Thomas Macdonald
Sir Thomas Lachlan Macdonald KCMG (born December 14, 1898 in Invercargill , Southland , New Zealand , † April 11, 1980 in Wellington ) was a New Zealand diplomat and politician of the New Zealand National Party (NP).
Life
Parentage and professional career
Macdonald, son of a farmer, was among others of Scottish descent. One of his great-grandfathers, Alexander Macdonald, came from Wester Ross in the Scottish Northwest Highlands and was initially a missionary in Samoa and later settled on the Foveaux Strait on Ruapuke Island . Another grandfather was the politician Thomas Spence Forsaith , who became a member of the New Zealand Parliament in 1854 and joined the government of Prime Minister Henry Sewell in May 1856 , who resigned after only 13 days in office.
After visiting the Southland Boys High School Macdonald employees was the steamship company Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand and worked as a purser on board a number of ships. In 1918 he began his military service as a volunteer and was deployed as a soldier in the expeditionary forces in the Middle East .
After returning to New Zealand, he worked as a carter and shepherd before buying his own farm in Rankleburn near Tapanui in 1923 . He also played rugby for West Otago and was involved in the local Masonic Lodge , whose master of the chair he became in 1931. In 1937 he sold his farm and settled in Gore .
MP
In 1938 he was first elected as a candidate for the New Zealand National Party in the Mataura constituency for a member of the House of Representatives, where he clearly won against the previous long-time MP and former mayor of Gore, David McDougall . In doing so, he sent a message to the government of the New Zealand Labor Party in office under Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage .
During the Second World War he rejoined the armed forces as a private in 1940 and served again as a soldier in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Middle East. Due to his bravery and his military achievements, he was last promoted to captain before he was released home because of an illness caused by an injury. This made him one of the few parliamentarians who had participated in both world wars.
In 1943 he was re-elected MP in the Mataura constituency and in 1946, after the dissolution of this constituency in 1946, took over the Wallace constituency , which was previously represented by the former chairman of the National Party, Adam Hamilton .
Defense and Foreign Ministers
In December 1949 Macdonal was appointed Minister of Defense in his cabinet by Prime Minister Sidney Holland and held this post until his retirement from politics in December 1957. In November 1954, he also took over the post of Minister for Foreign Affairs and Island Territories in the Cabinet of Holland and also held this office until December 1957 in the governments of Prime Minister Holland and in the briefly from September to December 1957 first cabinet of Prime Minister Keith Holyoake . In addition, he was Minister of Rehabilitation from 1949 to 1954 and Minister of Civil Aviation from 1950 to 1954.
As Minister, Macdonald was responsible for directing New Zealand's defense and foreign policy during an important transition in the country's international relations. In 1954, when it became a member of SEATO , New Zealand withdrew its defense commitment from the Middle East. In 1955 it opened its first diplomatic mission in Southeast Asia and in 1956, as part of a peace initiative, stationed units at the strategic Far East Reserve in the Malaya Federation . During his tenure, the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1955–1958), which Macdonald had campaigned for, fell into place. In gratitude for this, Mount Macdonald in the Transantarctic Mountains was named after him.
As the person responsible for defense policy in the government, he had to deal with the different attitudes and sometimes outspoken opposition of Prime Minister Holland, who, as finance minister at the same time, refused to buy or increase military expenditure. However, this contributed to the reputation of Macdonald on the part of his officers, although they found his use to be too moderate.
High Commissioner in London
However, his relations with Holland's successor were also cold, so that in 1960 he was not his first choice for the most important ambassadorial post, the High Commissioner in the United Kingdom . In 1961 he finally took over the office of High Commissioner in London and remained in this post until 1968.
During this time Great Britain came closer to joining the European Economic Community (EEC), as well as the associated risks with regard to the exports of New Zealand's agricultural products to Great Britain. While his predecessors could delegate many of the duties to their staff, Macdonald was forced to grapple with the question of whether Britain would continue to allow imports of New Zealand products such as butter, cheese and lamb when the UK joined the EEC. During his tenure, he was also appointed New Zealand's first ambassador to the EEC in 1961 and first ambassador to Ireland in 1966 .
Although Great Britain joined the EEC only after its resignation, his work as High Commissioner in the United Kingdom remained the most important ambassadorial post.
For his many years of service, he was in 1963 as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George to beat Knight and also voted "Scot of the Year".
Web links
- Entry in An Encyclopedia of New Zealand 1966
- Entry in The Biography of New Zealand
- New Zealand Key Ministeries (rulers.org)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Macdonald, Thomas |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Macdonald, Sir Thomas Lachlan (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | New Zealand politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 14, 1898 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Invercargill , Southland , New Zealand |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 11, 1980 |
| Place of death | Wellington , New Zealand |