Phil Goff to go as UK High Commissioner after Donald Trump comments labelled ‘deeply disappointing’

Phil Goff’s position as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom is now “untenable”, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has made clear, after “deeply disappointing” comments the former Auckland Mayor made about United States President Donald Trump.

Asking a question of Finnish Foreign Affairs Minister Elina Valtonen at a Chatham House event in London this week, Goff said he had been rereading a speech by former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill in 1938 after the Munich Agreement.

“He turned to 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?”

A statement from Peters' office to the Herald said: “Phil Goff’s comments are deeply disappointing”.

“They do not represent the views of the New Zealand Government and make his position as High Commissioner to London untenable.

“We have asked the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Bede Corry, to now work through with Mr Goff the upcoming leadership transition at the New Zealand High Commission in London.”

Peters said he would have taken this action regardless of what country Goff’s comments were about.

“If he had made that comment about Germany, France, Tonga, or Samoa, I would have been forced to react. This is seriously regrettable. One of the most difficult things one’s had to do in a whole career,” he told reporters.

It was a difficult decision because: “I worked with Phil Goff, I have known him for a long time, I’ve worked in Government with him.”

Peters said officials advised Goff of the decision and it will be up to them to handle the timeline of his replacement.

He told the Herald he didn’t consult Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on the decision, though he did advise him of it afterwards.

Asked why he didn’t consult Luxon, Peters said: “I am the Minister for Foreign Affairs”. The Herald made the point that Luxon is the Prime Minister.

Peters responded: “This is not juvenile time. I know he’s the Prime Minister. I made him the Prime Minister.”

He later denied he was undermining the Prime Minister by saying he had “made him the Prime Minister”.

“I’m the Minister of Foreign Affairs and I know what my job is,” Peters said.

Speaking in Cromwell, where he had been visiting local businesses, Luxon said he “expected our diplomats to be diplomatic”.

He said he didn’t expect to be consulted on Peters’ decision, which he said was “entirely appropriate”, nor did he feel sidelined.

“I expect my ministers to have total accountability over their portfolios. They are empowered to do that. Winston Peters is completely right to make the decision he made.”

Asked about Peters' comment that he made Luxon the Prime Minister, Luxon responded: “I’m very pleased I made Winston Peters the Minister of Foreign Affairs”.

“I think what the whole country is grateful for is that we don’t have Chris Hipkins as Prime Minister.”

Finance Minister Nicola Willis didn’t see an issue with Peters not consulting Luxon.

“Ministers routinely in their portfolios have to make decisions without consulting the Prime Minister. I certainly do it almost on a daily basis,” she said.

Phil Goff's position is now "untenable", according to Winston Peters' office. Photo / Michael Craig

After Goff’s question, those at the event laughed. The Finnish minister also smirked and said she would limit her comments, clearly recognising the delicacy that remarks about Trump require.

“In this time, and I did it myself, I quoted Sir Winston Churchill and he has made some very timeless remarks,” she said, smirking again.

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

“I think if a politician had said those comments, I don’t think anyone would particularly bat an eyelid, but Phil Goff is currently a diplomat, and so there is a different standard for diplomats.”

He said Peters was entitled to make it clear to Goff that he had overstepped.

“Whether that reaches the threshold for a dismissal, ultimately, that’s a call for Winston Peters to make, and other people will form a judgment on that.”

Goff had a distinguished career, Hipkins said, and it was difficult to transition from being a politician to a diplomat.

Former Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark, whose Cabinet Phil Goff served in, posted on X (formerly Twitter): “This looks like a very thin excuse for sacking a highly respected former #NZ Foreign Minister from his post as High Commissioner to the UK.”

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

It comes as New Zealand attempts to walk a careful line with the US, which has begun applying significant tariffs against other countries, including Five Eyes partner Canada.

Speaking this week after the clash between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Luxon said he still viewed the US as “reliable”.

“We have a strong partnership with the US, there’s a lot of collaboration, there’s lots we can do together,” the Prime Minister said.

Goff, a former Labour leader and Foreign Affairs Minister, was appointed to the post by the Labour Government in 2022 and started work in London in January 2023.

He left Parliament in 2016 and was Auckland Mayor from November of that year until 2022.

Just months into the role, Goff caused offence to Kīngi Tūheitia at an event for the New Zealand delegation in London, after forgetting to perform a karakia and telling the delegation no one in the room had experienced a coronation before.

Hipkins, then Prime Minister, said at the time it was “certainly regrettable”.

“It was a mistake. I think it is important, you know, in these sorts of events that we do acknowledge the Crown-Māori relationship, and Kīngi Tūheitia clearly has a relationship with the Crown over here – we should acknowledge that.”

Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub Press Gallery office.