Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand)

New Zealand

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Ministry
Incumbent Murray McCully
Style
Appointed by	John Key as Prime Minister of New Zealand
First	James Allen
Formation	1919

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

The current Minister of Foreign Affairs is Murray McCully, who was National Party Spokeperson of Foreign Affairs and Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs. There are also Associate Minister roles. Currently, these roles are held by Tim Groser.

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 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. This situation came about as the result of coalition negotiations in which it was agreed that the New Zealand First Party 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. The title was changed to "Minister of Foreign Affairs" in 1970. 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. 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 27 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 became Commonwealth Secretary-General.

List of Ministers of Foreign Affairs

	Name	PM Served	Took Office	Left Office	Party
1	James Allen	Massey	24 November 1919	28 April 1920	Reform
2	Ernest 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 Lachlan 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), Jack Marshall	12 December 1960	8 December 1972	National
16	Norman Kirk	(himself)	8 December 1972	31 August 1974	Labour
17	Bill Rowling	(himself)	6 September 1974	12 December 1975	Labour
18	Brian Talboys	Muldoon	12 December 1975	11 December 1981	National
19	Warren Cooper	Muldoon	11 December 1981	26 July 1984	National
20	David Lange	(himself)	26 July 1984	24 August 1987	Labour
21	Russell Marshall	Lange, Palmer	24 August 1987	9 February 1990	Labour
22	Mike Moore	Palmer, (himself)	9 February 1990	2 November 1990	Labour
23	Don McKinnon	Bolger, Shipley	2 November 1990	10 December 1999	National
24	Phil Goff	Clark	10 December 1999	19 October 2005	Labour
25	Winston Peters	Clark	19 October 2005	29 August 2008 - Stood down	New Zealand First
	Helen Clark (Acting)	herself	29 August 2008	19 November 2008	Labour
26	Murray McCully	Key	19 November 2008	Incumbent	National

External links

• New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade