View source for Don McKinnon

{{short description|New Zealand politician}}
{{about other people|the New Zealand politician}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Don McKinnon 2012.jpg
| caption = McKinnon in 2012
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = Sir Don McKinnon
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|ONZ|GCVO|size=100%}}
| office = 4th [[Commonwealth Secretary-General|Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations]]
| 1blankname = [[Head of the Commonwealth|Head]]
| 1namedata = [[Elizabeth II]]
| 2blankname = [[Commonwealth Chair-in-Office|Chair]]
| 2namedata = [[Thabo Mbeki]] <small>(South Africa)</small><br>[[John Howard]] <small>(Australia)</small><br>[[Olusegun Obasanjo]] <small>(Nigeria)</small><br>[[Lawrence Gonzi]] <small>(Malta)</small><br>[[Yoweri Museveni]] <small>(Uganda)</small>
| term_start = 1 April 2000
| term_end = 31 March 2008
| predecessor = [[Emeka Anyaoku]]
| successor = [[Kamalesh Sharma]]
| office2 = 12th [[Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand]]
| term_start2 = 2 November 1990
| term_end2 = 16 December 1996
| primeminister2 = [[Jim Bolger]]
| predecessor2 = [[Helen Clark]]
| successor2 = [[Winston Peters]]
| office3 = 24th [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]
| term_start3 = 2 November 1990
| term_end3 = 5 December 1999
| primeminister3 = [[Jim Bolger]] <br>[[Jenny Shipley]]
| predecessor3 = [[Mike Moore (New Zealand politician)|Mike Moore]]
| successor3 = [[Phil Goff]]
| constituency_MP4 = [[Albany (New Zealand electorate)|Albany]]<br />{{small| [[Rodney (New Zealand electorate)|Rodney]] (1984–1987)}}
| term_start4 = [[1978 New Zealand general election|25 November 1978]]
| term_end4 = [[1996 New Zealand general election|12 October 1996]]
| parliament4   = New Zealand
| predecessor4 = ''Seat established''
| successor4 = [[Murray McCully]]
| majority4 = 
| constituency_MP5 = [[New Zealand National Party|National]] [[party list]]
| term_start5 = [[1996 New Zealand general election|12 October 1996]]
| term_end5 = 6 March 2000
| parliament5   = New Zealand
| predecessor5 = 
| successor5 = [[Arthur Anae]]{{refn|group=n|Normally, list MPs do not have individual predecessors or successors, but McKinnon resigned during a sitting parliament and therefore was succeeded by Anae.}}
| birth_name = Donald Charles McKinnon
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1939|02|27}}
| birth_place = [[London]], United Kingdom
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| nationality = New Zealand
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Clare de Lore]]|1995}}
| children            = 2
| relatives = [[Walter McKinnon]] (father)<br />[[Ian McKinnon]] (brother)<br>[[John McKinnon (diplomat)|John McKinnon]] (brother)<br>[[Malcolm McKinnon]] (brother)
| party = [[New Zealand National Party|National]]
}}
'''Sir Donald Charles McKinnon''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|ONZ|GCVO|PC}} (born 27 February 1939) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 12th [[deputy prime minister of New Zealand]] and the [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand)|minister of Foreign Affairs]] of New Zealand. He was the fourth [[Commonwealth Secretary-General|secretary-general]] of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] from 2000 until 2008.

==Early life==
McKinnon was born in [[Blackheath, London]]. His father was Major-General [[Walter McKinnon]], CB CBE, a New Zealand Chief of the General Staff, and once Chairman of [[New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation]]. McKinnon's brothers include the twins [[John McKinnon (diplomat)|John McKinnon]], the former New Zealand Secretary of Defence and a former Ambassador to China, and [[Malcolm McKinnon]], an editor and academic, and [[Ian McKinnon]], Pro-Chancellor of [[Victoria University of Wellington]], School Headmaster of [[Scots College, Wellington|Scots College]] and former Deputy [[Mayor of Wellington]]. The McKinnon brothers are great-great-grandsons of [[John Plimmer]], known as the "father of Wellington".<ref>Dominion Post 18 June 2009 page C2</ref>

McKinnon was educated at Khandallah School and then [[Nelson College]] from 1952 to 1953.<ref name="NCOB">''Nelson College Old Boys' Register, 1856–2006'', 6th edition</ref> In 1956, he graduated from [[Jackson-Reed High School|Woodrow Wilson High School]], in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name=":0">{{Citation|last=McKinnon|first=Don|title=Building Sustainable Democracies – the Commonwealth way|date=2006-05-25|url=https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/attachments/060525_mckinnon_comments.pdf|publisher=[[Center for Strategic and International Studies]]}}{{Dead link|date=February 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> McKinnon later spent a "lengthy period" in the [[Bighorn Mountains]] in [[Wyoming]].<ref name=":0" /> He undertook study at [[Lincoln University (New Zealand)|Lincoln Agricultural College]], New Zealand. After leaving university, he became a farm manager, and later a farm management consultant. In 1974, he became a real estate agent. In his spare time, he also worked as a rehabilitation tutor in prisons.{{Citation needed|date=June 2018}}

