Ministry mega-merger for environment, housing and transport confirmed

Tuesday, 16 December 2025

A sweeping restructure will see environment, transport and housing ministries merged into one mega-ministry by July next year.

Ministry for the Environment, Housing and Urban Development and the Ministry of Transport, plus local government functions from Internal Affairs, will become the Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT).

Staff at the first three ministries were pulled into urgent meetings on Tuesday morning and told of the merger.

At one ministry, The Post understands restructure proposals were due around February, and agencies were not able to give guarantees on staff numbers and conditions. Staff inside the agency were understood to be angry about the announcement coming at the end of the year so close to Christmas.

Are you affected? Email anna.whyte@stuff.co.nz

Housing, Transport, RMA reform and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop said the new ministry would 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”.

“The Government has a clear agenda to drive growth and lift living standards for all New Zealanders. We do not believe the current structures of government can deliver effectively on this strong mandate and change is required. The system is too fragmented and too uncoordinated.

“The new Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT) will combine the key levers that shape growth and productivity, including planning, land use, housing, transport, water, and the interface with local government, so advice is integrated and accountability is clear.”

A new chief executive will be appointed next year.

Green Party public service spokesperson Francisco Hernandez said announcing this decision before Christmas “creates uncertainty for thousands of public sector employees and showcases the deep contempt this coalition Government have for our public servants”.

“This is yet another thinly veiled attempt to force through more cuts at the expense of the public servants and the communities they serve.”

Bishop said the had thought carefully about the timing.

“The alternative would be to make the decision and announce it in February, and then you'd all be saying to us, ‘well, why'd you announce it in February when you'd made the decision in December?’ Which would be a legitimate criticism.

“Given there has been so much talk about it, we just thought better to be upfront and transparent with the people who work in the agencies and also the public around what's going on.”

Bishop said the new agency would be across policy reform areas of housing growth, “transit-oriented development” such congestion charging and the transition to electronic road user charges for all vehicles, Local Water Done Well, city and regional deals, and planning and local government reform.

“Responsibility for many of these reforms currently spans multiple agencies.”

Bishop said he was “very conscious” uncertainty and change could be unsettling but the new ministry was the “right way forward” and the public servants who work at the four affected agencies deserved “transparency and honesty”.

He confirmed to The Post in July the Government was considering the merger. Environment Minister Penny Simmonds did not give a clear answer when asked by The Post recently if advice had come across her desk on the proposal.

If the three ministries did merge, without any cuts, the workforce the size of 1300 would still only be about a quarter of the size of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. It would be smaller than Corrections, Conservation, Internal Affairs, Inland Revenue, Ministry for Primary Industries, Ministry of Education and Oranga Tamariki.

It would be a similar size to Customs and StatsNZ.

An internal email obtained by The Post mid 2025, sent by outgoing Secretary for the Environment James Palmer to staff, said, “I appreciate many of you will have questions about this story”.

'I appreciate this will be frustrating and unsettling for you. I want to reassure you that I will provide you with any updates, as and when I am able to, if circumstances change.”