Minister of Finance (New Zealand)

New Zealand

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The Minister of Finance, originally known as Colonial Treasurer, is a senior figure within the government of New Zealand. The position is often considered to be the most important Cabinet role after that of the Prime Minister.^[1]

The current Minister of Finance is Bill English. There are also two Associate Minister roles. They are currently held by Steven Joyce and Paula Bennett.

1 Responsibilities and powers
2 History
3 List of Finance Ministers
4 References
5 External links

Responsibilities and powers

The Minister of Finance is responsible for producing an annual Budget outlining the government's proposed expenditure. 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 also supervises the Treasury, which is the government's primary advisor on matters of economic and financial policy. 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.^[2] 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. The present Minister of Finance, Bill English, is also the Deputy Prime Minister.

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.

After the 1996 elections, the role of the Minister of Finance was 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, and after the change of government in 1999, it was reincorporated into the old Minister of Finance portfolio.

List of Finance Ministers

	Name		PM Served	Took Office	Left Office	Party
1	George Cooper^[2]		None	3 May 1841	9 May 1842	None
2	Alexander Shepherd^[3]		None	9 May 1842	7 May 1856	None
3	Dillon Bell		Sewell	7 May 1856	20 May 1856	None
4	Charles Brown		Fox	20 May 1856	2 June 1856	None
5	Henry Sewell		Stafford	2 June 1856	4 November 1856	None
6	William Richmond		Stafford	4 November 1856	25 February 1859	None
	Henry Sewell, 2nd time		Stafford	25 February 1859	26 April 1859	None
	William Richmond, 2nd time		Stafford	26 April 1859	12 July 1861	None
7	Reader Wood		Fox	12 July 1861	6 August 1862	None
	Dillon Bell, 2nd time		Domett	6 August 1862	21 August 1862	None
	Reader Wood, 2nd time		Domett, Whitaker	21 August 1862	24 November 1864	None
8	William Fitzherbert		Weld	24 November 1864	16 October 1865	None
9	Edward Stafford		(himself)	31 October 1865	12 June 1866	None
10	Francis Jollie		Stafford	12 June 1866	24 August 1866	None
	William Fitzherbert, 2nd time		Stafford	24 August 1866	28 June 1869	None
11	Julius Vogel		Fox	28 June 1869	10 September 1872	None
12	Thomas Gillies		Stafford	10 September 1872	11 October 1872	None
	Julius Vogel, 2nd time		Waterhouse, Fox, (himself)	11 October 1872	6 July 1875	None
13	Harry Atkinson		Pollen	6 July 1875	15 February 1876	None
	Julius Vogel, 3rd time		(himself)	15 February 1876	1 September 1876	None
	Harry Atkinson, 2nd time		(himself)	1 September 1876	13 October 1877	None
14	William Larnach		Grey	15 October 1877	5 March 1878	None
15	John Ballance		Grey	12 July 1878	1 July 1879	None
16	George Grey		(himself)	10 July 1879	8 October 1879	None
	Harry Atkinson, 3rd time		Hall, Whitaker, (himself)	8 October 1879	16 August 1884	None
	Julius Vogel, 4th time		Stout	16 August 1884	28 August 1884	None
	Julius Vogel, 5th time		Stout	3 September 1884	8 October 1887	None
	Harry Atkinson, 4th time		(himself)	8 October 1887	24 January 1891	None
	John Ballance, 2nd time		(himself)	24 January 1891	27 April 1893	Liberal
17	Joseph Ward		Seddon	1 May 1893	16 June 1896	Liberal
18	Richard Seddon		(himself)	16 June 1896	10 June 1906	Liberal
19	William Hall-Jones		(himself)	21 June 1906	6 August 1906	Liberal
	Joseph Ward, 2nd time		(himself)	6 August 1906	28 March 1912	Liberal
20	Arthur Myers		Mackenzie	28 March 1912	10 July 1912	Liberal
21	James Allen		Massey	10 July 1912	12 August 1915	Reform
	Joseph Ward, 3rd time		Massey	12 August 1915	21 August 1919	Liberal
	James Allen		Massey	4 September 1919	28 April 1920	Reform
22	William Massey		(himself)	12 May 1920	10 May 1925	Reform
23	William Nosworthy		Bell, Coates	14 May 1925	24 May 1926	Reform
24	William Downie Stewart		Coates	24 May 1926	10 December 1928	Reform
	Joseph Ward, 4th time		(himself)	10 December 1928	28 May 1930	United (Liberal)
25	George Forbes		(himself)	28 May 1930	22 September 1931	United (Liberal)
	William Downie Stewart, 2nd time		Forbes	22 September 1931	28 January 1933	Reform
26	Gordon Coates		Forbes	28 January 1933	6 December 1935	Reform
27	Walter Nash		Savage, Fraser	6 December 1935	13 December 1949	Labour
28	Sidney Holland		(himself)	13 December 1949	Nov 1954	National
29	Jack Watts		Holland, Holyoake	Nov 1954	12 December 1957	National
30	Arnold Nordmeyer		Nash	12 December 1957	12 December 1960	Labour
31	Harry Lake		Holyoake	12 December 1960	Mar 1967	National
32	Robert Muldoon		Holyoake, Marshall	Mar 1967	8 December 1972	National
33	Bill Rowling		Kirk	8 December 1972	6 September 1974	Labour
34	Bob Tizard		Rowling	6 September 1974	12 December 1975	Labour
	Robert Muldoon, 2nd time		(himself)	12 December 1975	26 July 1984	National
35	Roger Douglas		Lange	26 July 1984	14 December 1988	Labour
36	David Caygill		Lange, Palmer, Moore	14 December 1988	2 November 1990	Labour
37	Ruth Richardson		Bolger	2 November 1990	Nov 1993	National
38	Bill Birch		Bolger	Nov 1993	16 December 1996	National
	Bill Birch, continued	Treasurer: Peters	Bolger, Shipley	16 December 1996	14 August 1998	National
	Bill Birch, continued	Treasurer: (himself)	Shipley	14 August 1998	Jan 1999	National
39	Bill English	Treasurer: Birch	Shipley	Jan 1999	Jun 1999	National
	Bill Birch, 2nd time	Treasurer: English	Shipley	Jun 1999	5 December 1999	National
40	Michael Cullen		Clark	5 December 1999	19 November 2008	Labour
	Bill English, 2nd time		Key	19 November 2008	Incumbent	National

References

^ Clifton, Jane (19 September 2013). "Influentials: Politics".

^ a ^b Cyclopedia Company Limited (1897). "Mr. George Cooper". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Wellington Provincial District. Wellington. Retrieved 12 June 2010.

^ Cyclopedia Company Limited (1897). "Mr. Alexander Shepherd". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Wellington Provincial District. Wellington. Retrieved 12 June 2010.

External links

New Zealand Treasury

Categories

Use British English from January 2013

Use dmy dates from January 2013

Commons category without a link on Wikidata

Lists of government ministers of New Zealand

Politics of New Zealand

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Minister of Finance (New Zealand)