Mr Chris Seed, of Wellington, CNZM for services to the State
Chris Seed has had a 40-year public service career, latterly as Chief Executive and Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) from 2019 until retiring in 2024. He led the Government’s consular response, trade recovery initiatives and foreign policy engagements during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. He also oversaw international aspects of several complex consular and disaster responses including to the 2019 Christchurch Mosque attacks, the Whakaari/White Island eruption and Operation Whakahokina Mai, the latter a collaborative effort with the New Zealand Defence Force and other agencies which enabled more than 1,700 New Zealanders and eligible Afghan nationals to depart Afghanistan following the August 2021 Taliban takeover. Mr Seed was New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea and to Australia.