A Junior minister 'can have anything they want‘- Premier Wheatley
The Premier said this while wrapping up the debate on the 2022-2023 Constitution Review Commission (CRC) Report on September 26, 2025, during the Continuation of the Ninth Sitting of the Second Session of the Fifth House of Assembly.
“The Junior Ministers have been given constitutional authority through the 2015 amendment to our constitution to direct and control departments of government. The constitution has already given them the authority to do these things.”
Premier Wheatley said the problem faced, whether through a lack of education or otherwise, is administrative.
“So the problem isn’t necessarily with the constitution, the problem is with the administrative procedures, the budgeting procedures. There’s no reason why a junior minister cannot run a ministry or department, no reason that exists right now…there’s nothing constitutional that says it cannot happen.”
Junior Ministers, he added, are allowed to have permanent secretaries and private secretaries and speak to any member of staff.
“[A] Junior minister can have anything they want…we don’t know how it’s supposed to work, that’s why it’s happening, we don’t know how it’s supposed to work,” he reiterated.
Premier should focus on managing ministers
Dr Wheatley said that while the current constitution allows for two junior ministers, he wishes he had more, as in government, there is a lot of work to be done.
He used his portfolio for example, which consists of Agriculture, Fisheries, Immigration, Customs, Culture, Tourism, Financial Services, Shipping Registry, and Labour.
“If we want to be efficient and effective, the Premier shouldn’t have one portfolio; the leader of the country should be managing his ministers, and let the ministers go out there and do the work.”
According to him, if the Premier is involved in everything, he or she will be unable to see the overall picture and hold people properly accountable.
“So that has to be fixed. We need the ability to appoint more junior ministers if necessary…If I had the people, I should have the ability to give them some work to do to take some load off some people’s shoulders, so we can have more efficient, more effective governance.”
Premier Wheatley also said the name Junior Minister needs to change, as it contributes to the misunderstanding of the position.
"Change the name and give us the ability to have more."
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13 Responses to “A Junior minister 'can have anything they want‘- Premier Wheatley ”
So, when he says, “the problem isn’t constitutional, it’s administrative and budgetary”, he’s essentially saying: “The blockage is in my own backyard.”
Hon. Premier, you can’t blame the plumbing when you hold the wrench.
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Power to help self not the people.....