Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control

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Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control
Coat of arms of New Zealand.svg
Flag of New Zealand.svg
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 His Majesty's pleasure
Formation8 June 1987
First holder Russell Marshall
Salary$288,900 [1]
Website www.beehive.govt.nz

The Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control was a minister in the government of New Zealand.

Contents

History and responsibilities

The portfolio was established after the declaration of the New Zealand nuclear-free zone and passage of the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987 (the Act) on 8 June 1987. As of 2020, the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade believed that New Zealand was the only country to have a standalone disarmament portfolio. A briefing to the minister from that year stated that the purpose of the portfolio was to "provide leadership of New Zealand’s efforts to achieve progress on disarmament and non-proliferation, both in support of the global public good that these entail and as an important contribution to [New Zealand's] national interest." [2]

Under the Act, the Minister is the chair of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control. They led the New Zealand Government's engagement on the New Agenda Coalition and the Stockholm Initiative for Nuclear Disarmament. [2]

The portfolio was disestablished in 2011 following the report of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control. Responsibilities of the minister were incorporated into the foreign affairs portfolio. A separate disarmament and arms control portfolio was re-established in 2018 but no further appointment was made after the 2023 general election. [3]

From 2023, in lieu of the separate ministerial portfolio, government functions related to disarmament and arms control were delegated to the Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Todd McClay. [4]

List of ministers

The following ministers have held the office of Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control. [5]

Key

   Labour    National    Alliance    NZ First

No.NamePortraitTerm of officePrime Minister
1 Russell Marshall Russell Marshall.jpg 8 June 198724 August 1989 Lange
Palmer
2 Fran Wilde FranWilde.png 24 August 19892 November 1990
Moore
3 Doug Graham No image.png 2 November 199016 December 1996 Bolger
4 Don McKinnon Don McKinnon 2012.jpg 16 December 199610 December 1999
Shipley
5 Matt Robson No image.png 10 December 199915 August 2002 Clark
6 Marian Hobbs Marian Hobbs.jpg 15 August 200212 October 2005
7 Phil Goff Phil Goff, 2003.jpg 12 October 200519 November 2008
8 Georgina te Heuheu Georgina te Heuheu.jpg 19 November 200814 December 2011 Key
Office not in use
9 Winston Peters Winston Peters, 2019.jpg 2 May 20186 November 2020 Ardern
10 Phil Twyford Phil Twyford crop.jpg 6 November 20201 February 2023
Hipkins
11 Nanaia Mahuta Hon Nanaia Mahuta.jpg 1 February 202311 November 2023
12 Grant Robertson Hon Grant Robertson (cropped).jpg 11 November 202327 November 2023

See also

Notes

  1. "Radware Page" (PDF). www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  2. 1 2 New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2020). Briefing for incoming Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control 2020 (PDF) (Report). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  3. "Ministerial portfolio changes". Beehive.govt.nz. New Zealand Government. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  4. "Delegations to Associate Ministers". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC). 20 March 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  5. Wood 1996.

References