National Party leader John Key welcomed the agreement this morning, saying that National has had a constructive working relationship with United Future for six years.
United Future leader Peter Dunne will remain a minister outside cabinet, and will retain the Internal Affairs, Associate Health and Associate Conservation portfolios that he held at the end of the last Parliamentary term.
The two parties signed a confidence and supply agreement, in which National has agreed to work with United Future on several areas of policy.
These policies included a National Medicines strategy, which would provide an enhanced role for pharmacists in managing patients' medicine and in primary care.
The two parties would also work on improving water quality in lakes, rivers and streams, giving recreational fishers more opportunities, and reaffirming the use of public-private partnerships for major roading projects.
However, there was no mention in the new agreement of flexible superannuation, one of United Future's key policies.
In the previous confidence and supply agreement, National agreed that a discussion document investigating the issue of Flexi-Super would be developed.
In 2011, Mr Dunne was made Inland Revenue Minister, but he lost the portfolio when he stood down during an inquiry into the leaking of sensitive documents.
When he was reinstated in January, he picked up Internal Affairs, and was reinstated as Associate Health Minister and Associate Conservation Minister.
- Isaac Davison of The New Zealand Herald
