John Key facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sir John Key
GNZM AC
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Key in February 2015
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| 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand | |
| In office 19 November 2008 – 12 December 2016 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Deputy | Bill English |
| Governor-General | Sir Anand Satyanand Sir Jerry Mateparae Dame Patsy Reddy |
| Preceded by | Helen Clark |
| Succeeded by | Bill English |
| 31st Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 27 November 2006 – 19 November 2008 |
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| Deputy | Bill English |
| Preceded by | Don Brash |
| Succeeded by | Phil Goff |
| 11th Leader of the National Party | |
| In office 27 November 2006 – 12 December 2016 |
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| Deputy | Bill English |
| Preceded by | Don Brash |
| Succeeded by | Bill English |
| 3rd Chairman of the International Democrat Union | |
| In office 21 November 2014 – 21 February 2018 |
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| Deputy | Tony Clement |
| Preceded by | John Howard |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Harper |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Helensville |
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| In office 27 July 2002 – 14 April 2017 |
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| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Chris Penk |
| Majority | 20,547 (56.49%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
John Phillip Key
9 August 1961 Auckland, New Zealand |
| Political party | National |
| Spouse |
Bronagh Dougan
(m. 1984) |
| Children |
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| Parents |
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| Alma mater | University of Canterbury (BCom) |
| Signature |  |
Sir John Phillip Key GNZM AC (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as leader of the National Party from 2006 to 2016.
Following his father's death when he was eight, Key was raised by his single mother in a state-house in the Christchurch suburb of Bryndwr. He attended the University of Canterbury and graduated in 1981 with a Bachelor of Commerce. He began a career in the foreign exchange market in New Zealand before moving overseas to work for Merrill Lynch, in which he became head of global foreign exchange in 1995, a position he would hold for six years. In 1999 he was appointed a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York until leaving in 2001.
Key entered the New Zealand Parliament representing the Auckland electorate of Helensville as one of the few new National members of parliament in the election of 2002 following National's significant defeat of that year. In 2004, he was appointed Finance Spokesman for National and eventually succeeded Don Brash as the National Party leader in 2006. After two years as leader of the Opposition, Key led his party to victory at the November 2008 general election. He was subsequently sworn in as prime minister on 19 November 2008. The National government went on to win two more general elections under his leadership: in November 2011 and September 2014. Key was expected to contest for a fourth term of office at the 2017 general election, but on 5 December 2016 he resigned as prime minister and leader of the National Party. He was succeeded by Bill English on 12 December 2016. After resigning from both posts in December 2016 and leaving politics, Key was appointed to the board of directors and role of chairman in several New Zealand corporations.
As prime minister, Key led the Fifth National Government of New Zealand which entered government at the beginning of the late-2000s recession in 2008. He was described as supporting both socially liberal and economically liberal policies. Key was worth an estimated USD$35 million in 2016, making him the wealthiest individual ever to assume the premiership. In his first term, Key's government implemented a GST rise and personal tax cuts, while enacting several austerity measures. His government refused to renew license agreements for multiple television channels, including TVNZ 6, TVNZ 7, Kidzone and Heartland, while reducing funding for Radio New Zealand in real terms. In February 2011, after a major earthquake in Christchurch the nation's second largest city significantly affected the national economy, the government formed the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority. In its second term, Key's government implemented a policy of partial privatisation of five state-owned enterprises, while voters in a citizens-initiated referendum on the issue were 2 to 1 opposed to the policy. He also faced a severe housing crisis, especially in Auckland, and was widely criticised for a perceived lack of action. In foreign policy, Key withdrew New Zealand Defence Force personnel from their deployment in the war in Afghanistan, signed the Wellington Declaration with the United States and pushed for more nations to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
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Early life and education
Key was born in Auckland, New Zealand, to George Key (1914–1969) and Ruth Key (née Lazar; 1922–2000) on 9 August 1961. His father was an English immigrant and a veteran of the Spanish Civil War and World War II. Key and his two sisters were raised in a state house in the Christchurch suburb of Bryndwr by his mother, an Austrian-Jewish immigrant. Key is the third prime minister or premier of New Zealand to have Jewish ancestry, after Julius Vogel and Francis Bell.
