Postmaster-General (New Zealand) Explained

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).

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.

Office holders

The following MPs have held the office of Postmaster-General:

Key

No.		Name	Portrait	Term of Office		Prime Minister
	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
	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
						Whitaker
	16	Thomas Dick		11 October 1882	25 September 1883
	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
	21	Patrick Buckley		24 January 1891	4 February 1891	height=50 style="color:inherit;background:"		Ballance
						Seddon
	22	Joseph Ward		4 February 1891	16 June 1896
	23	Richard Seddon		16 June 1896	21 December 1899
height=30 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:"		(22)	Joseph Ward		21 December 1899		28 March 1912
	height=30 style="color:inherit;background:"							Hall-Jones
height=30 style="color:inherit;background:"						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	height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"
height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:"							Bell
	27	James Parr		30 May 1925	24 May 1926		Coates
	28	William Nosworthy		24 May 1926	10 December 1928
	29	James Donald		10 December 1928	18 December 1929		Ward
	(22)	Joseph Ward		18 December 1929	28 May 1930
	(29)	James Donald		28 May 1930	22 September 1931		Forbes
	30	Adam Hamilton		22 September 1931	6 December 1935
height=50 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:"		31	Fred Jones		6 December 1935	1 April 1940		Savage
height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"								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
height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:"		35	Tom Shand		26 November 1954	12 December 1957
height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"								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
height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:"		52	David Butcher		5 November 1988	14 August 1989
height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:"								Palmer

References

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