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Brook Barrington

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Barrington official Secretary of Defence portrait, circa 2024

Brook Barrington is a New Zealand public servant and former diplomat. From 1 July 2024 he will commence as chief executive of the Ministry of Defence. He has previously served as chief executive of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Early life and education

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Barrington was awarded a PhD in history from the University of Auckland in 1993. His thesis on the transformation of New Zealand's foreign policy from 1944 to 1954 was supervised by Nicholas Tarling.[1][2][3]

Barrington's marriage to Gillian, a nurse, ended with her death in 2023.[4]

Career

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Barrington began his public service career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) in 1990.[2] He had diplomatic postings in Canberra and, as deputy head of mission to the European Union, in Brussels from 1999 to 2002.[5] He was seconded as a foreign policy, trade and defence advisor at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) until his appointment as the Ambassador of New Zealand to Thailand, which he held from 2006 until 2009.[2][6][7]

After leaving MFAT, Barrington held deputy chief executive positions at the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Justice.[2][7][3] He returned to MFAT as chief executive in 2015 and was credited with "restoring order" to the department after a "controversial" restructuring process.[7][8]

State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes reassigned Barrington to the head of DPMC in 2019 as part of a series of high-profile transfers between departments.[8][9]

Barrington took family leave from DPMC from March 2023 and resigned his substantive role in January 2024. He was soon after appointed for a short term as acting chief executive of MFAT.[10] He was announced as the incoming chief executive of the Ministry of Defence on 5 June 2024 and appointed to a five-year term.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Barrington, Brook (1993). New Zealand and the search for security 1944-1954: 'a modest and moderate collaboration' (Doctoral thesis). ResearchSpace@Auckland.
  2. ^ a b c d "IPANZ New Professionals - Meet the Chiefs Breakfast with Brook Barrington : Institute of Public Administration New Zealand". ipanz.org.nz. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  3. ^ a b Manning, Selwyn (4 March 2015). "Brook Barrington Appointed Head of New Zealand Foreign Affairs and Trade | Evening Report". Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Gillian BARRINGTON Obituary (2023)". Legacy.com. 15 November 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Secretary of Defence appointed". Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission. 5 June 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Peters names next Ambassador to Bangkok". The Beehive. 28 February 2006. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  7. ^ a b c "Brook Barrington, state sector veteran, named head of MFAT". National Business Review. 3 March 2015. Archived from the original on 4 April 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Upheaval in public service after sweeping changes". Stuff. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  9. ^ "Five new heads for government departments in reshuffle". NZ Herald. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  10. ^ Traylen, Jem (18 January 2024). "Brook Barrington returns as acting chief of foreign affairs". BusinessDesk. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
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