The Minister for Ethnic Communities is a minister in the New Zealand Government with broad responsibilities for ethnic inclusion.
The current Minister for Ethnic Communities Mark Mitchell.
Responsibilities and powers The minister is broadly responsible for supporting ethnic and culturally diverse communities in New Zealand. They are the responsible minister for the Ministry for Ethnic Communities and also oversee the Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust.
History The first appointment to the Minister of Ethnic Affairs was made in 1999 at the formation of the Fifth Labour Government. Through the 1999 election campaign, both Labour and United had pledged to appoint an ethnic affairs minister to "be involved at all levels of decision-making on issues affecting ethnic communities." The inaugural appointment was George Hawkins.
The position was renamed to Minister for Ethnic Communities in 2015. The title was briefly Minister for Diversity, Inclusion and Ethnic Communities between 2020 and 2023.
List of ministers for ethnic communities The following ministers have held the office of Minister for Ethnic Communities.
Key
No.NamePortraitTerm of officePrime MinisterAs Minister of Ethnic Affairs1George Hawkins10 December 199915 August 2002 Clark2Chris Carter15 August 200219 November 20083Pansy Wong19 November 200812 November 2010Key-Georgina te Heuheu Acting12 November 20101 February 20114Hekia Parata1 February 201114 December 20115Judith Collins14 December 201130 August 2014-Hekia Parata Acting30 August 20148 October 20146Sam Lotu-Iiga8 October 20141 March 2015As Minister for Ethnic Communities(6)Sam Lotu-Iiga1 March 201520 December 2016Key(5)Judith Collins20 December 201626 October 2017English7Jenny Salesa26 October 20176 November 2020ArdernAs Minister for Diversity, Inclusion and Ethnic Communities8Priyanca Radhakrishnan6 November 202027 November 2023ArdernHipkinsAs Minister for Ethnic Communities9Melissa Lee27 November 202324 January 2025 Luxon10Mark Mitchell24 January 2025Incumbent
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