Donald McKinnon

Don McKinnon

Sir Donald Charles McKinnon , ONZ , GCVO , PC (born February 27, 1939 in London ) is a former New Zealand politician of the New Zealand National Party . He was New Zealand's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister . He was General Secretary of the Commonwealth of Nations until April 1, 2008 .

Life

McKinnon's father was Maj. General Walter S. McKinnon, Chief of General Staff in New Zealand. He studied at Nelson College in Nelson / New Zealand and then at Lincoln Agricultural College of Lincoln University in New Zealand. After graduating, he managed a farm and later became a management consultant for farms. In 1974 he worked as a real estate agent. In his spare time he worked as a tutor for the rehabilitation of prisoners.

Political career

During the 1969 and 1972 elections, McKinnon could not achieve any success. Only after the 1978 election did he get a seat for Albany .

In 1980 McKinnon became junior Whip , two years later senior Whip .

After the elections in 1990 McKinnon deputy was Prime Minister ( Deputy Prime Minister ), both foreign and trade ministers ( Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade ) and Minister for Affairs of the Pacific Islands ( Minister of Iceland Pacific Affairs ) of New Zealand. Phil Goff became his successor.

McKinnon was heavily involved with the Commonwealth through his work as Secretary of State for New Zealand. During the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Durban in November 1999, he prevailed against the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar and was elected Secretary General. He replaced the Nigerian Emeka Anyaoku in this office.

Others

McKinnon is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Global Panel Foundation and Chairman of the Global Panel Australasia.

Web links

• BBC profile (English)
• The Global Panel Foundation (English)