PM promotes Wagner to minister as Williamson steps down; Smith gets building

Christchurch Central MP Nicky Wagner has been promoted to minister outside of cabinet following Maurice Williamson's resignation.

Wagner will take on the customs, statistics, associate conservation and associate Canterbury earthquake recovery portfolios. Conservation minister Nick Smith will pick up building and construction while veterans' affairs and immigration minister Michael Woodhouse takes on land information.

Williamson quit his ministerial positions after it was revealed he had contacted Auckland police in connection with domestic violence charges against businessman Donghau Liu. The Pakuranga National MP had earlier lobbied colleagues to grant Liu's citizenship.

Wagner will be sworn in by the governor general on Wednesday.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:

Your name:
Your email:	Not displayed to the public
Comment:
Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved.

Anti-spam verification:

Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process.

Related News:

Metro Performance Glass FY26 Market Update
Devon Funds Morning Note - 13 March 2026
Devon Funds Morning Note - 12 March 2026
TCM - Financial Model
BRM - Scheme of Arrangement Update - NZ Commerce Commission
Devon Funds Morning Note - 11 March 2026
BGP - Full Year Results to 25 January 2026
BRM - Scheme of Arrangement Update - NZ Commerce Commission
The oil shock
Air New Zealand suspends FY2026 guidance