Government of New Zealand

Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis announced adjustments to the Cabinet on Monday following the resignation of two ministers last week - Minister of State Stavros Papastavrou and Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Yiannis Bratakos.

A gunman killed two people and wounded six others at a building site in central Auckland Thursday, hours before New Zealand's biggest city was to host the opening match of the 2023 FIFA football World Cup.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the gunman died at the scene and there was no national security threat, so the marquee tournament would go ahead as planned.

Hundreds gathered to applaud Jacinda Ardern as she left New Zealand's parliament to resign as prime minister on Wednesday, before Chris Hipkins was swiftly sworn in as her replacement.

Ardern said last week she no longer had "enough in the tank" after steering the country through natural disasters, its worst-ever terror attack and the Covid-19 pandemic.

New Zealand's incoming prime minister Chris Hipkins criticised the "abhorrent" treatment endured by Jacinda Ardern and vowed on Sunday to shield his own family, three days after her shock resignation.

Education Minister Chris Hipkins is set to become New Zealand's next prime minister after he was the only candidate to enter the contest Saturday to replace Jacinda Ardern.

Hipkins, 44, must still garner an endorsement Sunday from his Labour Party colleagues, but that is just a formality now. An official transfer of power will come in the days to follow.

The decision by the prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, to step down from office does not just signal a rare moment of humanity in politics, it is also a paradigm of democratic culture.

By making the decision she made, Jacinda Ardern showed that the relationship of political representatives with their office should never be allowed to become anything more than a "job."

Jacinda Ardern's shock resignation sparked a push on Friday for New Zealand to choose its first Maori prime minister, as a small pack of candidates emerged for the top job.

Ardern, a global figurehead for progressive politics, stunned New Zealand on Thursday by announcing her abrupt exit from office, less than three years after securing a second term in a landslide election win.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will not seek re-election and plans to resign no later than early February, she said in a televised statement

She added that general elections will be held on October 14.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, whose empathetic handling of the nation's worst mass-shooting and health-driven response to the coronavirus pandemic led her to become an international icon but who faced mounting criticism at home, said Thursday she was leaving office.

Fighting back tears, Ardern told reporters in Napier that Feb. 7 would be her last day as prime minister.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern admitted on Oct. 4 that New Zealand's widely praised "COVID zero" strategy had failed to halt a stubborn outbreak in Auckland and said a new approach was needed.

The hardline elimination policy had largely protected the country from the pandemic, with residents enjoying a near-normal domestic life alongside tight restrictions on international borders.