Minister of Agriculture (New Zealand)

Minister of Agriculture
Incumbent
Todd McClay
since 27 November 2023
Ministry for Primary Industries
StyleThe Honourable
Member of
Reports toPrime Minister of New Zealand
AppointerGovernor-General of New Zealand
Term lengthAt His Majesty's pleasure
Formation17 October 1889
First holderGeorge Richardson
Salary$288,900[1]
Websitewww.beehive.govt.nz

The Minister of Agriculture is a minister in the New Zealand Government. It was re-created as a standalone portfolio in 2017 after previously existing continuously from 1889 to 1998, and again from 1999 to 2012. The current Minister is Todd McClay.

Responsibilities and powers

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The minister's responsibilities include protecting and promoting the productivity, sustainability and export performance of New Zealand's agricultural sector.[2] They are also the lead minister for the Ministry for Primary Industries, which is the government department that provides support to the portfolio. Previously the minister was responsible for smaller departments such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

The minister is responsible for legislation related to the agricultural sector including the Animal Welfare Act 1999 and the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 2001.

History

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John McKenzie established the Department of Agriculture on 31 March 1892,[3][4] and the first minister, George Richardson, was appointed on 17 October 1889.[5] Prior to Keith Holyoake receiving it in 1949, the portfolio "had become notorious as a political graveyard".[6] The fisheries portfolio was briefly combined in the agriculture portfolio between 1972 and 1977.[7]

In the Shipley minority government, the position was disestablished and replaced with the new role of Minister of Food, Fibre, Biosecurity and Border Control, which consolidated ministerial responsibility for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Fisheries, Land Information New Zealand and the New Zealand Customs Service. The change was unpopular with the farming sector and was reverted by the incoming Labour government in 1999.[8]

In the second and third terms of the Fifth National Government, the portfolio was again disestablished and merged into the larger position of Minister for Primary Industries. A standalone agriculture ministerial position was restored in 2017.[9]

List of ministers of agriculture

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Key

  Independent   Liberal   Reform   United   Labour   National   Progressive

No. Name Portrait Term of office Prime Minister
1 George Richardson 17 October 1889 24 January 1891 Atkinson
2 John McKenzie 24 January 1891 27 June 1900 Ballance
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
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
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
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
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
Marshall
26 Colin Moyle[nb 1] 8 December 1972 12 December 1975 Kirk
Rowling
27 Duncan MacIntyre[nb 2] 12 December 1975 26 July 1984 Muldoon
(26) Colin Moyle 26 July 1984 9 February 1990 Lange
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
Shipley
31 John Luxton[nb 3] 26 August 1998 10 December 1999
(28) Jim Sutton 10 December 1999 19 October 2005 Clark
32 Jim Anderton 19 October 2005 19 November 2008
33 David Carter 19 November 2008 14 December 2011 Key
2011–2017: No separate appointments
34 Damien O'Connor 26 October 2017 27 November 2023 Ardern
Hipkins
35 Todd McClay 27 November 2023 present Luxon

Table footnotes:

  1. ^ as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries
  2. ^ as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries until 8 March 1977
  3. ^ as Minister of Food, Fibre and Biosecurity

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "Parliamentary Salaries and Allowances Determination 2016" (PDF). New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  2. ^ "Agriculture". Agriculture. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Historical Developments". Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Archived from the original on 22 May 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  5. ^ "Agriculture (J0004) – History & Notes". Archives New Zealand. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  6. ^ Wood, G. A. "Holyoake, Keith Jacka". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  7. ^ Wilson 1985, pp. 91, 94.
  8. ^ Stevenson, Philippa (29 November 1999). "Rural sector looking for more than cosmetics in new policy". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  9. ^ "New government ministers revealed". RNZ. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2023.

References

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  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
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