Minister of Finance (New Zealand)
| Minister of Finance of New Zealand | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
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| The Treasury | |
| Style | The Honourable |
| Member of | |
| Reports to | Prime Minister of New Zealand |
| Appointer | Governor-General of New Zealand |
| Term length | At Her Majesty's pleasure |
| Formation | 3 May 1841 |
| First holder | George Cooper as Colonial Treasurer |
| Salary | $288,900[1] |
| Website | www.beehive.govt.nz |
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 New Zealand portal |
The minister of Finance, originally known as colonial treasurer, is the head of the New Zealand Treasury, responsible for producing an annual New Zealand budget outlining the government's proposed expenditure. The position is often considered to be the most important cabinet post after that of the prime minister.[2]
The current Minister of Finance is Grant Robertson. There are also three associate minister roles; they are currently held by David Parker, Shane Jones and James Shaw.[3]
Responsibilities and powers
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2017) |
One of the Minister of Finance's key roles involves the framing of the annual year budget. According to Parliament's Standing Orders, the Minister of Finance may veto any parliamentary bill which would have a significant impact on the government's budget plans. The Minister of Finance supervises the Treasury, which is the government's primary advisor on matters of economic and financial policy.[4] As such, the Minister of Finance has broad control of the government's spending, making the position quite powerful.
Some analysts, such as Jonathan Boston, claim that the Minister of Finance can sometimes hold more influence than the Prime Minister, if the conditions are right. Gordon Coates, Finance Minister in the early 1930s, was sometimes such a figure. Some political scientists, such as Boston, believe that in the government of David Lange, Minister of Finance Roger Douglas held more power than was proper, and that the Treasury was using its control of government finances to take a supervisory role across the whole administration. It was probably for this reason that Lange's successor, Geoffrey Palmer, established the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, which could offer the Prime Minister advice independent of that given by individual ministers.
History
The office of Minister of Finance has existed since 1841.[5] Apart from the office of Prime Minister itself, the only other cabinet posts to have existed since the first cabinet are those of Attorney-General and Minister of Internal Affairs. Originally, the holder of the post was designated "Colonial Treasurer", but this term was replaced with "Minister of Finance" shortly after New Zealand ceased to be a Colony and became a Dominion. This occurred in 1907, during the cabinet of Joseph Ward.
In the past, several Prime Ministers took on the post of Minister of Finance themselves, though in recent times this practice has declined. Robert Muldoon, the last person to concurrently serve as Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, created considerable controversy by doing so. It is more common, however, for a Deputy Prime Minister to serve as Minister of Finance. Bob Tizard, Michael Cullen and Bill English served as Deputy Prime Minister when in the position as Minister of Finance.
Traditionally Ministers of Finance rank second or third in seniority lists within Westminster-style Cabinets, although initially Harry Lake was ranked at sixth and his successor Robert Muldoon was ranked at eighth; both because of their short service to date in Parliament, and because Keith Holyoake saw Muldoon as too arrogant and ambitious for his own good.
The convention of making a second, more junior appointment in the Finance portfolio began with Holyoake, who appointed Muldoon as an Assistant Minister to Lake shortly before the latter's death in 1967.[6] Some successive Prime Ministers made similar appointments of an Associate Minister of Finance (for example, Marshall and Kirk) but this was not always done (Rowling, for example, who had Mick Connelly as his associate while serving as Finance Minister did not appoint an associate Minister after succeeding to the premiership in 1974).[6] Associate appointments became standard when Muldoon served concurrently as both Prime Minister and Finance Minister.[7] In his second term, Muldoon appointed both a Deputy Minister of Finance (Hugh Templeton) as well as an associate Minister (Derek Quigley). Muldoon's successors Lange and Palmer continued to have a three-strong Finance team, each appointing two associate Ministers to support their respective Ministers of Finance.[6][7] At times, the appointment of associate Ministers was intended to temper the reform ambitions of Roger Douglas.[7]
In the coalition governments formed in 1996 and 2017, responsibility for Finance was shared between the parties. After the 1996 elections, the role of the Minister of Finance was formally split between two portfolios – that of Minister of Finance and that of Treasurer. The position of Treasurer was senior to that of the Minister of Finance, and was created as part of the coalition agreement between the National Party and New Zealand First. It was established especially for Winston Peters, leader of New Zealand First, who demanded it as part of the deal. When Peters ended the coalition, the position reverted to the National Party. After the change of government in 1999, both positions were held concurrently by Michael Cullen before they were combined into the old Minister of Finance portfolio in 2002.[8] Both New Zealand First and the Green Party won an associate Finance role in the negotiations that formed the Sixth Labour Government.
List of Finance Ministers
- Key
Independent Liberal Reform United Labour National
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List of Treasurers
- Key
| No. | Name | Portrait | Term of Office | Prime Minister | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rowspan=2 style="background:Template:New Zealand First/meta/color"| | 1 | Winston Peters | 
|
16 December 1996 | 14 August 1998 | width=1 style='background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color'| | Bolger |
| height=15 style='border-style: solid solid none solid; background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color'| | Shipley | ||||||
| height=36 style="background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"| | 2 | Bill Birch | 
|
14 August 1998 | 22 June 1999 | rowspan=2 style='border-style: none solid solid solid; background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color'| | |
| style="background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"| | 3 | Bill English | 
|
22 June 1999 | 10 December 1999 | ||
| style="background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color"| | 4 | Michael Cullen | 
|
10 December 1999 | 15 August 2002 | style="background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color"| | Clark |
References
- ^ "Parliamentary Salaries and Allowances Determination 2016" (PDF). Parliament.nz. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
- ^ Clifton, Jane (19 September 2013). "Influentials: Politics". New Zealand Listener. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
- ^ "Ministerial List". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
- ^ "Ministerial Portfolio: Finance". The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
- ^ Cyclopedia Company Limited (1897). "Mr. George Cooper". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Wellington Provincial District. Wellington. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b c Wood, G.A., ed. (1996). Ministers and Members in the New Zealand Parliament (2nd ed.). Dunedin: University of Otago Press. ISBN 1 877133 00 0.
- ^ a b c Easton, Dr Brian (1997). The Commercialisation of New Zealand. Auckland: University of Auckland Press. p. 74. ISBN 1869401735.
- ^ Spanhake, Craig, ed. (2006). Ministers and Members in the New Zealand Parliament: 1996-2005. Dunedin: Tarkwode Press. ISBN 0-9597868-2-1.
External links
