Parliamentary Private Secretaries appointed

Prime Minister Bill English has appointed Parliamentary Private Secretaries to assist in the Ethnic Communities, Police, Economic Development, Environment and Conservation portfolios.

Melissa Lee is re-appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Ethnic Communities Minister while Jian Yang will join her in that role.

Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi will assist the Minister of Police, Jonathan Young the Minister of Economic Development and Scott Simpson will work with the Environment and Conservation ministers.

Parliamentary Private Secretaries are MPs appointed to assist Ministers but, unlike Under-Secretaries, they are not part of the Executive. They receive no extra remuneration.

“These are important roles that help ensure strong links between the Minister and caucus and help ensure communities are better served by the Government,” Mr English says.

“Ms Lee has done a great job in this role already and having Dr Yang join her will ensure our ethnic communities have a strong voice in the Government.

“Keeping all of our communities safe is a priority of this Government and Mr Bakshi will help the Minister of Police in this regard.

“Mr Young will play an important role in helping encourage economic development, with a strong focus on regional New Zealand, while Mr Simpson will help maintain the Government’s commitment to the environment.”

“I congratulate all five MPs on their appointments.”

The appointments are effective immediately.

Note to editors: A Minister cannot delegate any statutory roles or function to a PPS, however it is expected that the PPS represent their Minister at public events and deliver speeches on occasions when the Minister is not available.