Paul Cotton (diplomat)

Paul Charles Cotton CVO QSO (born 27 March 1930) is a former New Zealand public servant, diplomat and journalist. He served as High Commissioner to Samoa from 1975 to 1977, non-resident High Commissioner to Tonga from 1975 to 1976, ambassador to Greece from 1980 to 1983, and ambassador to the Philippines from 1984 to 1988.

Cotton was born on 27 March 1930, the son of Hilda Mary Josephine Cotton (née Gibbons) and geologist Sir Charles Cotton. He was educated at Hutt Valley High School, and then Christ's College from 1944 to 1947.

He studied at Victoria University College, graduating with a Master of Arts with third-class honours in 1953, and then the London School of Economics. At Victoria, he was active in student politics, being elected to the men's committee and appointed assistant secretary of the Victoria University College Students' Association in 1950.

Cotton married Gillian Perry Burrell in 1956. They have two children.

Returning to New Zealand, Cotton joined the Department of External Affairs in 1954 and worked in the Specialised Agencies Division of the Department of External Affairs. In a paper to Cabinet in December 1955, he proposed the formation of a cabinet committee to investigate the peaceful uses of nuclear energy in New Zealand. Following Cotton's recommendation, Cabinet established a committee on atomic energy, which studied the reports from delegates to the "Atoms for Peace" conference in Geneva in 1955, and another committee consisting of the permanent heads of government departments with an interest in developing peaceful uses for atomic energy. Cotton served as secretary to the cabinet committee.Bill Hamilton, head of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and chair of the permanent heads committee, prepared a draft policy statement that New Zealand had no need for nuclear power for at least 30 years, which Cotton believed to be "most unsatisfactory". Cotton subsequently redrafted the policy statement, moderating Hamilton's views.

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