==Member of Parliament==

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In the elections of [[1969 New Zealand general election|1969]] and [[1972 New Zealand general election|1972]], McKinnon stood unsuccessfully as the [[New Zealand National Party|National Party]]'s candidate in the [[Birkenhead, New Zealand|Birkenhead]] electorate, having previously served on two of the party's electorate committees. In the [[1978 New Zealand general election|election of 1978]], McKinnon won the newly established seat of [[Albany (New Zealand electorate)|Albany]], which covered much of the same area.

In 1980, McKinnon was made the government's junior [[whip (politics)|Whip]]. Two years later, he was made senior Whip. When Prime Minister [[Robert Muldoon]] called the [[snap election]] of [[1984 New Zealand general election|1984]], and was defeated by [[David Lange]]'s [[New Zealand Labour Party]], McKinnon remained senior Whip for his party in [[Parliamentary Opposition|Opposition]]. In September 1987, following National's defeat at the August election, he became deputy leader of the National Party after defeating [[Ruth Richardson]] for the position by just one vote.<ref>{{cite news |last=Grafton |first=Tim |title=National Picks McKinnon - Bolger's deputy the 'safe option' |date=10 September 1987 |work=[[The Evening Post (New Zealand)|The Evening Post]] |page=1 }}</ref> He was also appointed Shadow Minister of Defence and Shadow Minister of Health by leader [[Jim Bolger]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=National Party's new parliamentary line-up |date=12 February 1990 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |page=5 }}</ref>

===Cabinet minister===
When National, then led by [[Jim Bolger]], won the [[1990 New Zealand general election|1990 election]], McKinnon became Deputy Prime Minister. He also became Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister of Pacific Island Affairs. During his tenure in the former role, he oversaw New Zealand's election to the [[UN Security Council]], increased activity in the Commonwealth of Nations, and attempts to broker a truce on the island of [[Bougainville Island|Bougainville]]. He received recognition as a result of the Bougainville negotiations.

In 1996, the National Party required the support of the [[New Zealand First]] party to form a government, and part of the coalition agreement gave the office of Deputy Prime Minister to New Zealand First leader [[Winston Peters]]. McKinnon kept his role as Minister of Foreign Affairs, however, and also became [[Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control]]. When the coalition with New Zealand First collapsed, McKinnon did not resume the Deputy Prime Minister's role as he had been replaced beforehand as Deputy National Party leader by [[Wyatt Creech]] and therefore Creech became Deputy Prime Minister instead, although he did gain the minor responsibility of Minister in Charge of War Pensions. McKinnon retired from parliament shortly after the [[1999 New Zealand general election|1999 election]], being replaced by [[Arthur Anae]].

==Secretary-General of the Commonwealth==

During his time as New Zealand's Minister of Foreign Affairs, McKinnon had been highly involved with the Commonwealth. At the [[Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1999]] (CHOGM), in [[Durban]], he was elected to the office of Secretary General. Since that time, he has had to deal with issues such as [[Zimbabwe]]'s [[Robert Mugabe]] and [[George Speight]]'s attempted nationalist coup in [[Fiji]]. McKinnon has also placed an emphasis on supporting "good governance".

In late 2003, New Zealand media reported that Zimbabwe was attempting to gather support from other Commonwealth members to remove McKinnon from the office of Secretary-General, presumably in retaliation for McKinnon's views about the issue of Zimbabwean democracy. The government of Zimbabwe denied that it was making any such efforts.

At the opening of the [[Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2003|2003 CHOGM]], in [[Nigeria]] on 5 December, McKinnon was challenged for the position of Secretary-General by [[Lakshman Kadirgamar]], a former Foreign Minister of [[Sri Lanka]]. However, McKinnon defeated Kadirgamar in a vote reported to be 40–11 in McKinnon's favour.

