‘A small reduction in responsibilities’

Nick Smith says he does not feel sidelined in the new cabinet line up.

Prime Minister Bill English announced yesterday that Amy Adams would be taking over many of Smith’s housing roles.

Smith said he remained the Minister of Building and Construction, mainly focusing on the regulation side of things, as well as Minister of the Environment.

The second cabinet reshuffle comes after English’s first in December where Smith’s title was changed to Minister of Building and Construction. Smith said he hadn’t picked up any new responsibilities at the reshuffle.

He said English’s decision made ‘‘good sense’’ and that it meant ‘‘a small reduction in responsibilities’’ for him.

‘‘There’s still an important work programme that’s there to keep me more than busy.

‘‘We’re a very strong team that looks to organise the portfolios in a way that will have government collectively working best.’’

He said he didn’t think the responsibilities were taken away from him because he wasn’t perceived as effectively tackling the housing crisis.

‘‘There’s no question housing was under pressure because our population is growing strongly.

‘‘I’m proud of my record in that when I became minister across the country we were building about 13,000 homes a year, we’re now building about 30,000 homes a year.

‘‘And I’ve had my work cut out in getting the growth in house construction to match the strong population growth.’’

Smith said the friendship between him and English didn’t suffer under the cabinet reshuffle.

‘‘Bill is a good friend, but actually a very talented leader and we’ve always maintained that friendship but also the professionalism that is required as government ministers.’’