Simon Murdoch
{{Short description|New Zealand diplomat and public servant}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{BLP sources|date=March 2011}}
{{Like resume|date=May 2023}}{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Simon Murdoch
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|CNZM|size=100%}}
| image = Simon Murdoch CNZM investiture 02.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Murdoch in 2009
| office = Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade
| term_start = 2002
| term_end = 2009
| primeminister =
| predecessor = Neil Walter
| successor = John Allen
| office2 = High Commissioner to Australia
| term_start2 = 1999
| term_end2 = 2002
| primeminister2 =
| predecessor2 = Graham Fortune
| successor2 = Kate Lackey
| office3 = Chief Executive of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
| term_start3 = 1991
| term_end3 = 1998
| primeminister3 = Jim Bolger, Jenny Shipley
| predecessor3 =
| successor3 = Mark Prebble
| birth_name = Simon Peter Wallace Murdoch
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1948}}
| birth_place =
}}
Simon Peter Wallace Murdoch {{post-nominals|country=NZL|CNZM|size=100%}} (born 1948) is a New Zealand diplomat and public servant. He was New Zealand's Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade and was previously New Zealand High Commissioner to Canberra, and Chief Executive of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Early life and education
Murdoch attended University of Canterbury, where he gained a first class master's degree with honours in history.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Murdoch joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1972. He had an early posting to Canberra, before joining the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in 1980 as foreign affairs adviser to Prime Minister Rob Muldoon.
In 1983, Murdoch was assistant head of the Asian division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Later that year, he was posted to Washington, D.C., as political counsellor, and the New Zealand intelligence liaison officer to the United States.
In 1987, Murdoch returned to New Zealand and became head of the Australia Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In 1989, Murdoch was seconded to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to be head of the Policy Advisory Group. In 1991, State Services Commissioner Don Hunn appointed Murdoch to the post of Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.{{Cite web |last=Appleton |first=Michael |date=2018-10-28 |title=An eye, an ear, a voice: 75 years of New Zealand in the world |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/28-10-2018/an-eye-an-ear-a-voice-75-years-of-new-zealand-in-the-world |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=The Spinoff |language=en}}
Murdoch was head of the department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under Prime Ministers Jim Bolger and Jenny Shipley. He left the post in 1998, to become visiting professor of Public Policy and Management at Victoria University of Wellington for a year.
In 1999, Murdoch was appointed New Zealand High Commissioner to Australia.
In 2002, Murdoch succeeded Neil Walter as New Zealand's Secretary of Foreign Affairs. He retired from that position in 2009.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/about-us/our-people/our-early-leaders/|title=Our early leaders|last=Trade|first=New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and|date=|website=New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade|language=en-NZ|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-12}} In the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours, Murdoch was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for public services, lately as Secretary of Foreign Affairs.{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2009 |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 2009 |date=1 June 2010 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |accessdate=16 January 2020}}{{cite news |url=http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/58985/running-great-john-walker-knighted |title=Running great John Walker knighted |date=1 June 2009 |agency=NZPA |work=Otago Daily Times |accessdate=11 November 2011}}{{Cite web|url=https://gg.govt.nz/images/simon-murdoch|title=Simon Murdoch, of Wellington, receives the Insignia of a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit|last=|first=|date=2009|website=The Governor-General|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-12}}
GCSB
In 2010 he conducted a review of New Zealand intelligence agencies, and for two periods before and after the appointment of Lt Gen Sir Jerry Mateparae, he was acting chief executive and director of the GCSB. During his second stint in the position he presided over the illegal surveillance of Kim Dotcom, but left weeks before the raid was carried out on 20 January 2013.[http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/7752643/Dotcom-saga-rebounds-on-Key-Government 'Dotcom saga rebounds on Key Government "], 1 October 2012, ANDREA VANCE, stuff.co.nz
References
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Category:High commissioners of New Zealand to Australia
Category:New Zealand public servants
Category:Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit