Simeon Brown was a hardline transport minister who ruthlessly pursued his agenda. For many in the sector, Chris Bishop’s more flexible approach will be a welcome relief.
Prime minister Christopher Luxon made the first significant political move of the year on Sunday afternoon, announcing a cabinet reshuffle. Most notably, Luxon promoted Simeon Brown to health minister, replacing Shane Reti. Chris Bishop will step into Brown’s previous transport portfolio.
Hailing from the party’s urban liberal wing, Bishop is seen as less of a hardliner than Brown. Brown’s time as minister was defined by an unrelenting drive to push his agenda, regardless of obstacles. Or, as Luxon described it, “ruthless execution”. At just 33 years old, Brown has become one of Luxon’s most trusted allies and most effective attack dogs.
In opposition, Brown drove anti-government narratives with a ferocity unmatched by any other MP. As National’s police spokesperson, he relentlessly criticised modern policing tactics as “soft on crime”. He seized on every crime-related controversy and consistently found ways to lay the blame on the Labour-led government. His claims often faced factual challenges, giving rise to the meme “a rare misstep for Simeon Brown”. But accuracy wasn’t his priority; his strategy was to underscore a broader truth – that crime was rising and voters wanted action.
When Brown was handed the transport portfolio, he applied the same playbook. Transport planners at Waka Kotahi and local councils increasingly leaned into urbanist approaches to make streets safer and reduce emissions. Brown identified a significant bloc of voters – primarily car commuters – frustrated by measures that slowed them down. So, he became the champion of drivers, promising to increase speed limits, cancel cycleways and bus lanes, and oppose anything else perceived as inconveniencing motorists.
One of the most critical tasks for any transport minister is drafting the Government Policy Statement on land transport (known as the GPS), which dictates how Waka Kotahi NZTA allocates funding. Brown’s GPS was the most extreme pivot we’ve ever seen. It introduced steep cuts to funding for pedestrian crossings, speed bumps and bike lanes. It essentially barred new roads from accessing funding if their design included footpaths. Public transport subsidies were slashed, with costs shifted to local councils.
These decisions made him deeply unpopular among advocates of future-focused urban transport. At the 2 Walk and Cycle conference held in Wellington in March last year, soon after the GPS was released, attendees spat his name as if it were a four-letter word. Not that Brown would have been bothered – these were exactly the kind of people who were supposed to hate him. His philosophy was that the experts were out of touch with voters – or at least the voters he needed – so he set out to stop them.
A similar story unfolded in his time as minister for local government. Progressive leaders in the sector envisioned councils as more than providers of pipes and rubbish removal, believing they should address the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of their communities. However, a large segment of voters saw this as mission creep and blamed it for the rise in rates. Brown channelled this frustration, removing wellbeing provisions from the Local Government Act and introducing rules that limited what councils can do. The sector saw it as an overreach from a minister who didn’t understand their goals.
Luxon’s decision to move Brown to the health portfolio suggests a similar approach is coming. Harsh cuts and unpopular decisions are likely on the horizon, and Brown is the man for the job. The government is banking that the average voter doesn’t really care if public servants and healthcare workers are satisfied – they care about the noticeable impacts on their lives, like how long they have to wait to access treatment.
Brown is suited to the role of hatchet man because he represents Pakuranga, one of the bluest electorates in the country. He can afford to be controversial and unpopular among Wellington insiders. It just makes his own voters love him more.
But ministers hated by their own sectors eventually become liabilities. Frustration builds, people mobilise, and campaigns are launched against them. Brown has also overstepped at times, such as with his proposal for a long tunnel under Wellington’s CBD – an unrealistic and embarrassing idea for a government priding itself on a “back to basics” ethos. When it comes to transport, Brown has already done what he was put in place to do. It’s time to move on.
Bringing in Chris Bishop to replace Brown allows the government to ease the pressure valve. Bishop is seen as more of an ally (or at least less of an enemy) to urbanist ideas. He is still more of a cars-and-roads guy than some would like, but he is far less extreme than Brown. He advocated for rail upgrades on the Manawatū and Wairarapa lines and better bus links in the Hutt Valley. He’s even praised a cycleway on social media. His housing liberalisation efforts and the approval of sweeping upzoning in Wellington are popular among local government leaders.
Bishop is a deeper thinker about the future of New Zealand cities, with a vision that goes beyond Brown’s short-term culture war philosophy. But don’t expect to see any major overhaul of the government’s transport priorities. The GPS is only written every three years, meaning Brown’s impact will last until the next election. Any changes Bishop makes will likely be subtle: a rhetorical shift, a willingness to collaborate, or compromises on contentious issues. After Brown’s combative tenure, even that could feel like a breath of fresh air.