For the first time in history, the Foreign Office of New Zealand has been headed by a woman. In this post, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appointed Nanaya Mahuta, who has an unusual appearance. On her chin, she wears "moko kauae", a traditional female Maori tattoo.
Mahuta is quite famous in the country, she has worked in parliament for more than 20 years, held various positions in Maori local government. By the way, she got the tattoo just a few years ago, in 2016, to honor the memory of her ancestors and improve the attitude of New Zealanders towards their native tribe. The fact is that the Maori make up only about a quarter of the country's population, but many of the members of this tribe are associated with crime, which determines the negative attitude towards them.
The choice of Mahuta, as noted by local media outlets, came as a big surprise. The office of Foreign Minister was vacant following the recent parliamentary elections in which the Ardern Labor Party won a landslide victory. Winston Peters, who previously held the post, was forced to leave the cabinet after the defeat of his New Zealand First Party. By the way, he was also a representative of the Maori tribe. Local experts expected to be replaced by one of Ardern's associates from the previous government.
But she chose Mahuta. "She's the kind of person who builds fantastic relationships very, very quickly, and that's one of the key skills in international affairs," Ardern explained her choice. “You just need to look at the difficult work she had to do, for example, in local government, this demonstrates the diplomatic skills we need to represent New Zealand on the world stage,” she added.
Overall, the new cabinet, which will be sworn in on Friday, the prime minister called "incredibly diverse." There are several representatives of the Maori tribe, many women, and Ardern made an openly gay Grant Robertson her deputy (by the way, he retained the portfolio of the Minister of Finance and Infrastructure). The head of government stressed that all appointments were made according to merit. “I think this is an important point - these are the people who have been promoted for what they bring to the cabinet. They also reflect the New Zealand that elected them,” said Ardern.
She has already named the fight against COVID-19 and the restoration of the country's economy as her goals for the second term.
