The Government has confirmed it will establish a new Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT), bringing together four departments in what ministers describe as a major structural change to support wide-ranging reforms in housing, transport, planning and environmental management.
The new ministry will absorb the Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, the Ministry of Transport, and local-government functions currently housed within the Department of Internal Affairs. It is expected to become fully operational by July 2026, with a chief executive appointed in the first half of the year.
Housing, transport, RMA reform and infrastructure minister Chris Bishop says MCERT will sit at the centre of efforts to address longstanding challenges including housing affordability, infrastructure deficits and climate adaptation.
“The new agency will 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,” Bishop says.
He says responsibility for core elements of current reforms is spread across several agencies, creating duplication and inefficiencies.
“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.”
Bishop says the new ministry will give councils and communities a single point of contact for issues that currently require engagement with multiple agencies.
“Local government and communities rightly complain that dealing with central government on these important issues is difficult, bordering on impossible, because it is often not clear who they should be talking to and coordinating with. The new agency will be the ‘one stop shop’ for local government and others to deal with on these complex challenges.”
Public service minister Judith Collins says the merger is intended to improve coordination and policy effectiveness, though not as a cost-cutting exercise.
“The Government is committed to delivering the best results for taxpayers in the most efficient way possible, and this new Ministry will do that,” Collins says.
“We are investing to ensure its success and while it is not intended as a cost-cutting exercise, we do expect to see efficiencies in the medium to long term.”
Local government and climate change minister Simon Watts says the change will support upcoming reforms and remove duplication.
“For too long, duplicating functions across these agencies has slowed progress and created uncertainty about who is responsible for what,” Watts says.
“New Zealanders deserves a system that operates as one. By bringing these departments together, we will have clearer coordination, more succinct advice, and therefore better decision-making.”
Environment minister Penny Simmonds says consolidation will improve how environmental and development issues are managed.
“MCERT brings together the key levers for growth and environmental stewardship in one place,” she says.
“Aligning the right tools in one agency will provide practical, integrated advice that protects our environment and lifts prosperity for every community.”
MCERT will oversee planning, land use, housing, transport, water policy and central–local government coordination as part of the Government’s broader reforms, including congestion pricing, electronic road user charging, infrastructure funding changes, city and regional deals, and the National Adaptation Framework.
