Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand)
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
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| Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade | |
| Style | The Honourable |
| Member of | |
| Reports to | Prime Minister of New Zealand |
| Appointer | Governor-General of New Zealand |
| Term length | At Her Majesty's pleasure |
| Inaugural holder | James Allen |
| Formation | 24 November 1919 |
| Salary | $288,900 |
| Website | www.beehive.govt.nz |
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 has held the position since 2008.
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.
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. 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.
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