The three questions of a merger: What the new ‘MCERT’ needs to answer
Wednesday, 17 December 2025
ANALYSIS: When governments reach for mergers, Public Service Minister Judith Collins has an important test.
“What it is that you want to change, what's the result that you want to get, and why is it you can't get it now?”
If the answer to those simple questions isn’t convincing, her advice is blunt: “Leave well alone.”
Still, the Government decided the case was strong enough on Tuesday to sign off a significant public-service merger that will reshape how central government deals with cities, regions, planning and the environment.
Hello MCERT - the new Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (on how to say it, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop said it’s a working title, but it’s veering towards “M - CERT”).
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It brings together the current Ministry for the Environment (Mfe), Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Ministry of Transport, plus local government functions from the Department of Internal Affairs.
MfE will make up the bulk of the ministry in workforce terms, with Bishop saying the environment underpins it all, alongside transport. But overarching all of that will be the new planning legislation the Government announced last week which will replace the Resource Management Act.
Enter Collins’ first question: What does the Government want to change?
While many initially scratch their head at what appears to be a surface-level mismatch, there is a somewhat hesitant consensus that conceptually, merging these ministries makes sense.
It’s important to remember - MfE staff aren’t ones out there in their gaiters monitoring bats and looking after tramping tracks, that’s the Department of Conservation, and Ministry of Transport staff aren’t the ones registering your car, that’s the NZ Transport Agency. The ministries are largely policy shops, whose work revolves around land use to a large degree.
Bishop described it as the third leg of the stool when it comes to the reform across resource management and local government, “making sure that government is geared up to deliver on our end of the bargain”.
Question 2: What's the result that you want to get?
It’s about setting New Zealand up for the 2030s, Bishop said.
“The driver of this is about better government and about bringing together all of these disparate functions that actually work together. We're going to tackle housing affordability, climate adaptation, environmental management, city and regional deals.”
But then there’s the optics. The biggest question mark hangs over staff - about 1300 ministry workers are involved currently, while DIA has 140 in local government that are largely on fixed-term contracts finishing in the next few months.
The politicians couldn’t yet say what that number may reduce to once the merger happens in the middle of next year, but The Post has been told staff are worried and angry, left with major uncertainty just a week before Christmas.
Bishop said it was better to be upfront about it. It was signed off by Cabinet in the morning, told to staff shortly after, then released to media. He and other ministers will be talking to staff this week.
“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,” he said.
And then there’s money. It is likely to cost about $25-30 million to bring the ministries together, and it is expected to save slightly more than that each year, after it has been running for a few years.
Question 3: Why is it you can't get it now?
The current system of ministries is fractured, has a plethora of acting, rather than permanent, chief executives and most importantly, won’t do what central government wants it to do once the new RMA reform is through.
It leaves a major - and very important - gap of who leads this.
Acting secretaries for Transport and Housing have been in place for some time, and with MfE boss James Palmer announcing his jump to Earth Sciences last month, the hunt is already on for the boss of MCERT to be in place before the middle of year.
They’ll need to be prepared to lead a major restructure and a mega merger at record pace to kick off the reform work in record time. It is likely the Government will be looking for broader, proven leaders over intricate policy experts.
The Government says it knows what it wants to change and whether MCERT delivers that could largely hinge on leadership.