McKinnon received an Honorary Doctorate from [[Heriot-Watt University]] in 2005<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www1.hw.ac.uk/annual-review/2005/people-lynn2.html |title=Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh & Scottish Borders: Annual Review 2004 |website=www1.hw.ac.uk |access-date=2016-03-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413072617/http://www1.hw.ac.uk/annual-review/2005/people-lynn2.html |archive-date=13 April 2016 }}</ref>

In 2007 McKinnon attempted to mediate between Fiji and the Australian and New Zealand governments in their continuing dispute over the appropriate timetable and rules for the holding of Fijian election in 2008.<ref>Manning, Selwyn. "[http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0710/S00225.htm McKinnon moves to resolve Clark Bainimarama scrap]". ''Scoop''. 15 October 2007.</ref>

In a 2007 interview McKinnon criticised British public support for evicted [[white farmers in Zimbabwe]] as being "a bit of a guilt thing" and argued that the evictions were justified as there was "no way you can justify a society where 15,000 white farmers control 80 per cent of the most fertile land".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ralston |first1=Bill |author-link=Bill Ralston |date=14–20 April 2007 |title=The seven-year itch |journal=[[New Zealand Listener]] |volume=208 |issue=3492 |url=http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3492/features/8597/the_seven-year_itch.html;jsessionid=ECD6F23B3610C08D127B7A445A3E4813 |access-date=3 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071128131638/http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3492/features/8597/the_seven-year_itch.html;jsessionid=ECD6F23B3610C08D127B7A445A3E4813 |archive-date=28 November 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the [[2008 New Year Honours (New Zealand)|2008 New Year Honours]], McKinnon was appointed as a [[Order of New Zealand|Member of the Order of New Zealand]], New Zealand's highest civilian honour.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/publications/new-year-honours-list-2008 | title=New Year honours list 2008 |date=31 December 2007 | publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | access-date=1 November 2017}}</ref>

In 2009, McKinnon was appointed a [[Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]] for services to the Commonwealth.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=59001 |date=9 March 2009 |page=4181}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/Pressreleases/2009/TheQueenappointsformerCommonwealthSecretaryGeneral.aspx |title=The Queen appoints former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Don McKinnon, as GCVO |access-date=2009-03-11 |date=9 March 2009 |publisher=[[Buckingham Palace]] }}</ref> He is a vice-president of the [[Royal Commonwealth Society]].

==Legacy==
Don McKinnon Drive is named after McKinnon, in his former electorate of Albany.

In April 2013, McKinnon released his memoirs of his time as Secretary General of the Commonwealth, entitled ''In The Ring''.<ref>{{cite news|work=Amazon | title= In the Ring: A Commonwealth Memoir | date=17 March 2013|isbn=978-1908739261 |last1=McKinnon |first1=Don }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.3news.co.nz/McKinnon-details-Zimbabwe-Fiji-in-memoirs/tabid/417/articleID/290709/Default.aspx|work=3 News NZ |title= McKinnon details Zimbabwe, Fiji in memoirs| date=18 March 2013}}</ref>

McKinnon is chairman of the [http://www.globalpanel.net Global Panel Foundation Australasia], a non-governmental organisation that works in crisis areas around the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://globalpanel.org/boards |title=Board of directors |website=Global Panel |access-date=20 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120920100036/http://www.globalpanel.org/boards |archive-date=20 September 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Personal life==
McKinnon is married to his second wife, former journalist [[Clare de Lore]], and together they have a son. McKinnon also has four other children from a previous marriage.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10649843 |title=Michele Hewitson Interview: Don McKinnon |author=Hewitson, Michele |date=5 June 2010 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |access-date=8 September 2010}}</ref>

==References==
===Footnotes===
{{reflist|group=n}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{commons category}}
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last1=McKinnon|first1=Don|title=In The Ring - A Commonwealth Memoir|publisher=Elliot and Thompson|year=2013|isbn=9781908739261}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|2621985}}
*[https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1842642.stm Profile: Don McKinnon - BBC news]
*[http://www.globalpanel.org/ The Global Panel Foundation]

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{{succession box
 | title  = [[Commonwealth Secretary-General|Secretary-General for the Commonwealth]]
 | years=2000–2008
 | before = [[Emeka Anyaoku|Chief Emeka Anyaoku]]
 | after  = [[Kamalesh Sharma]]}}
{{succession box | before=[[Mike Moore (New Zealand politician)|Mike Moore]] | after=[[Phil Goff]] | title=[[Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] | years=1990–1999 }}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Helen Clark]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand]]|years=1990–1996}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Winston Peters]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Deputy Prime Ministers of New Zealand}}
{{Commonwealth Secretary-General}}
{{Order of New Zealand}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKinnon, Don}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:Commonwealth secretaries-general]]
[[Category:Deputy prime ministers of New Zealand]]
[[Category:New Zealand Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]]
[[Category:Lincoln University (New Zealand) alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand]]
[[Category:Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of New Zealand]]
[[Category:New Zealand members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates]]
[[Category:New Zealand National Party MPs]]
[[Category:Ministers of foreign affairs of New Zealand]]
[[Category:New Zealand list MPs]]
[[Category:New Zealand real estate agents]]
[[Category:Ministers of trade of New Zealand]]
[[Category:People educated at Nelson College]]
[[Category:People from Nelson, New Zealand]]
[[Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1969 New Zealand general election]]
[[Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1972 New Zealand general election]]
[[Category:21st-century New Zealand politicians]]