New Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT) Launches in NZ

The Government has today confirmed the establishment of a new Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT), to support the Government’s ambitious reform agenda in housing, transport, urban development and the environment.

The new Ministry will bring together the Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, the Ministry of Transport, and local government functions from the Department of Internal Affairs into one coherent new agency.

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, Housing, Transport, RMA Reform and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop says.

The Government has a series of ambitious and complex policy reforms underway across all of these areas, from Going for Housing Growth, a renewed emphasis on transit-oriented development, congestion pricing and the transition to electronic road user charges for all vehicles, Local Water Done Well, City and Regional Deals, and the National Adaptation Framework. Underpinning it all is planning and local government reform.

Responsibility for many of these reforms currently spans multiple agencies. For example, solving our housing crisis is impossible without fundamental planning reform, which is currently the responsibility of the Ministry for the Environment (which looks after city, district and regional plans). It is also impossible without reforms to infrastructure funding and financing (currently split across HUD, DIA and Transport).

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.

New Zealand is very well served by outstanding public servants in all of these agencies doing their best to serve Ministers and the public in difficult circumstances. My experience is that they are often as frustrated as Ministers are by the duplication, overlapping responsibilities and lack of coordination.

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.

The new Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT) will combine the key levers that shape growth and productivity, including planning, land use, housing, transport, water, and the interface with local government, so advice is integrated and accountability is clear.

I have spoken often about how City Rail Link, which will open next year, has been a real missed opportunity for New Zealand. It will be a transformational project for Auckland once open, but it presents opportunities across land use change, infrastructure funding and financing, and urban development which have either not been taken up or are only now being belatedly explored. My firm view is that the disconnected nature of central government policy advice has contributed to those missed opportunities.The Government is committed to delivering the best results for taxpayers in the most efficient way possible, and this new Ministry will do that, Public Service Minister Judith 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.

The primary purpose of MCERT is to unlock the potential of New Zealand’s cities and regions. It will help boost growth and productivity by reducing duplication and complexity, and by creating a simpler and more responsive public service.

We are very conscious that uncertainty and change can be unsettling but Cabinet has agreed this new Ministry is the right way forward, and the dedicated public servants who work at the four affected agencies deserve transparency and honesty.

Overall, we are establishing a high-performing agency to match our new high-performing planning, infrastructure funding and financing, and local government systems.

For too long, duplicating functions across these agencies has slowed progress and created uncertainty about who is responsible for what. As we move ahead with significant reforms to the role of local government, it makes sense to merge the departments to provide clearer direction and more coordinated support – from planning and infrastructure through to climate adaptation, Local Government and Climate Change Minister Simon 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, which will deliver real results for New Zealanders.

MCERT brings together the key levers for growth and environmental stewardship in one place. With clearer accountability and integrated advice, we’ll deliver better outcomes for our communities—across housing, transport, water and the environment, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says.

Aligning the right tools in one agency will provide practical, integrated advice that protects our environment and lifts prosperity for every community.

A Chief Executive will be appointed in the first half of 2026, with the Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport fully operational by July 2026.