The minister of Finance () is the minister and 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.
The current Minister of Finance is Nicola Willis. There are currently three associate minister roles held by Chris Bishop, David Seymour, and Shane Jones.
Responsibilities and powers
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. 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 has existed since 1841. 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 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 Prime Minister to also serve as his own 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, Bill English and Grant Robertson 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. In the Hipkins Cabinet, Grant Robertson was ranked fourth, although he was the most senior minister who was not the prime minister, deputy prime minister, or deputy leader of the Labour Party.
Junior ministerial appointments in the finance portfolio 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. 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). Associate appointments became standard when Muldoon served concurrently as both Prime Minister and Finance Minister. 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. At times, the appointment of associate ministers was intended to temper the reform ambitions of Roger Douglas.
In the coalition governments formed in 1996, 2017 and 2023, 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. Associate Finance roles were won in coalition negotiations by New Zealand First, the Green Party and ACT New Zealand in the formation of both the Sixth Labour Government and the Sixth National Government.
List of finance ministers
Key
No.NamePortraitTerm of officePrime Minister1George Cooper5 January 18409 May 1842none2Alexander Shepherd9 May 18427 May 18563Dillon Bell7 May 185620 May 1856Sewell4Charles Brown20 May 18562 June 1856Fox5Henry Sewell2 June 18564 November 1856Stafford6William Richmond4 November 185625 February 1859(5)Henry Sewell25 February 185926 April 1859(6)William Richmond26 April 185912 July 18617Reader Wood12 July 18616 August 1862Fox(3)Dillon Bell6 August 186221 August 1862Domett(7)Reader Wood21 August 186224 November 1864Whitaker8William Fitzherbert24 November 186416 October 1865Weld9Edward Stafford31 October 186512 June 1866Stafford10Francis Jollie12 June 186624 August 1866(8)William Fitzherbert24 August 186628 June 186911Julius Vogel28 June 186910 September 1872Fox12Thomas Gillies10 September 187211 October 1872Stafford(11)Julius Vogel11 October 18726 July 1875WaterhouseFoxVogel13Harry Atkinson6 July 187515 February 1876Pollen(11)Julius Vogel15 February 18761 September 1876Vogel(13)Harry Atkinson1 September 187613 October 1877Atkinson14William Larnach15 October 18775 March 1878Grey15John Ballance12 March 18781 July 187916George Grey10 July 18798 October 1879(13)Harry Atkinson8 October 187916 August 1884HallWhitakerAtkinson(11)Julius Vogel16 August 1884 3 September 188428 August 1884 8 October 1887Stout(13)Harry Atkinson8 October 188724 January 1891Atkinson(15)John Ballance24 January 189127 April 1893Ballance17Joseph Ward1 May 189316 June 1896Seddon18Richard Seddon16 June 189610 June 190619William Hall-Jones21 June 19066 August 1906Hall-Jones(17)Joseph Ward6 August 190628 March 1912Ward20Arthur Myers28 March 191210 July 1912Mackenzie21James Allen10 July 191212 August 1915Massey(17)Joseph Ward12 August 191521 August 1919(21)James Allen4 September 191928 April 192022William Massey12 May 192010 May 192523William Nosworthy14 May 192524 May 1926BellCoates24William Downie Stewart Jr24 May 192610 December 1928(17)Joseph Ward10 December 192828 May 1930Ward25George Forbes28 May 193022 September 1931Forbes(24)William Downie Stewart Jr22 September 193128 January 193326Gordon Coates28 January 19336 December 193527Walter Nash6 December 193513 December 1949SavageFraser28Sidney Holland13 December 194926 November 1954Holland29Jack Watts26 November 195412 December 1957Holyoake30Arnold Nordmeyer12 December 195712 December 1960Nash31Harry Lake12 December 196021 February 1967Holyoake32Robert Muldoon4 March 19678 December 1972Marshall33Bill Rowling8 December 19726 September 1974Kirk34Bob Tizard6 September 197412 December 1975Rowling(32)Robert Muldoon12 December 197526 July 1984Muldoon35Roger Douglas26 July 198414 December 1988Lange36David Caygill14 December 19882 November 1990PalmerMoore37Ruth Richardson2 November 199029 November 1993Bolger38Bill Birch29 November 19931 February 1999Shipley39Bill English1 February 199922 June 1999(38)Bill Birch22 June 199910 December 199940Michael Cullen10 December 199919 November 2008Clark(39)Bill English19 November 200812 December 2016Key41Steven Joyce12 December 201626 October 2017English42Grant Robertson26 October 201727 November 2023ArdernHipkins43Nicola Willis27 November 2023IncumbentLuxon
List of treasurers
Key
No.NamePortraitTerm of officePrime Minister1Winston Peters16 December 199614 August 1998BolgerShipley2Bill Birch14 August 199822 June 19993Bill English22 June 199910 December 19994Michael Cullen10 December 199915 August 2002Clark
List of junior ministerial appointments in the finance portfolio Key