Who’s coming, who’s going: Public servant revolving door keeps spinning
Tuesday, 18 November 2025
The revolving door of top public servants is still spinning with more chief executives stepping down early, positions remaining vacant for months and a scattering of new appointments heading into the new year.
It follows a major shake-up earlier this year - a full scrape down of the top tier in New Zealand’s health system, similar to a clear-out at Kāinga Ora last year.
Almost two weeks ago, the Public Service Commission announced Te Puni Kōkiri - Ministry of Māori Development chief executive Dave Samuels was retiring mid-2026 ‒ more than a year early.
Samuels, who was appointed in 2019, was meant to finish in September 2027 but instead would step down in June 2026.
A week earlier, the Cancer Control Agency said its chief executive, Rami Rahal, was stepping down mid-term. Rahal was appointed in July 2023 for a five-year term and is standing down this December.
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Audrey Sonerson ‒ the former Ministry of Transport boss ‒ took over as Director-General of Health and chief executive for the Ministry of Health in April. Sonerson was initially placed in the role for two weeks following the abrupt resignation of Dr Diana Sarfati, who left in February less than half-way through her five-year term.
Sonerson’s move left a gap at the Transport Ministry, which still hasn’t been plugged. Ruth Fairhall has been acting CEO for more than eight months.
An appointment last week cemented Ellen MacGregor-Reid as the head of the Ministry of Education ‒ after waiting in the acting position for more than a year.
It was known in July 2024 that former CEO Iona Holsted’s term was coming to an end in December 2024. She left two months early due to family reasons.
It took 13 months for MacGregor-Reid to be officially appointed to the role.
Also last week Colin Lynch, who was Ministry of Housing and Urban Development deputy chief executive of policy, jumped over to become Stats NZ’s CEO and the Government Statistician. It was a role that had been vacant for eight months after Mark Sowden, the chief statistician, ended his tenure in March, announcing he decided to not seek re-appointment.
That followed the release of the findings of a damning report into allegations that census data collected by Manurewa Marae was misused to help Te Pāti Māori’s election campaign.
There is also a vacancy to lead the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment ‒ a role that has only been open for a couple of months following Carolyn Tremain’s departure. The Public Service Commission job ad has been up since May.
At Oranga Tamariki, Andrew Bridgman has been the chief executive since September last year while former CEO Chappie Te Kani underwent medical treatment.
Te Kani resigned from the role in April this year to focus on his health, and Bridgman has remained in the acting position.
Late last month, Sean Teddy, deputy secretary of operations at the Ministry of Education was appointed the Charter School Agency head.
The Education Review Office is also looking for a new boss to head the education monitoring agency.