Banks appointed ambassador to the United States, again
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has once again appointed career diplomat Rosemary Banks as ambassador to the United States.
Peters yesterday said he was “delighted” that Banks had agreed to return to the job he previously appointed her to in 2018. Banks replaces the outgoing Washington DC ambassador Bede Corry, who has been appointed to lead the foreign ministry.
“It was vital that we appoint as ambassador to Washington DC a diplomat with serious experience, gravitas and nous to help New Zealand navigate the period ahead,” Peters said.
Banks, who will take the job from June, will be tasked with leading New Zealand’s relationship with a US administration led by the winner of the coming presidential election, Joe Biden or Donald Trump.
Since being elected, the National-coalition Government has sought to bolster New Zealand’s relationship with the United States. Peters travelled to Washington DC in April and issued a joint statement with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promising to work “even more closely” to uphold the international order.
“Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Peters said yesterday.
“New Zealand and the United States have a broad range of shared interests, and we are responding to a challenging strategic environment by finding ways to cooperate ever more closely.”
Banks was previously Washington DC ambassador from 2018 to 2022. Before that, she had been New Zealand’s ambassador to the United Nations, France, and Portugal. She had also worked as a Crown representative in Treaty of Waitangi negotiations.
Since returning to Wellington, Banks hs been chairperson of the NZ-US Council, and worked as a programme director at Victoria University.
Banks’ own views of New Zealand’s foreign policy and the relationship with the United States appear to somewhat align with Peters, who has been critical of the common usage of “independent foreign policy” to describe New Zealand on the world stage, while seeking to reinvigorate the country’s diplomatic efforts.
At an event in November, before the coalition government was formed, Banks said New Zealand had been able to use its “cloak of independence” in a “comfortable grey-zone”.
“We’ve never really been challenged on this. But unfortunately the world seems to be becoming a lot more black and white. There's no shortage of threats coming at us from the outside world, but most of them, we really can't do much about.
“What our next foreign minister can do something about, hopefully, is being really active and present in our Indo-Pacific region, and globally, to ensure that New Zealand that retains its relevance, and that we retain our value-add to our significant others.”