New Zealand Treasury
The New Zealand Treasury is the central public service department of New Zealand charged with advising the Government on economic policy, assisting with improving the performance of New Zealand's economy, and managing financial resources. The minister responsible for the Treasury is the Minister of Finance of New Zealand; however, from 1996 to 2002, there existed a more specific position of Treasurer of New Zealand. The role was created for Winston Peters by the [Fourth National New Zealand Government|Government of New Zealand|Fourth National Government] under Jim Bolger after the 1996 election, and abolished by Helen Clark's government in 2002.
Treasury has four main functions:
- Provide advice to improve economic and fiscal conditions for high levels of economic growth and improved living standards.
- Monitor and manage the financial affairs of the Crown.
- Assess and test other Government agencies’ advice and proposals that have economic and financial implications.
- Provide leadership, with other central agencies, to develop a high-performing State sector.
History
The Treasury is one of New Zealand's oldest institutions, having been first established in 1840. Initially the Treasury consisted of just a few officials responsible for managing the Government's day-to-day financial affairs. In the 1920s the department took on a supervisory role over other departments’ spending and oversight of government borrowing.However, the most dramatic change to the role of the Treasury came in the 1950s when the department began to develop its role as economic advisor to the Government. The Treasury "hit the spotlight" in this role during a wave of far-reaching, and often controversial, economic reforms in the 1980s and early 1990s. This period also coincided with a general shift towards higher scrutiny of government activity and performance, making the Finance portfolio and Treasury operations more transparent.
Since the 1950s, the Treasury has evolved from being a control agency to a "central agency". During this time, departments have become largely free to manage their own resources, with the Treasury's role being to provide central agency leadership, co-ordination and monitoring.
Between 2008 and 2011 Treasury administered the Crown Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme. Under the scheme the government bailed out nine finance firms including South Canterbury Finance to the value of approximately $2 billion.
As of 30 June 2025, the Treasury employs 600 people, is the Government's lead advisor on economic and financial policy, and has the overall vision of helping governments achieve higher living standards for New Zealanders.
Role
Specific areas of work undertaken by the Treasury include:- advice on the government's economic strategy and macroeconomic policies
- advice on financial and public sector management systems
- advice on tax strategy, including the objectives of the tax system and the choice and mix of taxes
- advice on Budget strategy and the design of the Budget process. This includes managing the Budget initiatives process and producing the Budget documents
- preparation and publication of macroeconomic, tax revenue and fiscal forecasts, and monitoring of the domestic and international economies
- preparation and publication of monthly and annual consolidated Crown financial statements
- management of the Crown's debt portfolio and associated financial investments
- management of commercial, contractual and Treaty of Waitangi-related claims against the Crown
- advice on the Crown's ownership interests in Crown companies including state-owned enterprises, Crown financial institutions and Air New Zealand
- advice on policy interventions, departmental votes and Crown entities to ensure the state's resources and powers are used effectively to achieve the results sought by the elected Government.
- Releasing a Prefu or Pre-election fiscal update before each general election.
Statutory reporting
In addition to regular reporting obligations as part of the annual financial cycle, the Treasury is required to produce several other documents under the Public Finance Act 1989 including the:- Statement on long-term fiscal position
- Wellbeing report
- Investment statement
- Pre-election economic and fiscal update
- Half-year economic and fiscal update
Ministers
The Treasury serves 12 portfolios and 8 ministers.| Officeholder | Portfolios | Other responsibilities |
| Hon Nicola Willis | Lead Minister Minister of Finance Minister for Economic Growth Minister for Social Investment | |
| Hon David Seymour | Minister for Regulation | Associate Minister of Finance |
| Hon Shane Jones | Minister for Regional Development | Associate Minister of Finance |
| Hon Chris Bishop | Minister of Infrastructure Minister of Transport | Associate Minister of Finance |
| Hon Simeon Brown | Minister of State Owned Enterprises Minister of Health | |
| Hon Scott Simpson | Minister for ACC | |
| Hon Simon Watts | Minister of Revenue | |
| Rt Hon Winston Peters | Minister for Rail | - |
List of secretaries to the Treasury
The Secretary to the Treasury is the public service head of the department. The role was created in 1873 when the offices of paymaster-general and under treasurer were amalgamated.| Name | Portrait | Term of office | |
| 1 | Charles Thomas Batkin | 1873–1878 | |
| 2 | James Clark Gavin | 1878–1890 | |
| 3 | James Barnes Heywood | 1890–1906 | |
| 4 | Robert Joseph Collins | 1906–1910 | |
| 5 | Joseph William Poynton | 1910–1912 | |
| 6 | George Frederick Colin Campbell | 1912–1921 | |
| 7 | James Jacob Esson | 1922–1925 | |
| 8 | Robert Edward Hayes | 1925–1929 | |
| 9 | Alexander Dallas Park | 1930–1935 | |
| 10 | George Charles Rodda | 1935–1939 | |
| 11 | Bernard C. Ashwin | 1939–1955 | |
| 12 | Ed Greensmith | 1955–1964 | |
| 13 | Doug Barker | 1964– | |
| 14 | Noel Davis | −1968 | |
| 15 | Henry Lang | 1968–1977 | |
| 16 | Noel Vernon Lough | 1977–1980 | |
| 17 | Bernie Galvin | 1980–1986 | |
| 18 | Graham Scott | 1986–1993 | |
| 19 | Murray Horn | 1993–1998 | |
| 20 | Alan Bollard | 1998 – April 2002 | |
| — | Mark Prebble | April 2002 – 8 April 2003 | |
| 21 | John Whitehead | 8 April 2003 – 1 June 2011 | |
| 22 | Gabriel Makhlouf | 1 June 2011 – 27 June 2019 | |
| 23 | Caralee McLiesh | 16 September 2019 – 15 September 2024 | |
| 24 | Iain Rennie | 18 November 2024 – present |
Structure
Senior leadership- Secretary and Chief Executive
- * Chief Economist and Deputy Secretary, Economic System
- * Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Secretary, Strategy, Performance & Engagement
- * Deputy Secretary, Budget & Public Services
- * Deputy Secretary, Financial & Commercial Operations
- * Deputy Secretary, Growth & Public Services
- * Deputy Secretary, Macroeconomics & Growth