First amongst equals: the foreign ministry’s primacy in New Zealand’s international engagement

Abstract

ABSTRACT New Zealand’s drive for foreign policy independence, and particularly its search for new partners and markets from the 1970s, has had an impact on Wellington’s bureaucratic arrangements. As a consequence, New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry has assumed quite a central role in the conduct of foreign policy when compared to some of its traditional partners. New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) has referred to itself as the ‘principal agent’ of foreign policy interaction. The arrangements put in place over time, which include the high ranking in cabinet of New Zealand foreign ministers through to the cabinet direction that New Zealand ambassadors offshore are in charge of the New Zealand combined effort, does give the Foreign Ministry something akin to a ‘first amongst equals’ status. Foreign policy (and some domestic policy with international dimensions) is now involving a widening range of government agencies. A more complex international situation involving great power competition is also forcing the New Zealand government to consider its arrangements for strategic planning, as evidenced by processes that have emerged within MFAT, but are now also complemented by efforts within Defence and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.