John McKinnon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Walter McKinnon, (b. 1950), New Zealand diplomat and public servant.

McKinnon was educated at Nelson College, Victoria University of Wellington, and the London School of Economics. He is the younger brother of former New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, and, current Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon; and of Ian McKinnon, former headmaster of Scots College, Wellington, Wanganui Collegiate School, and lower master of Eton College, and a current Wellington City Councillor; twin-brother of historian and New Zealand international relations expert Malcolm McKinnon; and, the son of Major-General Walter S. McKinnon, a one time Chief of General Staff and Chairman of New Zeland Broadcasting.

McKinnon joined the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1974, and was posted to Beijing as second secretary in 1978. In 1985, he was posted to Washington as First Secretary, then to Canberra as Counsellor in 1986.

In 1992, McKinnon became New Zealand’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York and was the only senior New Zealand diplomat to preside over the entirety of New Zealand's second tenure on the United Nations Security Council. On returning to Wellington in 1995 he become Director of the External Assessments Bureau. In 2001, McKinnon became New Zealand’s Ambassador to Beijing.

McKinnon has been Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs since 2004, responsible for international politics and security (Programme One). Coupled with his previous role running one of New Zealand's intelligence agencies, he is considered an expert in international security. In October 2006, the Government announced that he would succeed Graham Fortune as New Zealand’s Secretary of Defence.