Postmaster-General (New Zealand)

Last updated April 26, 2024

The Postmaster-General in New Zealand was the government minister responsible for the New Zealand Post Office (NZPO) from 1858 to 1989, when the NZPO (formerly the Post and Telegraph Department) was split into three State Owned Enterprises, responsible to the Minister of State Owned Enterprises: New Zealand Post Limited, Telecom New Zealand Limited, and Post Office Bank Limited.

History

From 1841 to 1853 the Postmaster-General was a civil servant, responsible to the Postmaster-General of New South Wales (1841–42) then the Postmaster-General of Great Britain (1842–53).^[1]

Governor Sir George Grey appointed Henry William Petre to be Postmaster-General on 13 August 1853, but his appointment was not accepted by the First Parliament that met in 1854, and he left for England early in the new year.^[1]

Office holders

The following MPs have held the office of Postmaster-General:^[2]^[3]^[4]

Key

Independent Liberal Reform United Labour National

	Name	Term of Office
1	Henry Tancred	3 November 1858	12 July 1861	Stafford
2	Crosbie Ward	2 August 1861	6 August 1862	Fox
3	Walter Mantell	6 August 1862	21 August 1862	Domett
(2)	Crosbie Ward	21 August 1862	30 October 1863	Domett
4	Thomas Gillies	30 October 1863	24 November 1864	Whitaker
5	John Richardson	24 November 1864	16 October 1865	Weld
6	Edward Stafford	31 October 1865	8 May 1866	Stafford
7	James Paterson	8 May 1866	24 August 1866
8	John Hall	24 August 1866	5 February 1869
(6)	Edward Stafford	6 February 1869	28 June 1869
9	Julius Vogel	6 February 1869	10 September 1872	Fox
10	Oswald Curtis	10 September 1872	11 October 1872	Stafford
(9)	Julius Vogel	11 October 1872	1 September 1876	Waterhouse
				Fox
				Vogel
				Pollen
				Vogel
11	George McLean	1 September 1876	13 September 1876	Atkinson
12	Frederick Whitaker	13 September 1876	7 December 1876
13	John Davies Ormond	7 December 1876	12 January 1877
(11)	George McLean	12 January 1877	13 October 1877
14	James Temple Fisher	15 October 1877	8 October 1879	Grey
(8)	John Hall	8 October 1879	9 March 1881	Hall
15	Walter Woods Johnston	9 March 1881	11 October 1882	Hall
15	Walter Woods Johnston	9 March 1881	11 October 1882	Whitaker
16	Thomas Dick	11 October 1882	25 September 1883	Whitaker
17	Richard Oliver	25 September 1883	16 August 1884	Atkinson
(9)	Julius Vogel	16 August 1884	28 August 1884	Stout
18	William Russell	28 August 1884	3 September 1884	Atkinson
(9)	Julius Vogel	3 September 1884	8 October 1887	Stout
19	Harry Atkinson	8 October 1887	17 October 1889	Atkinson
20	Edwin Mitchelson	17 October 1889	24 January 1891	Atkinson
21	Patrick Buckley	24 January 1891	4 February 1891	Ballance
21	Patrick Buckley	24 January 1891	4 February 1891	Seddon
22	Joseph Ward	4 February 1891	16 June 1896
23	Richard Seddon	16 June 1896	21 December 1899
(22)	Joseph Ward	21 December 1899	28 March 1912
				Hall-Jones
				Ward
24	Harry Ell	28 March 1912	10 July 1912	MacKenzie
25	Heaton Rhodes	10 July 1912	12 August 1915	Massey
(22)	Joseph Ward	12 August 1915	4 September 1919
26	Gordon Coates	4 September 1919	30 May 1925
26	Gordon Coates	4 September 1919	30 May 1925	Bell
27	James Parr	30 May 1925	24 May 1926	Coates
28	William Nosworthy	24 May 1926	10 December 1928	Coates
29	James Donald	10 December 1928	18 December 1929	Ward
(22)	Joseph Ward	18 December 1929	28 May 1930	Ward
(29)	James Donald	28 May 1930	22 September 1931	Forbes
30	Adam Hamilton	22 September 1931	6 December 1935	Forbes
31	Fred Jones	6 December 1935	1 April 1940	Savage
31	Fred Jones	6 December 1935	1 April 1940	Fraser
32	Paddy Webb	1 April 1940	19 December 1946
33	Fred Hackett	19 December 1946	13 December 1949
34	Walter Broadfoot	13 December 1949	26 November 1954	Holland
35	Tom Shand	26 November 1954	12 December 1957	Holland
35	Tom Shand	26 November 1954	12 December 1957	Holyoake
36	Mick Moohan	12 December 1957	12 December 1960	Nash
37	Thomas Hayman	12 December 1960	2 May 1961	Holyoake
38	Arthur Kinsella	2 May 1961	20 December 1963
39	Jack Scott	20 December 1963	22 December 1969
40	Allan McCready	22 December 1969	9 February 1972
41	Bert Walker	9 February 1972	8 December 1972	Marshall
42	Roger Douglas	8 December 1972	10 September 1974	Kirk
43	Fraser Colman	10 September 1974	12 December 1975	Rowling
44	Hugh Templeton	12 December 1975	8 March 1977	Muldoon
45	Peter Wilkinson	8 March 1977	13 December 1978
46	Ben Couch	13 December 1978	22 August 1980
47	Warren Cooper	22 August 1980	11 December 1981
48	John Falloon	11 December 1981	19 February 1982
49	Rob Talbot	19 February 1982	26 July 1984
50	Jonathan Hunt	26 July 1984	24 August 1987	Lange
51	Richard Prebble	24 August 1987	5 November 1988
52	David Butcher	5 November 1988	14 August 1989
52	David Butcher	5 November 1988	14 August 1989	Palmer

Notes

1 2 Robinson 1964, p. 258.
↑ Wilson 1985, pp. 61–74.
↑ Wood 1996, pp. 3–5, 8, 15–6, 20–3, 26, 28, 34, 37, 40, 43, 46, 49, 51–2, 54–6, 58, 60–6, 68, 71–2.
↑ Robinson 1964, pp. 258–9.

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References

Robinson, Howard (1964). A History of the Post Office in New Zealand. Wellington: Government Printer.
Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V R Ward, Government Printer. OCLC 154283103.
Wood, G. A. (1996) [1987]. Ministers and Members in the New Zealand Parliament (2 ed.). Dunedin: University of Otago Press. ISBN 1-877133-00-0.

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[FOOTNOTERobinson1964258-1] 1 2 Robinson 1964, p. 258.

[FOOTNOTEWilson198561–74-2] Wilson 1985, pp. 61–74.

[FOOTNOTEWood19963–5,_8,_15–6,_20–3,_26,_28,_34,_37,_40,_43,_46,_49,_51–2,_54–6,_58,_60–6,_68,_71–2-3] Wood 1996, pp. 3–5, 8, 15–6, 20–3, 26, 28, 34, 37, 40, 43, 46, 49, 51–2, 54–6, 58, 60–6, 68, 71–2.

[FOOTNOTERobinson1964258–9-4] Robinson 1964, pp. 258–9.

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