The former head of MFAT, Chris Seed, has been called out of retirement to head to London as acting High Commissioner, following the sacking of Phil Goff last week. 

Seed served as Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the head of MFAT, from 2019 to 2024 and previously served as High Commissioner to Port Moresby and Canberra. He joined the public service in 1984 and joined MFAT in 1985. 

He was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit last year. The citation for that award praised Seed for being “instrumental in ensuring that New Zealand’s diplomatic network continued to function and deliver for New Zealanders through the pandemic”. 

“During his tenure he also oversaw international aspects of several complex consular and disaster responses including to the 2019 Christchurch Mosque attacks, the Whakaari/White Island eruption and Operation Whakahokina Mai, the latter a collaborative effort with the New Zealand Defence Force and other agencies which enabled more than 1700 New Zealanders and eligible Afghan nationals to depart Afghanistan following the August 2021,” it read. 

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said Seed was “one of New Zealand’s most senior and accomplished diplomats”. 

Seed will head to London late next week. 

Peters said Goff is scheduled to depart London this weekend. 

The process for confirming the next permanent New Zealand High Commissioner to London continues, with an announcement to be made in due course, once approval has been received from the UK Government, Peters said. 

In a statement, Peters continued to have warm words for Goff, suggesting the decision to sack him was a painful one. 

“As we indicated last week, while his comments made his position as New Zealand High Commissioner untenable, the decision to remove Mr Goff from London was nevertheless a very difficult one,” Peters said. 

“Mr Goff has contributed significantly to the interests of our country over a long period of time. 

“As a senior minister with a range of domestic and internationally focused portfolios, Mayor of Auckland, and then as a diplomat, Mr Goff has dedicated his professional life to serving the New Zealand people. We continue to hold him in high esteem, and we wish him well.” 

Thomas Coughlan is Deputy Political Editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.