NZ’s ‘eye, ear and voice’ overseas
Brussels, Belgium – Simon Draper Simon Draper is in the hot seat as head of mission to the European Union and Nato.
Draper masterminded New Zealand’s successful bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council and has advised other governments on the strategy to follow. He has held a number of leadership positions within MFAT since joining in 1991, and is a former consul-general to New Caledonia.
He is also the former executive director of the New Zealand Asia Foundation, perhaps not surprising given his long-held interest in the region; Draper spent two years studying the Korean language before being posted to the New Zealand Embassy in Seoul in 1992. He speaks French, Korean and Italian.
Draper has been described as ambitious, clever, articulate and strategic. He has an eclectic taste in music and encyclopaedic knowledge of anything and everything. He loves a good quiz.
And, according to a close acquaintance, he’s also a person of his word. “He is still smarting because he lost a bet with me about [former TOP leader] Raf Manji getting into Parliament. He paid up and I enjoyed the Waiheke Man O’ War Dreadnought wine very much. He is therefore also a very honourable person.”
Tokyo, Japan – Hamish Cooper
Hamish Cooper is no stranger to the machinations of diplomacy. From good Canterbury stock, he was educated at Christ’s College, a private boys’ school where Latin and Ancient Greek were part of the curriculum, and Canterbury University, where his chosen topics were English literature and American studies.
He completed a postgraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania before returning to New Zealand in 1984. The day after his return, Cooper was offered two jobs – one at MFAT, the other at Canterbury University.
He chose the first and the rest, as they say, is history. Stints in London, Osaka, Turkey and Russia followed. In 2000, as deputy head of mission in Japan he was the go-between for Japanese authorities and the families of three New Zealand snowboarders who died after being buried in an avalanche.
Singapore – Gabby Rush
Gabby Rush could well be MFAT’s fittest diplomat. A keen swimmer, Rush grew up not far from Auckland’s wild Piha Beach. She was, for several years until her appointment as high commissioner to Singapore, a member of Wellington ocean swimming group the Washing Machines who brave the capital’s frigid waters yearround, for fun.
Rush has an extensive background in international law and policy and has served in a number of positions both here and overseas. Previous roles include senior legal adviser in MFAT’s legal division, first secretary to the New Zealand High Commission in London and deputy director of the ministry’s Americas division with responsibility for the US, Canada and Commonwealth Caribbean countries.
Rush was also “outed” in the WikiLeaks saga, named as a “protected” source in relation to anti-terrorism laws.
A breast cancer survivor, Rush says she swims to honour her father, who died from male breast cancer in 2019: “Swimming is a great mental and physical healer.’’
NZ’s eyeSeoul, Republic of Korea – Dawn Bennet
Our ambassador to Korea is another polyglot and MFAT veteran. Dawn Bennet started at the ministry as a trade adviser in 1997. Fluent in Mandarin and French, her previous roles include senior trade adviser for the minister of trade, economic counsellor at the New Zealand Embassy in Beijing and international relations consultant in Paris.
Bennet was caught up in the kerfuffle caused by former trade minister Damien O’Connor’s gaffe on China television, when he suggested Australia should “show respect’’ to the superpower.
The comment followed the signing of an upgraded trade agreement with China and copped considerable criticism and a flurry of emails between the ministry, Canberra and the Beehive.
Bennet is a self-confessed K-pop fan, particularly the massively popular BTS, whose members are, somewhat controversially, currently undertaking military duty. She has a Master of Laws from Edinburgh University.
New Delhi, India – Patrick Rata
Patrick Rata was last month appointed high commissioner to India, poised to become the world’s third-largest economy within years, and is due to take up the role shortly.
Rata (Ngāti Kurī, Te Aupōuri) is another career diplomat with experience across continents. He has most recently been acting high commissioner to Sri Lanka, following roles as ambassador to Italy and the Republic of Korea, where he helped negotiate a free trade agreement, and joined a softball league.
His keen sense of humour showed itself early, when, according to one newspaper report, he was thrown in the deep end in his first week on the job in Seoul.
It was 2012 and Rata was welcoming then prime minister John Key to Seoul, at a dinner reception. Introduced by Rata, who was reading from handwritten notes, Key wondered how Rata could read such tiny script. The diplomat made a quip about Key’s age, before swiftly noting this might be his first – and last – official duty.
Rata was a senior official at the World Trade Organisation for 10 years. Outside work, he’s into sport and music.
Warsaw, Poland/Ukraine – Alana Hudson
The war in Ukraine has thrust our European missions into overdrive, and none more so than that helmed by Alana Hudson.
Previous postings in Geneva and Brussels have rocketed Hudson up the ladder as something of an EU trade expert and her multilateral skills are proving handy in the current global environment; a year after presenting her credentials to the relatively unknown Volodymyr Zelenskyy, she was back in the country offering NZ’s support for “Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
In January, at Davos, she met Ukrainian officials again, this time discussing defence needs, alongside the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula.
In 2020 Hudson was among 50 diplomats to sign a letter urging the Polish government to ‘‘end discrimination’’ of sexual minorities, following an uptick in hostility towards the LGBT+ community.
Berlin, Germany – Craig Hawke
Slow runner, football obsessive and foodie. The leisure activities of Ambassador Craig Hawke offer a tiny window into the mind of this diplomat’s diplomat. You can’t get more MFAT than Hawke.
Hawke, it has to be said, has had a prolific career – the Cook Islands, Canberra, Seoul, head of the partnerships, humanitarian aid and multilateral relations unit, deputy secretary international relations, Wellington, New York, Africa, Asia, environmental issues.
While in Berlin, he also serves as non-resident head of mission responsible for relations to the Czech Republic, the Swiss confederation and the principality of Liechtenstein. He was recently in Prague for a cyber-security conference, where the discussion centred around how best to leverage the EU-NZ free trade agreement and shared priorities in the Indo-Pacific.
Hawke was the go-between for the 2023 repatriation from Germany of the remains of 95 Māori and Moriori ancestors along with 6 Toi moko (Māori mummified tattooed heads) and taonga Māori.
He has a bachelor’s degree in social sciences and a masters in social sciences in economics from Waikato University.