Kerala-native Priyanca Radhakrishnan sworn in as minister in New Zealand cabinet
- Ernakulam native Priyanca Radhakrishnan became New Zealand’s first-ever Indian-origin minister
- Born in India, the 41-year-old Radhakrishnan went to school in Singapore and pursued further studies in New Zealand
- In 2019, she was appointed the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Ethnic Communities
In the watershed move, Kerala’s Ernakulam native Priyanca Radhakrishnan on Monday became New Zealand’s first-ever Indian-origin minister in the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ministry as it inducted five new ministers into her executive, PTI reported.
Born in India, 41-year-old Radhakrishnan went to school in Singapore prior to heading to New Zealand to pursue her education.
Radhakrishnan was elected first as a Member of Parliament (MP) from the Labour Party in September 2017. In 2019, she was appointed the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Ethnic Communities.
Her work in that area has assisted her to build the base for her new role of Minister for Diversity, Inclusion, and Ethnic Communities.
She has spent her work life advocating on behalf of people whose voices are often unheard, including women survivors of domestic violence, and migrant workers who have been exploited.
In addition to this, she has become the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector and Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment.
She has become New Zealand’s first-ever Kiwi Indian Minister, the New Zealand Herald newspaper quoted Indian Weekender as saying.
Radhakrishnan, who is from the 2017 intake of new MPs, is a minister outside of the Cabinet. She lives in Auckland with her husband.
While announcing the names of the new ministers, Prime Minister Ardern said, “I am excited to be bringing in some new talent, with first-hand experience in the areas that they will be working in, and reflecting the New Zealand that elected us on the 17th of October. Within this lineup, I’m playing to people’s strengths.”
Days after her centre-left Labour Party succeeded a landslide victory in the country’s general election, Ardern said, “This is a Cabinet and an executive that is based on merit but also happens to be incredibly diverse.”
The new executive will be sworn in on Friday, which will be followed by the Cabinet’s first meeting.
“Much of what we’re focused on is making sure we’ve got our economic recovery hastened,” the 40-year-old Prime Minister added.
If ministers don’t deliver, they will be shown the door, Ardern admonished.
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