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New Zealand’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom has been removed from his role after publicly questioning US President Donald Trump’s grasp of history – remarks that have rendered his position “untenable” in the eyes of New Zealand’s government.
At a public Chatham House event in London this week, high commissioner Phil Goff asked a question of Finnish foreign affairs minister Elina Valtonen, who was speaking on how to keep the peace with Russia, with which Finland shares a border.
Goff said he had been re-reading Winston Churchill’s speech to the House of Commons in 1938 after the Munich Agreement with Adolf Hitler, which allowed Germany to annex part of Czechoslovakia. “He turned to [prime minister Neville] Chamberlain, he said, ‘You had the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour, yet you will have war’,” Goff said.
“President Trump has restored the bust of Churchill to the Oval Office. But do you think he really understands history?” Goff asked, which garnered laughs from the audience.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, New Zealand’s foreign minister Winston Peters said it was “seriously regrettable” that he had been forced to act over Goff’s remarks and would have done so had he made them about any other nation’s leader. Peters said Goff’s comments were “disappointing” and made the envoy’s position “untenable.”
“When you’re in that position, you represent the views of the government and the policies of the day – you’re not able to free-think, you are the face of New Zealand,” he said.
The secretary of foreign affairs and trade, Bede Corry, would now work through with Goff “the upcoming leadership transition” Peter’s office said.
The move comes as New Zealand attempts to keep its relationship with the US – one of its largest export markets – on track against a wider backdrop of unease over the Trump administration’s treatment of its allies.
This week, prime minister Christopher Luxon told media he trusted Trump, but would continue to “act in our own national interests”.
Goff, a former Labour party leader and former Auckland mayor, was appointed to the role in 2022, during Jacinda Ardern’s administration. His term was due to finish towards the end of 2025 but that date has now been brought forward.
In a post to social media, former prime minister Helen Clark said it was “a very thin excuse for sacking a highly respected former [New Zealand] foreign minister.”
It is not the first faux-pas Goff has made during his time in the role. During an event for a delegation of New Zealanders attending the coronation of King Charles in May 2023, Goff offended the Māori King, Kīngi Tūheitia, who was present, by saying no one in the room had experienced a coronation before.
The Guardian attempted to reach Goff through the ministry of foreign affairs. In a statement the ministry said it was in discussion with Goff about his return to New Zealand and had no further comments.
