Minister of Police (New Zealand)

Minister of Police
Minister of Police
	Coat of arms of New Zealand
	Flag of New Zealand Police
	Incumbent; Mark Mitchell ; since 27 November 2023
	New Zealand Police
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	25 February 1896
First holder	Thomas Thompson
Salary	$288,900
Website	www.beehive.govt.nz

Last updated May 27, 2025

The Minister of Police is the minister in the New Zealand Government with responsibility for the New Zealand Police.

History

Initially, responsibility for the police force had rested with the Minister of Defence but was instead allocated to the Minister of Justice in 1896.^[2] The minister responsible for police was, for the most part, the holder of either aforementioned office until it was later split into a separate full ministerial portfolio in 1969.

List of Police Ministers

The following ministers have held the office of Minister of Police.^[3]

Key

Liberal Reform United Labour National NZ First Mauri Pacific

	Name	Term of Office
1	Thomas Thompson	25 February 1896	23 January 1900	Seddon
2	James McGowan	23 January 1900	6 January 1909	Seddon
				Hall-Jones
				Ward
3	John Findlay	6 January 1909	26 December 1911	Ward
4	Josiah Hanan	28 March 1912	10 July 1912	Mackenzie
5	Alexander Herdman	10 July 1912	4 February 1918	Massey
6	Thomas Wilford	4 February 1918	25 August 1919
7	William Massey	4 September 1919	3 April 1920
8	Ernest Lee	3 April 1920	13 January 1923
9	Francis Bell	13 January 1923	27 June 1923
10	James Parr	27 June 1923	18 January 1926
				Bell
				Coates
11	Frank Rolleston	18 January 1926	26 November 1928
12	William Downie Stewart Jr	26 November 1928	10 December 1928
(6)	Thomas Wilford	10 December 1928	10 December 1929	Ward
13	John Cobbe	18 December 1929	6 December 1935	Ward
13	John Cobbe	18 December 1929	6 December 1935	Forbes
14	Peter Fraser	6 December 1935	13 December 1949	Savage
14	Peter Fraser	6 December 1935	13 December 1949	Fraser
15	Sidney Holland	13 December 1949	18 January 1950	Holland
16	Wilfred Fortune	18 January 1950	26 November 1954
(15)	Sidney Holland	26 November 1954	7 December 1956
17	Dean Eyre	7 December 1956	12 December 1957
17	Dean Eyre	7 December 1956	12 December 1957	Holyoake
18	Phil Connolly	12 December 1957	12 December 1960	Nash
(17)	Dean Eyre	12 December 1960	20 December 1963	Holyoake
19	Percy Allen	20 December 1963	22 December 1969
20	David Thomson	22 December 1969	9 February 1972
(17)	Percy Allen	9 February 1972	8 December 1972	Marshall
21	Mick Connelly	8 December 1972	12 December 1975	Kirk
21	Mick Connelly	8 December 1972	12 December 1975	Rowling
22	Allan McCready	12 December 1975	13 December 1978	Muldoon
23	Frank Gill	13 December 1978	21 August 1980
24	Ben Couch	21 August 1980	26 July 1984
25	Ann Hercus	26 July 1984	16 September 1987	Lange
26	Peter Tapsell	16 September 1987	8 August 1989	Lange
27	Roger Douglas	8 August 1989	10 July 1990	Palmer
28	Richard Prebble	10 July 1990	2 November 1990	Palmer
28	Richard Prebble	10 July 1990	2 November 1990	Moore
29	John Banks	2 November 1990	2 March 1994	Bolger
30	John Luxton	2 March 1994	16 December 1996
31	Jack Elder	16 December 1996	31 August 1998
31	Jack Elder	16 December 1996	31 August 1998	Shipley
32	Clem Simich	31 August 1998	10 December 1999	Shipley
33	George Hawkins	10 December 1999	19 October 2005	Clark
34	Annette King	19 October 2005	19 November 2008	Clark
35	Judith Collins	19 November 2008	12 December 2011	Key
36	Anne Tolley	12 December 2011	7 October 2014
37	Michael Woodhouse	8 October 2014	14 December 2015
(35)	Judith Collins	14 December 2015	20 December 2016
38	Paula Bennett	20 December 2016	26 October 2017	English
39	Stuart Nash	26 October 2017	6 November 2020	Ardern
40	Poto Williams	6 November 2020	14 June 2022
41	Chris Hipkins	14 June 2022	25 January 2023
(39)	Stuart Nash	1 February 2023	15 March 2023	Hipkins
-	Megan Woods acting minister	15 March 2023	20 March 2023
42	Ginny Andersen	20 March 2023	27 November 2023
43	Mark Mitchell	27 November 2023	present	Luxon

Notes

↑ "Parliamentary Salaries and Allowances Determination 2016" (PDF). Parliament.nz. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
↑ "The Cabinet". The Star. No. 5498. 25 February 1896. p. 3.
↑ Wilson 1985, pp. 89–97, 127.

References

Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

External links

New Zealand Police

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[1] "Parliamentary Salaries and Allowances Determination 2016" (PDF). Parliament.nz. Retrieved 27 July 2019.

[2] "The Cabinet". The Star. No. 5498. 25 February 1896. p. 3.

[FOOTNOTEWilson198589–97,_127-3] Wilson 1985, pp. 89–97, 127.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Ministerial portfolios of New Zealand
Current portfolios	Prime Minister Deputy Prime Minister Leader of the House ACC Agriculture Arts, Culture and Heritage Attorney-General Auckland Biosecurity Building and Construction Child Poverty Reduction Children Climate Change Commerce and Consumer Affairs Community and Voluntary Sector Conservation Corrections Courts Māori–Crown Relations Customs Defence Digitising Government Disability Issues Economic Growth Education Emergency Management and Recovery Energy Ethnic Communities Environment Finance Foreign Affairs Forestry Food Safety Health Housing Hunting and Fishing Immigration Internal Affairs Infrastructure Justice Land Information Local Government Māori Development Media and Communications Mental Health Ministerial Services National Security and Intelligence Oceans and Fisheries Pacific Peoples Police Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Public Service Racing Rail Regional Development Regulation Resources Revenue Minister for RMA Reform Rural Communities Science, Innovation and Technology Seniors Small Business and Manufacturing Social Development and Employment Social Investment Sport and Recreation Space State Owned Enterprises Statistics Trade Transport Tourism and Hospitality Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Veterans Whānau Ora Women Workplace Relations and Safety Youth
Former portfolios	Civil Aviation Colonial Secretary Communications and Information Technology COVID-19 Response Disarmament and Arms Control Earthquake Commission Electricity Employment Industries and Commerce Island Territories Labour Lands Marine Marketing Mines Pike River Re-entry Postmaster-General Primary Industries Regulatory Reform Social Housing State Insurance Tertiary Education and Skills Trade and Industry Treasurer Works without portfolio
Current Government

Minister of Police
Coat of arms of New Zealand
Flag of New Zealand Police
Incumbent Mark Mitchell since 27 November 2023
New Zealand Police
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	25 February 1896
First holder	Thomas Thompson
Salary	$288,900^[1]
Website	www.beehive.govt.nz