December 01, 2023
Davis happy to take back seat in Labour reshuffle
Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins says the decision to drop former ministers Kelvin Davis and Rino Tirikatene down the ranking was their own choice.
In the allocation of shadow portfolios yesterday, Mr Davis was ranked at number 20 with responsibility for speaking on Maori Crown relations and Treaty of Waitangi negotiations.
Corrections, where Mr Davis reduced prisoner numbers and attempted to bring a Maori perspective through his Hokai Rangi strategy, has been handed to Mr Tirikatene, and the Children’s portfolio, when he oversaw thé replacement of Child, Youth and Family with Oranga Tamariki, will be monitored by Willow Jean Prime.
“Kelvin Davis indicated after the election that he didn’t want to be in the front lineup. He wanted to take a step back, but be believes he still has a contribution to make, still wants to be able to make that. And similarly with Rino Tirikatene, he’s still in a senior role, he’s still a contributing member of our team,” Mr Hipkins says.