Minister for Veterans (New Zealand)

The Minister for Veterans is a minister in the New Zealand Government responsible for issues relating to veterans, including the Veteran's Pension, and supporting attendance by veterans at commemorative events.^[1]

Minister for Veterans
Coat of arms of New Zealand
Flag of New Zealand
Incumbent Chris Penk since 27 November 2023
Veterans’ Affairs New Zealand
Style	The Honourable
Member of	Cabinet of New Zealand Executive Council
Reports to	Prime Minister of New Zealand
Appointer	Governor-General of New Zealand
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure

History

The position of Minister in charge of War Pensions was created during the First World War, with the earliest reference to that role in Hansard dated at June 1916 although it is unknown exactly when the first appointment was made. The earliest known holder was James Allen, then the Minister of Defence. Most subsequent war pensions ministers were also concurrently appointed as defence minister; the only exceptions were Arthur Kinsella, Michael Cullen, Roger Sowry and Don McKinnon.

The portfolio was renamed Minister of Veterans' Affairs on 1 September 1999. This followed the passage of the Veterans' Affairs Act 1999, which transferred responsibility for war pensions to the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF).^[2] Veterans’ Affairs New Zealand is a semi-autonomous unit within NZDF which provides administrative support to the Minister.^[1] The portfolio title was changed again to Minister for Veterans on 26 October 2017.

List of ministers

The following ministers held the office of Minister for Veterans.

Key

  Reform   United   Labour   National   New Zealand First

No.		Name	Portrait	Term of Office		Prime Minister
	1	James Allen		June 1916	28 April 1920		Massey
	2	Heaton Rhodes		21 July 1920	18 January 1926
							Bell
							Coates
	3	Frank Rolleston		18 January 1926	26 November 1928
	4	William Downie Stewart Jr		28 November 1928	10 December 1928
	5	Thomas Wilford		10 December 1928	10 December 1929		Ward
	6	John Cobbe		10 December 1929	6 December 1935
							Forbes
	7	Fred Jones		6 December 1935	13 December 1949		Savage
							Fraser
	8	Tom Macdonald		13 December 1949	26 September 1957		Holland
	9	Dean Eyre		26 September 1957	12 December 1957		Holyoake
	10	Phil Connolly		12 December 1957	12 December 1960		Nash
	11	Arthur Kinsella		12 December 1960	12 December 1966		Holyoake
	12	David Thomson		12 December 1966	9 February 1972
	13	Allan McCready		9 February 1972	8 December 1972		Marshall
	14	Arthur Faulkner		8 December 1972	10 September 1974		Kirk
	15	Bill Fraser		10 September 1974	12 December 1975		Rowling
	(13)	Allan McCready		12 December 1975	13 December 1978		Muldoon
	14	Frank Gill		13 December 1978	21 August 1980
	(12)	David Thomson		28 August 1980	26 July 1984
	15	Frank O'Flynn		26 July 1984	24 July 1987		Lange
	16	Michael Cullen		24 July 1987	2 November 1990
							Palmer
							Moore
	17	Warren Cooper		2 November 1990	1 March 1996		Bolger
	18	Paul East		1 March 1996	5 December 1997
	19	Roger Sowry		5 December 1997	31 August 1998		Shipley
	20	Don McKinnon		31 August 1998	10 December 1999
	21	Mark Burton		10 December 1999	15 August 2002		Clark
	22	George Hawkins		15 August 2002	19 October 2005
	23	Rick Barker		19 October 2005	19 November 2008
	24	Judith Collins		19 November 2008	14 December 2011		Key
	25	Nathan Guy		14 December 2011	31 January 2013
	26	Michael Woodhouse		31 January 2013	8 October 2014
	27	Craig Foss		8 October 2014	20 December 2016
	28	David Bennett		20 December 2016	26 October 2017		English
	29	Ron Mark		26 October 2017	6 November 2020		Ardern
	30	Meka Whaitiri		6 November 2020	3 May 2023
							Hipkins
	31	Peeni Henare[Note 1]		10 May 2023	27 November 2023
	32	Chris Penk		27 November 2023	Incumbent		Luxon

Notes

1. Henare acted in the portfolio from 3 May 2023 until his formal appointment on 10 May 2023.