Minister of Foreign Affairs
Coat of Arms of New Zealand
Flag of New Zealand
Incumbent
Winston Peters
since 27 November 2023
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
StyleThe Honourable
Member of
Reports toPrime Minister of New Zealand
AppointerGovernor-General of New Zealand
Term lengthAt His Majesty's pleasure
Inaugural holderJames Allen
Formation24 November 1919
Salary$288,900[1]
Websitewww.beehive.govt.nz

The Minister of Foreign Affairs is a senior member of 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.[2]

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.[3] 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.

Historically, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has been a member of Cabinet, with the exception of the Rt Hon. Winston Peters between 2005 and 2008. This situation came about as the result of coalition negotiations in which it was agreed that New Zealand First would take a senior ministerial portfolio but would not join Cabinet.

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.[4] 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.[5]

From 1943, the Minister of External Affairs became the main ministerial portfolio for conducting New Zealand's external relations.[6] 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.[7] The title was changed to "Minister of Foreign Affairs" in 1970 after the Department was renamed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The title became "Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade" following the abandonment of the short-lived "Minister of External Relations and Trade" title, created in September 1988 when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs absorbed the Trade functions of the old Department of Trade and Industry. In 2005 responsibility for trade was split into a separate portfolio, with the title reverting to "Minister of Foreign Affairs".

Historically it has been common for Prime Ministers to take on the role of Foreign Minister themselves, particularly if they have an interest in the field. Several New Zealand Prime Ministers including Peter Fraser, Walter Nash, Keith Holyoake, and David Lange held the External Affairs portfolio.[6] The most recent Prime Minister to do this is Helen Clark in 2008 as Acting Minister, and prior to her was Mike Moore, in 1990. Thirteen Prime Ministers have served as Foreign Minister for all or part of their terms.

New Zealand has had 28 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

  Reform   United   Labour   National   NZ First

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

References

  1. ↑ "Parliamentary Salaries and Allowances Determination 2016 (2016/252)" (PDF). www.parliament.nz.
  2. ↑ "Caretaker govt arrangements extended amid coalition talks". 1 News. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  3. ↑ "Ministerial Portfolio: Foreign Affairs". The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  4. ↑ "External Affairs Bill", in New Zealand Parliamentary Debates, Vol. 185 (3 October–5 November 1919), p.337.
  5. ↑ Malcolm Templeton, An Eye, an Ear, and a Voice: 50 years in New Zealand's External Relations, 1943-1993, p.1.
  6. 1 2 Malcolm Templeton, ed., An Eye, An Ear, And a Voice, pp.1-2.
  7. ↑ 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.
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