Not so 'cherubic': How Luxon’s most focused minister became a power player

PremiumOpinionUpdatedOpinion byAudrey YoungSenior Political Correspondent·NZ Herald·23 Jun, 2026 09:00 PM10 mins to readAudrey Young, Senior Political Correspondent at the New Zealand Herald based at Parliament, specialises in writing about politics and power.‌Simeon Brown would love to get health again if National is returned to power. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Ask anyone who knows Simeon Brown if there is one word that sums him up and it is likely to be “focused”.It is why Prime Minister Christopher Luxon reassigned him to the health portfolio, the Government’s biggest problem alongside the cost of living, in January last year.

Brown’s relative