Downtown Rotary meeting - 9 April 2019

Rotary Club of Downtown Auckland, Inc.

Weekly meeting – Tuesday 09/04/2019

 

Rt Hon Sir Don McKinnon ONZ GCVO

Chair of the New Zealand China Council

“An uncertain world”

 

The eldest son of Walter McKinnon, who was New Zealand Chief of the General Staff in the 1960s, Don McKinnon was born in London and educated in New Zealand and the USA. Initially working in farm management consulting and real estate, he entered Parliament in 1978 and served as Junior and then Senior Whip in the early 1980s in the Muldoon government.

 

When the National Party won the 1990 general election, Don became Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Minister of Pacific Island Affairs. In Foreign Affairs, he oversaw New Zealand's election to the UN Security Council, increased activity in the Commonwealth of Nations, and attempts to broker a truce in Bougainville. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 for his part in resolving that conflict.

 

After leaving Parliament following the 1999 general election, Don served as Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations for two terms, from 2000 to 2008.

 

In the 2008 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Member of the Order of New Zealand, our highest civilian honour. In 2009, he was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order for services to the Commonwealth.

 

Sir Don is currently Chair of the New Zealand China Council. He also serves with the Waitangi National Trust Board, the Asia New Zealand Foundation, and the Royal Commonwealth Society.

World War I was supposed to be the “War to end all wars”: but 21 years later we had World War II.  To ensure that mistakes weren't repeated, a New World Order was put in place underpinned by the Marshall Plan to rebuild Western Europe and by NATO, which joined the USA and Canada to Europe in the most successful security alliance the world has ever seen. It was essentially unchallenged for 70 years – until now, when we see quite different forces at work, threatening to undermine that global security. Hence the title of Sir Don’s address: "An uncertain world".

 

Introducer/host: Stuart Rowe

Thanker: Mark Jenkins

 

5-minute speaker: Greg Moyle on Le Quesnoy

 

Reception: Susanne Loesser, Kerryn Downey, Wayne Dyer

 

Upcoming meetings:

 

16/04/2019

Rt Hon Jim Bolger ONZ

“Fair pay agreements”

 

23/04/2019

No meeting

(Day after Easter Monday)