Minister of Agriculture (New Zealand)

Minister of Agriculture of New Zealand
Minister of Agriculture of New Zealand
	Coat of Arms of New Zealand
	Flag of New Zealand
	Incumbent; Hon Damien O'Connor; since 26 October 2017
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 Her Majesty's pleasure
Formation	17 October 1889
First holder	George Richardson
Salary	$288,900
Website	www.beehive.govt.nz

The Minister of Agriculture is a ministerial portfolio in the government of New Zealand. It existed from 1889 until 2012, when the Ministry was merged into the larger Ministry of Primary Industries, and again from 2017 onwards as part of the Labour coalition government.

George Richardson was the first holder of the office, and David Carter of the New Zealand National Party was the last before the merge. In the end, there was no Associate Minister of Agriculture, although the position had existed in the past. Carter became the first Minister of Primary Industries. During the Sixth Labour Government, the Primary Industries portfolio was again split into four – Agriculture, Fisheries, Biosecurity and Forestry. The current Minister of Agriculture is Damien O'Connor.

Responsibilities and powers[]

Since 1998, the Minister of Agriculture was the Responsible Minister for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, commonly known as MAF. Related portfolios included Minister for Biosecurity, Minister of Fisheries, Minister of Forestry, and in the past, Minister for Lands. Since 2017, the portfolio serves the Agriculture section within the Ministry for Primary Industries.

History[]

John McKenzie established the Department of Agriculture on 31 March 1892,^[2]^[3] and the first minister was appointed on 17 October 1889.^[4] Prior to Keith Holyoake receiving it in 1949, the portfolio "had become notorious as a political graveyard".^[5]

Between 1972 and 1977 the portfolio was titled "Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries"; it was changed on 1 September 1972 when Douglas Carter held the position, and it reverted when Duncan MacIntyre was in office.^[6] It was also briefly titled "Minister of Food, Fibre and Biosecurity", but responding to farmers' demands Labour returned it to "Minister of Agriculture" after winning the 1999 election.^[7]

List of Ministers of Agriculture[]

Key

Independent Liberal Reform United Labour National Progressive

No.		Name	Term of Office
	1	George Richardson	17 October 1889	24 January 1891	Atkinson
	2	John McKenzie	24 January 1891	27 June 1900	Ballance
	2	John McKenzie	24 January 1891	27 June 1900	Seddon
	3	Thomas Young Duncan	2 July 1900	6 August 1906	Seddon
	3	Thomas Young Duncan	2 July 1900	6 August 1906	Hall-Jones
	4	Robert McNab	6 August 1906	30 November 1908	Ward
	5	Joseph Ward	1 December 1908	1 May 1909
	6	Thomas Mackenzie	1 May 1909	10 July 1912
	6	Thomas Mackenzie	1 May 1909	10 July 1912	Mackenzie
	7	William Massey	10 July 1912	12 August 1915	Massey
	8	William MacDonald	12 August 1915	22 August 1919
	9	William Nosworthy	4 September 1919	18 January 1926
					Bell
					Coates
	10	Oswald Hawken	18 January 1926	24 August 1928	Coates
	11	George Forbes	10 December 1928	28 May 1930	Ward
	12	Alfred Murdoch	28 May 1930	22 September 1931	Forbes
	13	David Jones	22 September 1931	8 January 1932
	14	Charles MacMillan	8 January 1932	6 December 1935
	15	Lee Martin	6 December 1935	21 January 1941	Savage
	15	Lee Martin	6 December 1935	21 January 1941	Fraser
	16	Jim Barclay	21 January 1941	18 October 1943
	17	Ben Roberts	29 October 1943	19 December 1946
	18	Ted Cullen	19 December 1946	13 December 1949
	19	Keith Holyoake	13 December 1949	26 September 1957	Holland
	20	Sidney Walter Smith	26 September 1957	12 December 1957	Holland
	20	Sidney Walter Smith	26 September 1957	12 December 1957	Holyoake
	21	Jerry Skinner	12 December 1957	12 December 1960	Nash
	22	William Gillespie	12 December 1960	23 April 1961	Holyoake
	23	Thomas Hayman	2 May 1961	2 January 1962
	24	Brian Talboys	24 January 1962	22 December 1969
	25	Douglas Carter	22 December 1969	8 December 1972
	25	Douglas Carter	22 December 1969	8 December 1972	Marshall
	26	Colin Moyle	8 December 1972	12 December 1975	Kirk
	26	Colin Moyle	8 December 1972	12 December 1975	Rowling
	27	Duncan MacIntyre	12 December 1975	26 July 1984	Muldoon
	(26)	Colin Moyle	26 July 1984	9 February 1990	Lange
	(26)	Colin Moyle	26 July 1984	9 February 1990	Palmer
	28	Jim Sutton	9 February 1990	2 November 1990	Palmer
	28	Jim Sutton	9 February 1990	2 November 1990	Moore
	29	John Falloon	2 November 1990	29 February 1996	Bolger
	30	Lockwood Smith	29 February 1996	26 August 1998	Bolger
	30	Lockwood Smith	29 February 1996	26 August 1998	Shipley
	31	John Luxton^{[nb 1]}	26 August 1998	10 December 1999	Shipley
	(28)	Jim Sutton	10 December 1999	19 October 2005	Clark
	32	Jim Anderton	19 October 2005	19 November 2008	Clark
	33	David Carter	19 November 2008	14 December 2011	Key
2011–2017: No separate appointments
	34	Damien O'Connor^{[nb 2]}	26 October 2017	present	Ardern

Table footnotes:

^ as Minister for Food, Fibre and Biosecurity
^ as Minister of Agriculture, Minister for Biosecurity, Minister for Food Safety (until 2020) and Minister for Rural Communities

Notes[]

^ "Parliamentary Salaries and Allowances Determination 2016" (PDF). Parliament.nz. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
^ Stringleman, Hugh; Peden, Robert. "Sheep farming – The refrigerated meat trade". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
^ "Historical Developments". Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Archived from the original on 22 May 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
^ "Agriculture (J0004) – History & Notes". Archives New Zealand. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
^ Wood, G. A. "Holyoake, Keith Jacka". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
^ Wilson 1985, pp. 91, 94.
^ Stevenson, Philippa (29 November 1999). "Rural sector looking for more than cosmetics in new policy". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 5 October 2009.

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[]

Agriculture portfolio at the New Zealand Government website
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

[8] s Minister for Food, Fibre and Biosecurity

[9] s Minister of Agriculture, Minister for Biosecurity, Minister for Food Safety (until 2020) and Minister for Rural Communities

[1] "Parliamentary Salaries and Allowances Determination 2016" (PDF). Parliament.nz. Retrieved 20 January 2017.

[2] Stringleman, Hugh; Peden, Robert. "Sheep farming – The refrigerated meat trade". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 5 October 2009.

[3] "Historical Developments". Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Archived from the original on 22 May 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2009.

[4] "Agriculture (J0004) – History & Notes". Archives New Zealand. Retrieved 5 October 2009.

[5] Wood, G. A. "Holyoake, Keith Jacka". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 30 October 2012.

[FOOTNOTEWilson198591,_94-6] Wilson 1985, pp. 91, 94.

[7] Stevenson, Philippa (29 November 1999). "Rural sector looking for more than cosmetics in new policy". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 5 October 2009.

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