Former Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff is the new Minister of Defence. Mr Goff entered Parliament when he won the seat of Mt Roskill in 1981. This was the beginning of a nine-year stint in Parliament. Between 1984 and 1990 his portfolios included Environment, Employment, Tourism, Youth Affairs and Education.
Following defeat at the 1990 election, he lectured in political studies at the Auckland Institute of Technology between 1991 and 1993. He was soon back in Parliament, winning Mt Roskill in 1993.
Boundary changes saw the seat re-named New Lynn for the 1996 election in which he was returned to Parliament. Between 1996 and 1999 he was Labour's spokesperson on Justice and Corrections.
Labour's election victory in 1999 (when he represented Mt Roskill again) saw Mr Goff made the Minister of Justice and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He continued to hold those portfolios, and also gained Pacific Island Affairs, after being returned with an increased majority at the 2002 election. Following the 2005 election when he was once again returned as the Member for Mt Roskill, he was made Minister of Defence, as well as Minister of Trade, Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control, and Associate Minister of Trade Negotiations. He continues as Minister of Pacific Island Affairs and is also an Associate Minister of Finance. Mr Goff visited the NZ PRT in Bamyan last year as part of his Foreign Affairs portfolio. A profile on Mr Goff and his new defence portfolio will appear in the next issue of Defence Update.
Defence Minister Phil Goff