Simon Murdoch

Infobox Officeholder


imagesize = 150px
name =Simon Murdoch
caption =
office =Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade
term_start =2002
term_end =
primeminister =
predecessor =Neil Walter
successor =
office2 =High Commissioner
term_start2 =1999
term_end2 =2002
primeminister2 =
predecessor2 =Graham Fortune
successor2 =Kate Lackey
office3 =Chief Executive of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
term_start3 =1991
term_end3 =1998
primeminister3 =Jim Bolger, Jenny Shipley
predecessor3 =
successor3 =Mark Prebble
birth_place =

Simon Murdoch, (b. 1948 - ). New Zealand diplomat and public servant. Currently New Zealand’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Previously New Zealand High Commissioner to Canberra, and Chief Executive of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Early life and education

Murdoch attended Canterbury University, where he gained a first class Masters degree with honours in History.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Murdoch joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1972. He had an early posting to Canberra, before joining the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in 1980 as foreign affairs adviser to Prime Minister Robert Muldoon.

In 1983, Murdoch was assistant head of the Asian division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Later that year, Murdoch was posted to Washington DC as political counsellor, and the New Zealand intelligence liaison officer to the United States.

In 1987, Murdoch returned to New Zealand and became head of the Australia Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In 1989, Murdoch was seconded to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to be head of the Policy Advisory Group. In 1991, State Services Commissioner Don Hunn appointed Murdoch to the post of Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Murdoch was head of the department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under Prime Ministers Jim Bolger and Jenny Shipley. He left the post in 1998, to become Visiting Professor of Public Policy and Management at Victoria University of Wellington for a year.

In 1999, Murdoch was appointed New Zealand High Commissioner to Australia. At the time the posting was seen to be grooming Murdoch for the role of Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

In 2002, Murdoch succeeded Neil Walter as New Zealand’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs.