Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand)

The Minister of Foreign Affairs is a major portfolio in the Cabinet of New Zealand.

The present Minister is the Rt Hon. Winston Peters, who was created Minister outside cabinet following the 2005 elections. Also linked to the portfolio are the separate roles of Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control and Minister for Trade Negotiations which are now held by Peters' predecessor, the Hon. Phil Goff. Under a special agreement, Peters reports directly to the Prime Minister instead of the Cabinet.

Responsibilities and powers

The Minister of Foreign Affairs is responsible for overseeing New Zealand's relations with foreign countries. 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 other 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. At a later date, the title was changed to "Minister of Foreign Affairs". When the Ministry of Foreign Affairs absorbed responsibility for trade negotiations, the title formally became "Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade". In 2005, however, responsibility for trade was split away into a separate portfolio, with the title reverting simply 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. The most recent Prime Minister to do this was Mike Moore, in 1990. In total, thirteen Prime Ministers have served as Foreign Minister for all or part of their terms.

New Zealand has had twenty-six foreign ministers (regardless of exact title) since the post was first created. The longest-serving foreign minister was Keith Holyoake, who held the post for the duration of his eleven-year premiership. The second longest-serving foreign minister, and the longest-serving foreign minister who was not also Prime Minister, was Don McKinnon, who later became Commonwealth Secretary-General.

List of Foreign Ministers

	Name	PM Served	Took Office	Left Office	Party
1	James Allen	Massey	24 November 1919	28 April 1920	Reform
2	Ernest Page Lee	Massey	17 May 1920	13 January 1923	Reform
3	Francis Bell	Massey, (himself), Coates	18 June 1923	24 May 1926	Reform
4	William Nosworthy	Coates	24 May 1926	24 August 1928	Reform
5	Gordon Coates	(himself)	25 August 1928	10 December 1928	Reform
6	Joseph Ward	(himself)	10 December 1928	28 May 1930	United (Liberal)
7	George William Forbes	(himself)	28 May 1930	6 December 1935	United (Liberal)
8	Michael Joseph Savage	(himself)	6 December 1935	27 March 1940	Labour
9	Frank Langstone	Fraser	1 April 1940	21 December 1942	Labour
10	Peter Fraser	(himself)	7 July 1943	13 December 1949	Labour
11	Frederick Doidge	Holland	13 December 1949	31 August 1951	National
12	Thomas Webb	Holland	19 September 1951	26 November 1954	National
13	Thomas MacDonald	Holland, Holyoake	26 November 1954	12 December 1957	National
14	Walter Nash	(himself)	12 December 1957	12 December 1960	Labour
15	Keith Holyoake	(himself)	12 December 1960	7 February 1972	National
16	Jack Marshall	(himself)	7 February 1972	8 December 1972	National
17	Norman Kirk	(himself)	8 December 1972	31 August 1974	Labour
18	Bill Rowling	(himself)	6 September 1974	12 December 1975	Labour
19	Brian Talboys	Muldoon	12 December 1975	11 December 1981	National
20	Warren Cooper	Muldoon	11 December 1981	26 July 1984	National
21	David Lange	(himself)	26 July 1984	24 August 1987	Labour
22	Russell Marshall	Lange, Palmer	24 August 1987	9 February 1990	Labour
23	Mike Moore	Palmer, (himself)	9 February 1990	2 November 1990	Labour
24	Don McKinnon	Bolger, Shipley	2 November 1990	5 December 1999	National
25	Phil Goff	Clark	5 December 1999	19 October 2005	Labour
26	Winston Peters	Clark	19 October 2005	(present)	New Zealand First

External links

*New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade