Phil Goff sacked as NZ’s high commissioner to UK after criticising Donald Trump

Thursday, 6 March 2025

Phil Goff has been sacked as high commissioner to the UK after he took a jab at US President Donald Trump.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Goff's comments were 'deeply disappointing'.

Peters, telling reporters he did not need to consult Christopher Luxon on the sacking, said 'I made him the prime minister'.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters has moved quickly to sack Phil Goff as high commissioner to the UK, after he took a jab at US President Donald Trump.

Just hours after being made aware of Goff’s critical comment, Peters had declared that he was no longer fit to be New Zealand’s representative to the UK. The decision followed questions from The Post’s Luke Malpass on the comments on Thursday morning.

A spokesperson for the foreign minister issued a statement, saying that the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Bede Corry, had been tasked with finding a new high commissioner for London.

Goff’s fast dismissal came after he questioned whether Trump had a good grasp of history, and drew a parallel between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the surrender of part of Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany.

At a Chatham House event in London earlier this week, Goff asked a question during a public Q&A session of Finland’s foreign minister, Elina Valtonen, who was speaking about how Finland kept the peace with Russia.

Goff said he had been re-reading a speech from Winston Churchill in the UK House of Commons after the 1938 Munich Agreement, which allowed for the German annexation of the Sudetenland.

“[Churchill] turned to [then UK 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?”

The comments were in reference to Trump’s recent efforts to strike a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine that could see parts of Ukrainian territory surrendered.

Valtonen’s response was a bit more diplomatic than Goff, who introduced himself at the event as New Zealand’s high commissioner.

With a slight laugh, she replied: “I will limit myself to saying that in this time… I think that [Churchill] has made very timeless remarks.”

Peters: A ‘deeply disappointing’ comments

Peters’ office called Goff’s comments at Chatham House “deeply disappointing”.

“They do not represent the views of the NZ Government and make his position as High Commissioner to London untenable,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

When asked on Thursday afternoon whether he had consulted with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon about Goff’s sacking, Peters said no, because he was the minister for foreign affairs.

When a journalist pointed out that Luxon was the prime minister, Peters bit back.

“I know he’s the prime minister, I made him the prime minister.”

Peters said it was fair to dismiss Goff because he was there to be New Zealand's representative.

“It is seriously regrettable, one of the most difficult things one has had to do in one’s whole career,” he said, referring to himself.

Luxon, speaking to reporters later on Thursday in Cromwell, said Peters’ decision was “entirely appropriate” and said he did not feel sidelined.

Labour: Goff ‘overstepped the mark’

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Goff had “overstepped the mark” in his comments, but pointed out it was “a difficult transition” between politics and diplomacy.

“Phil Goff’s comments were certainly more political than you would expect from a diplomat,” Hipkins said.

“I think if a politician had said those comments, I don’t think anyone would particularly bat an eyelid.

“I’ve been very critical as you know, of the actions of Donald Trump in the last week or so. But I’m a politician, and I think that’s different to a diplomat.”

Hipkins, while asserting the comments were too political, would not be drawn as to whether it was a sackable offence.

“Ultimately, that’s a call for Winston Peters to make,” he said. “The language diplomats use has to be a bit more cautiously worded than, say, a politician”.

Clark: NZ Govt ‘sensitive to Trump Admin’

Former Labour prime minister Helen Clark quickly criticised Goff’s sacking.

“This looks like a very thin excuse for sacking a highly respected former New Zealand foreign minister from his post as High Commissioner to the UK,” she said on social media shortly after the news.

“I have been at Munich Security Conference recently where many draw parallels between Munich 1938 and US actions now.

“One assumes NZ Govt is super sensitive to Trump Administration. Prima facie the question is not a sackable offence.”

The US Embassy provided a brief statement in response to a request for comment: “This is a matter for the New Zealand Government, and we refer your query to them.”

Goff entered Parliament in 1981 on the Labour list and was party leader between 2008 and 2011. He held nearly two dozen ministerial and associate ministerial roles, including as foreign affairs, finance, and defence minister.

He was also mayor of Auckland, but didn’t stand for re-election as mayor in 2022, to take up the posting as high commissioner in 2023.