Minister of Education (New Zealand)

Minister of Education
Coat of arms of New Zealand
Flag of New Zealand
Incumbent Erica Stanford since 27 November 2023
Ministry of Education
Style	The Honourable
Member of	Cabinet of New Zealand Executive Council
Reports to	Prime Minister of New Zealand
Appointer	Governor-General of New Zealand
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	12 January 1878
First holder	John Ballance
Salary	$288,900 [1]
Website	www.beehive.govt.nz

The Minister of Education is a minister in the New Zealand Government with responsibility for the country's schools, and is in charge of the Ministry of Education.

The present Minister is Erica Stanford, a member of the National Party.

History

The first minister was appointed in 1878, shortly after the abolition of the Provinces allowed the central government to assume responsibility for education. It has existed without major interruption since then. The size of the portfolio has meant that, particularly since the Fourth Labour Government, additional associate ministers of education, and at times one or more ministers responsible for tertiary education, have been established.

List of Education Ministers

Key

   Independent    Liberal    Reform    United    Labour    National

No.		Name	Portrait	Term of Office		Prime Minister
	1	John Ballance		12 January 1878	1 July 1879		Grey
	2	William Rolleston		8 October 1879	15 December 1880		Hall
	3	Thomas Dick		15 December 1880	16 August 1884
							Whitaker
							Atkinson
	4	William Montgomery		16 August 1884	28 August 1884		Stout
	5	Robert Stout		8 January 1885	8 October 1887
	6	George Fisher		8 October 1887	8 April 1889		Atkinson
	7	Harry Atkinson		8 April 1889	9 July 1889
	8	Thomas William Hislop		9 July 1889	24 January 1891
	9	William Pember Reeves		24 January 1891	10 January 1896		Ballance
							Seddon
	10	William Campbell Walker		11 March 1896	22 June 1903
	11	Richard Seddon		22 June 1903	10 June 1906
	12	William Hall-Jones		10 June 1906	6 August 1906		Hall-Jones
	13	George Fowlds		6 August 1906	4 September 1911		Ward
	14	Josiah Hanan		28 March 1912	10 July 1912		Mackenzie
	15	James Allen		10 July 1912	12 August 1915		Massey
	(14)	Josiah Hanan		12 August 1915	25 August 1919
	16	Francis Bell		4 September 1919	3 April 1920
	17	James Parr		3 April 1920	24 May 1926
							Bell
							Coates
	18	Robert Wright		24 May 1926	10 December 1928
	19	Harry Atmore		10 December 1928	22 September 1931		Ward
							Forbes
	20	Robert Masters		22 September 1931	22 November 1934
	21	Sydney Smith		22 November 1934	6 December 1935
	22	Peter Fraser		6 December 1935	30 April 1940		Savage
							Fraser
	23	Rex Mason		30 April 1940	18 October 1947
	24	Terry McCombs		18 October 1947	13 December 1949
	25	Ronald Algie		13 December 1949	12 December 1957		Holland
							Holyoake
	26	Philip Skoglund		12 December 1957	12 December 1960		Nash
	27	Blair Tennent		12 December 1960	20 December 1963		Holyoake
	28	Arthur Kinsella		20 December 1963	22 December 1969
	29	Brian Talboys		22 December 1969	9 February 1972
	30	Lorrie Pickering		9 February 1972	8 December 1972		Marshall
	31	Phil Amos		8 December 1972	12 December 1975		Kirk
							Rowling
	32	Les Gandar		12 December 1975	13 December 1978		Muldoon
	33	Merv Wellington		13 December 1978	26 July 1984
	34	Russell Marshall		26 July 1984	24 August 1987		Lange
	35	David Lange		24 August 1987	8 August 1989
	36	Geoffrey Palmer		8 August 1989	14 August 1989		Palmer
	37	Phil Goff		14 August 1989	2 November 1990
							Moore
	38	Lockwood Smith		2 November 1990	1 March 1996		Bolger
	39	Wyatt Creech		1 March 1996	31 January 1999
							Shipley
	40	Nick Smith		31 January 1999	10 December 1999
	41	Trevor Mallard		10 December 1999	19 October 2005		Clark
	42	Steve Maharey		19 October 2005	31 October 2007
	43	Chris Carter		31 October 2007	19 November 2008
	44	Anne Tolley		19 November 2008	12 December 2011		Key
	45	Hekia Parata		12 December 2011	2 May 2017
							English
	46	Nikki Kaye		2 May 2017	26 October 2017
	47	Chris Hipkins		26 October 2017	25 January 2023		Ardern
	48	Jan Tinetti		1 February 2023	27 November 2023		Hipkins
	49	Erica Stanford		27 November 2023	Incumbent		Luxon

References

1. "Radware Page" (PDF). www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 10 July 2025.

External links

• New Zealand Ministry of Education Archived 29 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine