Third term (2017–2020)
The Labour Party increased its share of the vote in the 2017 election. Little was elected as a Cabinet Minister by the Labour Party caucus following Labour's formation of a government with New Zealand First and the Greens. In late October 2017, Little assumed several portfolios including Minister of Justice, Minister for Courts, Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) and the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS), Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, and Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry.
Following the success of the pilot Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court (the AODTC) at reducing reoffending, in December 2017, Little announced that alcohol and drug courts would be rolled out nationwide. Two years later, he said the AODTC had proved effective, reducing reoffending by 23% up to two years after treatment. Following a negative evaluation by the Ministry of Justice, in March 2020, Little published a media release which claimed the AODTC was expensive to operate and needed modifications to "sustain reoffending gains over the long term". One more drug court has been established in Hamilton, but they have not been rolled out anywhere else.
On 20 November 2018, Little announced the creation of the Pike River Recovery Agency to plan a manned re-entry of the Pike River Mine in order to recover the bodies of the 29 miners who perished during the Pike River Mine disaster in September 2010. On 19 April 2018, Little entered the Pike River mine portal with victims' family representatives Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse to demonstrate that a safe re-entry was possible. He also promised that the Government would re-enter the drift to recover evidence and the remains of deceased miners. Drift entry was achieved in 2019 but plans to recover the victims' bodies were abandoned in 2021.
As Justice Minister, Little announced plans in December 2017 to reduce the prison population by 30 per cent over the next 15 years. The prison population at the time was 10,394. Towards this goal, in May 2018, he announced the Government would repeal the contentious 'three strikes' law (the Sentencing and Parole Reform Act 2010) which had been introduced by the previous National Government. NZ First refused to back this proposal forcing Little to announce on 11 June 2018 that the coalition Government had abandoned the plan.
Little later voiced criticism of Australia's deportation of New Zealanders in Australia during a controversial Australian Broadcasting Corporation documentary entitled "Don't Call Australia Home", that was released on 17 July 2018. Under changes to the Australian Migration Act, any foreigners with a criminal record or who do not meet a "character test" are subject to deportation. Little remarked that Australia's deportation policy would damage the sibling relationship between the two countries. Little's remarks drew criticism from the Australian Assistant Minister for Home Affairs Alex Hawke, who defended the deportations on law and order grounds and criticised Little for not urging New Zealand citizens to obey Australian law. In response, Little criticised Australia's deportation laws for lacking "humanitarian ideals" and described the removal of New Zealand citizens who identified as Australian residents as a human rights violation. In response, the Australian Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton defended his government's deportation policy and called on Little to reflect "a little more" on the Trans-Tasman relationship. Little countered by expressing concern about what he perceived as a growing "venality" in Australia's treatment of foreigners.
On 24 July 2018, Little rejected a call by the United Nations committee on women's rights for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into New Zealand's Family Court system, saying the New Zealand Government already has a fair idea of what the problems were. Little had already ordered a Ministerial Review of the Family Court.
After the Christchurch mosque shootings in March 2019, Little told Radio New Zealand, “I have given authority to the agencies to do intrusive activities under warrant, the number of those (warrants) I'm not at liberty to disclose". He said that the intelligence services usually put 30 to 40 people under monitoring at a time. Although more people than usual were being monitored, he was not willing to reveal how many. He also stated that the operations could be anything from physical surveillance to watching telecommunications activity.
On 5 August 2019, as Justice Minister, Little announced abortion law reform legislation that would permit abortion without restrictions for the first 20 weeks of a woman's pregnancy. While later-term abortions will still require testing by medical experts, Little announced that abortion would also be removed from the Crimes Act 1961. Other changes include allowing women to self-refer to an abortion service, ensuring that health practitioners advise women about counselling services, establishing safe areas around abortion facilities, and ensuring that conscientious objecting doctors inform women about their stance and alternative services. Labour had negotiated with New Zealand First cabinet minister Tracey Martin for several months to ensure support for the legislation. Though Martin ruled out a referendum, she was overruled by NZ First party leader Winston Peters, who demanded a binding referendum. Little rejected Peters' call for a referendum, stating that the Government would seek the support of MPs from all parties to pass the legislation. On 18 March 2020, he voted for the bill at its third reading, and it became law as the Abortion Legislation Act 2020.
On 22 July 2020, Little was appointed Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety following the resignation of Iain Lees-Galloway due to an affair with one of his staff members.
