Prime Minister Chris Hipkins officially appointed Ginny Andersen as the new Police Minister on Monday afternoon.
She is Labour's fifth person to hold the role in the last nine months, after Stuart Nash's resignation from the role last week.
When asked by media what her qualifications were to take on such a significant portfolio, Hipkins wasn't able to specify exactly what past police experience she had but said he would be able to get that information at a later date.
On Tuesday morning, Chris Hipkins told Tova O'Brien she ticks the right boxes.
"She was working on organised crime, on gangs, on methamphetamine," Hipkins said.
"The fact that she spent quite a lot of time chairing the justice select committee, where police would have regularly appeared before, these are things that give her a bit of a head start in the job."
He said Andersen is an astute appointment and believes she is a great all-rounder.
"I also believe she understands the systems of Government.
"She has worked in a Minister's office, she is well acquainted with systems of government, I think she is going to be a great minister of police.
"I had a good conversation with her about what she would want to do in the role, what her priorities would be, how she would intend to go about the job and from those conversations I think she is the right person to do it."
Hipkins maintained that Police Commissioner Andrew Coster is not at fault for withholding the conversation he had with Nash in 2021 that lead to his eventual resignation.
"If the commissioner had felt that a Minister was trying to pressure him, I would absolutely expect that he would report that to me or through a relevant appropriate agency depending on the circumstances.
"I can't make those judgements for the commissioner, those are judgements for him to make.
"He is independent, he operates statutorily independent from me and from the government."
Listen to the full interview between Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Tova above.
You can also download the full interview on the Tova podcast, and listen on the go.
