Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand)

Template:Sidebar with collapsible lists The Minister of Foreign Affairs, also known as the Foreign Minister, is a senior minister in the New Zealand Government heading the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and responsible for relations with foreign countries.

The current Minister of Foreign Affairs is Winston Peters.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Responsibilities and powers

The minister of foreign affairs is responsible for overseeing New Zealand's relations with foreign countries and the promotion of New Zealand's interests abroad.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The minister is in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, including New Zealand's diplomatic staff. The office is often considered to be one of the more distinguished ministerial posts, and has at times been counted as the most senior role below that of the prime minister. In terms of actual political power, however, the minister of foreign affairs is not as prominent as in countries such as Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, with the minister of finance being considerably more influential.

History

The first New Zealand foreign minister was James Allen, appointed to the post of Minister of External Affairs by William Massey in 1919. Before this time, there was no dedicated ministerial portfolio for foreign relations. A Department of External Affairs was created in 1919 but its functions were limited to administering New Zealand's Island Territories in the Pacific; namely the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, and the League of Nations Mandate of Samoa.<ref name="External Affairs Bill 1919">"External Affairs Bill", in New Zealand Parliamentary Debates, Vol. 185 (3 October–5 November 1919), p. 337.</ref> In 1943, a new Department of External Affairs was created to conduct the country's external relations. The older department was then renamed the Department of Island Territories and a separate portfolio called the Minister of Island Territories was subsequently created.<ref>Malcolm Templeton, An Eye, an Ear, and a Voice: 50 years in New Zealand's External Relations, 1943–1993, p. 1.</ref>

From 1943, the minister of external affairs became the main ministerial portfolio for conducting New Zealand's external relations.<ref name="Malcolm Templeton pp.1-2">Malcolm Templeton, ed., An Eye, An Ear, And a Voice, pp.1–2.</ref> Like its similarly named Australian and Canadian counterparts, the portfolio was called "External Affairs" rather than "Foreign Affairs" in deference of the British Government's responsibility for conducting foreign policy on behalf of the British Empire and later the Commonwealth of Nations.<ref>Alan Watt, "The Department of Foreign Affairs," in The Times Survey of Foreign Ministries of the World, Department of External Affairs (1921–70) ed. Zara Steiner (London: Times Books Limited, 1982), p. 35; James Eary, "The Department of External Affairs," in The Times Survey of Foreign Ministries of the World, p. 96.</ref> The title was changed to Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1970 after the Department was renamed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1993, the portfolio was merged with the trade portfolio (except for trade negotiations, which were a separate responsibility) as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In 2005, responsibility for trade was returned to a separate portfolio and the title of "Minister of Foreign Affairs" was restored.

The minister of foreign affairs is usually a senior member of the Cabinet. The portfolio has been held by 13 prime ministers, including Peter Fraser, Walter Nash, Keith Holyoake, David Lange and Mike Moore,<ref name="Malcolm Templeton pp.1-2" /> and has been assigned to the deputy prime minister on four occasions. Only once has the foreign minister sat outside of Cabinet (Winston Peters between 2005 and 2008).

New Zealand has had 29 foreign ministers (regardless of exact title). The longest-serving was Keith Holyoake, who held the post for the duration of his 11-year premiership. The second longest-serving, and the longest-serving who was not also prime minister, was Don McKinnon, who later became Commonwealth Secretary-General.

List of ministers of foreign affairs

Key

No.		Name	Portrait	Term of office		Prime Minister
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	1	James Allen		24 November 1919	28 April 1920	width=1 rowspan=2 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color"|	Massey
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	2	Ernest Lee		17 May 1920	13 January 1923
rowspan=3 style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	3	Francis Bell		7 June 1923	18 January 1926	height=40 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color"|
height=15 style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|						Bell
height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color"|						Coates
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	4	William Nosworthy		24 May 1926	24 August 1928		rowspan=2 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color"|
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	5	Gordon Coates		25 August 1928	10 December 1928
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	6	Joseph Ward		10 December 1928	28 May 1930	style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Ward
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	7	George Forbes		28 May 1930	6 December 1935	style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Forbes
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	8	Michael Joseph Savage		6 December 1935	27 March 1940†	style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Savage
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	9	Frank Langstone		1 April 1940	21 December 1942	rowspan=2 style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Fraser
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	10	Peter Fraser		7 July 1943	13 December 1949
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	11	Frederick Doidge		13 December 1949	19 September 1951	rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Holland
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	12	Clifton Webb		19 September 1951	26 November 1954
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color"|	13	Tom Macdonald		26 November 1954	12 December 1957
height=50 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color"|						style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Holyoake
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	14	Walter Nash		12 December 1957	12 December 1960	style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Nash
rowspan=2 style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	15	Keith Holyoake		12 December 1960	8 December 1972	style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Holyoake
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|						Marshall
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	16	Norman Kirk		8 December 1972	31 August 1974	style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Kirk
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	17	Bill Rowling		6 September 1974	12 December 1975	style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Rowling
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	18	Brian Talboys		12 December 1975	11 December 1981	rowspan=2 style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Muldoon
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	19	Warren Cooper		11 December 1981	26 July 1984
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	20	David Lange		26 July 1984	24 August 1987	rowspan=2 style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Lange
height=40 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color"|	21	Russell Marshall		24 August 1987	9 February 1990
height=40 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color"|						rowspan=2 style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Palmer
height=40 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color"|	22	Mike Moore		9 February 1990	2 November 1990
height=40 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color"|						style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Moore
rowspan=2 style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	23	Don McKinnon		2 November 1990	10 December 1999	style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Bolger
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|						Shipley
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	24	Phil Goff		10 December 1999	19 October 2005	rowspan=3 style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Clark
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	25	Winston Peters		19 October 2005	29 August 2008
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|		Helen Clark Template:Small		29 August 2008	19 November 2008
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color"|	26	Murray McCully		19 November 2008	2 May 2017	style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"|	Key
height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color"|						rowspan=2 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color;"|	English
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"|	27	Gerry Brownlee	File:Gerry Brownlee 2017.jpg	2 May 2017	26 October 2017
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	(25)	Winston Peters	File:Winston Peters, 2019.jpg	26 October 2017	6 November 2020	rowspan=2 style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Ardern
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color"|	28	Nanaia Mahuta	File:Hon Nanaia Mahuta.jpg	6 November 2020	11 November 2023
height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color"|						rowspan=2 style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Hipkins
height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color"|	29	Grant Robertson	File:Hon Grant Robertson (cropped).jpg	11 November 2023	27 November 2023
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	(25)	Winston Peters	File:Winston Peters 2024 US Deputy Secretary visit (further crop).jpg	27 November 2023	present	style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"|	Luxon

External links

• New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade