will join ex-Local Government NZ chief executive Malcolm Alexander, who has been appointed to lead talks in Central Otago Lakes, to broker the 10-year partnerships between central and local government on infrastructure, housing and economic growth.

None of the three live in the regions where they will be negotiating.

The Government rejected suggestions of cronyism. “Negotiators were selected on their ability to secure the best deals for the Crown,” Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop said, citing their ability to “navigate across multiple areas of work” including transport, finance and infrastructure.

“While having regional connections is important, priority was given to appointing negotiators who could deliver the Crown’s objectives,” Bishop said.

The one-time Mr Fixit of the John Key government, Steven Joyce is now an adviser on business strategy and public policy.

The negotiators’ pay rates and terms of appointment will not be made public.

Bishop said their contracts were “commercially sensitive” but included reimbursement of “actual and reasonable” expenses. Online meetings would be prioritised to minimise travel costs.

Mayors from the three regions signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with the coalition Government in July, after being selected from 18 “light-touch proposals” from around the country.

The scheme mirrors deals in Britain and Australia. However, central government is not providing specific new funding, instead considering other funding and financing tools.

Final negotiations are expected to be concluded in November, with the first deal inked by the end of the year. The other two will follow by October 2026.

Before entering Parliament in 2008, Joyce had a successful business career building up RadioWorks. He managed five elections for National, and held a number of portfolios including economic development, employment, science and innovation, and tertiary education, before retiring from frontline politics in 2018.

Since then he’s established a consultancy, was appointed chairman of NZME and recently joined the board of supermarket group Foodstuffs North Island.

One of his clients has included Bay of Plenty Regional Council, one of the local authorities he is charged with negotiating with.

Malcolm Alexander was a member of the independent reference group advising the Government on climate change adaptation policy and served on the Tawa Community Board.

In 2023/24 the council paid $9297.50, excluding GST, for advisory services relating to the potential divestment of strategic assets of council, understood to be the sell-down of some of its Port of Tauranga shares.

Joyce said he would leave comment to the government.

Eagleson ‒ a director of political consulting firm Thompson Lewis and Wellington International Airport Limited ‒ was chief of staff to Key and Bill English from 2008 to 2017. He also worked as a senior advisor to Prime Minister Jim Bolger in the 1990s.

In 2023, he helped interview candidates for key jobs in the incoming coalition government.

He declined to comment on his new role, only saying he was “happy to help”.

Alexander helmed LGNZ between 2012 until 2020, and now fronts a lobbying firm with former National MP Lawrence Yule.

In March, he was appointed interim chief executive of Wairoa District Council during a search for a permanent appointment. He’ll carry out the same role for Tararua District Council from Monday.

Alexander said: “In terms of my work commitments, I am comfortable that I can discharge the commitments I have made. It is not my practice to take on obligations I am not confident that I can meet.”

He added: “I am familiar with the concerns of the region from my days at LGNZ. The issues have not fundamentally changed.”