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Minister Of Finance (New Zealand)The Minister of Finance is a senior figure within the government of New Zealand. The position is often considered to be the most important Cabinet role after that of the Prime Minister. The current Minister of Finance is Michael Cullen. There are also two Associate Minister roles. They are currently held by Trevor Mallard and David Cunliffe. Responsibilities and powers The Minister of Finance is responsible for producing an annual Budget outlining the government's proposed expenditure. The Minister of Finance also supervises the Treasury, which is the government's primary advisor on matters of economic and financial policy. As such, the Minister of Finance has broad control of the government's spending, making the position quite powerful. Some analysts, such as Jonathan Boston, claim that the Minister of Finance can sometimes hold more influence than the Prime Minister, if the conditions are right. Gordon Coates, Finance Minister in the early 1930s, was sometimes such a figure. Some political scientists, such as Boston, believe that in the government of David Lange, Minister of Finance Roger Douglas held more power than was proper, and that the Treasury was using its control of government finances to take a supervisory role across the whole administration. It was probably for this reason that Lange's successor, Geoffrey Palmer, established the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, which could offer the Prime Minister advice independent of that given by individual ministers. History The office of Minister of Finance has existed since New Zealand's first cabinet was formed in 1856. Apart from the office of Prime Minister itself, the only other cabinet posts to have existed since the first cabinet are those of Attorney-General and Minister of Internal Affairs. Originally, the holder of the post was designated "Colonial Treasurer", but this term was replaced with "Minister of Finance" in Joseph Ward's cabinet of 1906. In the past, it was not paricularly uncommon for a Prime Minister to take the post of Minister of Finance themselves. In recent times, however, this practice has declined. Robert Muldoon, the last person to concurrently serve as Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, created considerable controversy by doing so. It is more common, however, for a Deputy Prime Minister to serve as Minister of Finance. The present Minister of Finance, Michael Cullen, is also the Deputy Prime Minister. After the 1996 elections, the role of the Minister of Finance was split between two portfolios - that of Minister of Finance and that of Treasurer. The position of Treasurer was senior to that of the Minister of Finance, and was created as part of the coalition agreement between the National Party and New Zealand First. It was established especially for Winston Peters, leader of New Zealand First, who demanded it as part of the deal. When Peters ended the coalition, the position reverted to the National Party, and after the change of government in 1999, it was reincorporated into the old Minister of Finance portfolio. List of Finance Ministers | | colspan=2 |Name | align=center |PM Served | align=center |Took Office | align=center |Left Office | align=center |Party | | colspan=2 |Dillon Bell |Sewell |7 May 1856 |20 May 1856 |None | | colspan=2 |Charles Brown |Fox |20 May 1856 |2 Jun 1856 |None | | colspan=2 |Henry Sewell |Stafford |2 Jun 1856 |4 Nov 1856 |None | | colspan=2 |William Richmond |Stafford |4 Nov 1856 |25 Feb 1859 |None | | colspan=2 |Henry Sewell, 2nd time |Stafford |25 Feb 1859 |26 Apr 1859 |None | | colspan=2 |William Richmond, 2nd time |Stafford |26 Apr 1859 |12 Jul 1861 |None | | colspan=2 |Reader Wood |Fox |12 Jul 1861 |6 Aug 1862 |None | | colspan=2 |Dillon Bell, 2nd time |Domett |6 Aug 1862 |21 Aug 1862 |None | | colspan=2 |Reader Wood, 2nd time |Domett, Whitaker |21 Aug 1862 |24 Nov 1864 |None | | colspan=2 |William Fitzherbert |Weld |24 Nov 1864 |16 Oct 1865 |None | | colspan=2 |Edward Stafford |(himself) |31 Oct 1865 |12 Jun 1866 |None | | colspan=2 |Francis Jollie |Stafford |12 Jun 1866 |24 Aug 1866 |None | | colspan=2 |William Fitzherbert, 2nd time |Stafford |24 Aug 1866 |28 Jun 1869 |None | | colspan=2 |Julius Vogel |Fox |28 Jun 1869 |10 Sep 1872 |None | 0 | colspan=2 |Thomas Gillies | Stafford | 10 Sep 1872 | 11 Oct 1872 | None | | colspan=2 |Julius Vogel, 2nd time |Waterhouse, Fox, (himself) |11 Oct 1872 |6 Jul 1875 |None | 1 | colspan=2 |Harry Atkinson | Pollen | 6 Jul 1875 | 15 Feb 1876 | None | | colspan=2 |Julius Vogel, 3rd time |(himself) |15 Feb 1876 |1 Sep 1876 |None | | colspan=2 |Harry Atkinson, 2nd time |(himself) |1 Sep 1876 |13 Oct 1877 |None | 2 | colspan=2 |William Larnach | Grey | 15 Oct 1877 | 5 Mar 1878 | None | 3 | colspan=2 |John Ballance | Grey | 12 Jul 1878 | 1 Jul 1879 | None | 4 | colspan=2 |George Grey | (himself) | 10 Jul 1879 | 8 Oct 1879 | None | | colspan=2 |Harry Atkinson, 3rd time |Hall, Whitaker, (himself) |8 Oct 1879 |16 Aug 1884 |None | | colspan=2 |Julius Vogel, 4th time |Stout |16 Aug 1884 |28 Aug 1884 |None | | colspan=2 |Julius Vogel, 5th time |Stout |3 Sep 1884 |8 Oct 1887 |None | | colspan=2 |Harry Atkinson, 4th time |(himself) |8 Oct 1887 |24 Jan 1881 |None | | colspan=2 |John Ballance, 2nd time |(himself) |24 Jan 1891 |27 Apr 1893 |Liberal | 5 | colspan=2 |Joseph Ward | Seddon | 1 May 1893 | 16 Jun 1896 | Liberal | 6 | colspan=2 |Richard Seddon | (himself) | 16 Jun 1896 | 10 Jun 1906 | Liberal | 7 | colspan=2 |William Hall-Jones | (himself) | 21 Jun 1906 | 6 Aug 1906 | Liberal | | colspan=2 |Joseph Ward, 2nd time |(himself) |6 Aug 1906 |28 Mar 1912 |Liberal | 8 | colspan=2 |Arthur Myers | Mackenzie | 28 Mar 1912 | 10 Jul 1912 | Liberal | 9 | colspan=2 |James Allen | Massey | 10 Jul 1912 | 12 Aug 1915 | Reform | | colspan=2 |Joseph Ward, 3rd time | bgcolor=#DDFFDD |Massey |12 Aug 1915 |21 Aug 1919 |Liberal | | colspan=2 |James Allen |Massey |4 Sep 1919 |28 Apr 1920 |Reform | 0 | colspan=2 |William Massey | (himself) | 12 May 1920 | 10 May 1925 | Reform | 1 | colspan=2 |William Nosworthy | Bell, Coates | 14 May 1925 | 24 May 1926 | Reform | 2 | colspan=2 |William Downie Stewart | Coates | 24 May 1926 | 10 Dec 1928 | Reform | | colspan=2 |Joseph Ward, 4th time |(himself) |10 Dec 1928 |28 May 1930 |United (Liberal) | 3 | colspan=2 |George William Forbes | (himself) | 28 May 1930 | 22 Sep 1931 | United (Liberal) | | colspan=2 |William Downie Stewart, 2nd time | bgcolor=#FFFFDD |Forbes |22 Sep 1931 |28 Jan 1933 |Reform | 4 | colspan=2 |Gordon Coates | bgcolor=#FFFFDD |Forbes | 28 Jan 1933 | 6 Dec 1935 | Reform | 5 | colspan=2 |Walter Nash | Savage, Fraser | 6 Dec 1935 | 13 Dec 1949 | Labour | 6 | colspan=2 |Sidney Holland | (himself) | 13 Dec 1949 | Nov 1954 | National | 7 | colspan=2 |Jack Watts | Holland, Holyoake | Nov 1954 | 12 Dec 1957 | National | 8 | colspan=2 |Arnold Nordmeyer | Nash | 12 Dec 1957 | 12 Dec 1960 | Labour | 9 | colspan=2 |Harry Lake | Holyoake | 12 Dec 1960 | Mar 1967 | National | 0 | colspan=2 |Robert Muldoon | Holyoake, Marshall | Mar 1967 | 8 Dec 1972 | National | 1 | colspan=2 |Bill Rowling | Kirk | 8 Dec 1972 | 6 Sep 1974 | Labour | 2 | colspan=2 |Bob Tizard | Rowling | 6 Sep 1974 | 12 Dec 1975 | Labour | | colspan=2 |Robert Muldoon, 2nd time |(himself) |12 Dec 1975 |26 Jul 1984 |National | 3 | colspan=2 |Roger Douglas | Lange | 26 Jul 1984 | Jul 1989 | Labour | 4 | colspan=2 |David Caygill | Lange, Palmer, Moore | Jul 1989 | 2 Nov 1990 | Labour | 5 | colspan=2 |Ruth Richardson | Bolger | 2 Nov 1990 | Nov 1993 | National | 6 | colspan=2 |Bill Birch | Bolger | Nov 1993 | 16 Dec 1996 | National | |Bill Birch, continued | bgcolor=#D5D5D5 |Treasurer: Peters |Bolger, Shipley |16 Dec 1996 |14 Aug 1998 |National | |Bill Birch, continued |Treasurer: (himself) |Shipley |14 Aug 1996 |Jan 1999 |National | 7 | Bill English | Treasurer: Birch | Shipley | Jan 1999 | Jun 1999 | National | |Bill Birch, 2nd time |Treasurer: English |Shipley |Jun 1999 |5 Dec 1999 |National | 8 | colspan=2 |Michael Cullen | Clark | 5 Dec 1999 | (present) | Labour | External links New Zealand, Finance
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