He attended Aorangi School, and then Burnside High School from 1975 to 1979, where he met his wife, Bronagh. He went on to attend the University of Canterbury and earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree in accounting in 1981. He also attended management studies courses at Harvard University.
Career before politics
Key's first job was as an auditor at McCulloch Menzies in 1982. He then became a project manager at Christchurch-based clothing manufacturer Lane Walker Rudkin for two years. He began working as a foreign exchange dealer at Elders Finance in Wellington, and rose to the position of head foreign exchange trader two years later, then moved to Auckland-based Bankers Trust in 1988.
In 1995, he joined Merrill Lynch as head of Asian foreign exchange in Singapore. That same year he was promoted to Merrill's global head of foreign exchange, based in London, where he may have earned around US$2.25 million a year including bonuses, which is about NZ$5 million at 2001 exchange rates. Some co-workers called him "the smiling assassin" for maintaining his usual cheerfulness while sacking dozens (some say hundreds) of staff after heavy losses from the 1998 Russian financial crisis. He was a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the New York Federal Reserve Bank from 1999 to 2001.
In 1998, on learning of his interest in pursuing a political career, National Party president John Slater began working to recruit him. Former party leader Jenny Shipley describes him as one of the people she "deliberately sought out and put my head on the line–either privately or publicly–to get them in there".
Early political career
Key entered the New Zealand Parliament representing the Auckland electorate of Helensville as one of the few new National members of parliament in the election of 2002 following National's significant defeat of that year. In 2004, he was appointed Finance Spokesman for National and eventually succeeded Don Brash as the National Party leader in 2006. After two years as leader of the Opposition, Key led his party to victory at the November 2008 general election.
Leader of the Opposition
On becoming leader Key convinced Gerry Brownlee, deputy leader under Brash, to step aside and promoted his main rival English to deputy leader and finance spokesman. He showed a ruthless streak by unceremoniously pushing Brash out and refusing to allow another one of the 2002 recruits, Brian Connell, back into the caucus. In his maiden speech as National Party leader, Key spoke of an "underclass" that had been "allowed to develop" in New Zealand, a theme which received a large amount of media coverage. Key followed up on this speech in February 2007 by committing his party to a programme which would provide food in the poorest schools in New Zealand.
In opposition he was instrumental in promoting National's change of policy regarding keeping superannuation and Kiwibank. He also supported interest-free student loans and early childhood education funding. He relented on his stance in opposition to Sue Bradford's Child Discipline Bill, which sought to remove "reasonable force" as a defence for parents charged with prima facie assault of their children. Key and Prime Minister Helen Clark agreed a compromise – giving police the discretion to overlook smacking they regarded as "inconsequential".
In August 2007 Key came in for criticism when he changed his position regarding the Therapeutic Products and Medicine Bill. At the same time Labour's Trevor Mallard hinted in Parliament that Labour would try to link Key to the 1987 "H-Fee" scandal, which involved Key's former employer Elders Merchant Finance and a payment to Equiticorp Chief Executive Allan Hawkins. Hawkins and Elders executive Ken Jarrett were later jailed for fraud. Key declaring that he had left Elders months before the event, that he had no knowledge of the deal, and that his interview with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) during the investigation into the affair could only have helped to convict the people involved. Then-SFO director Charles Sturt publicly supported Key's statement.
Labour MPs criticised Key for not releasing specific policy information at their annual conference. Key responded that National would set its own policy agenda and that there was adequate time before the next election for voters to digest National Party policy proposals.
Prime Minister (2008–2016)
Key was sworn in as prime minister on 19 November 2008. The National government went on to win two more general elections under his leadership: in November 2011 and September 2014. Key was expected to contest for a fourth term of office at the 2017 general election, but on 5 December 2016 he resigned as prime minister and leader of the National Party. He was succeeded by Bill English on 12 December 2016.
In his first term, Key's government implemented a GST rise and personal tax cuts, while enacting several austerity measures. His government refused to renew license agreements for multiple television channels, including TVNZ 6, TVNZ 7, Kidzone and Heartland, while reducing funding for Radio New Zealand in real terms. In February 2011, after a major earthquake in Christchurch the nation's second largest city significantly affected the national economy, the government formed the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority.
In its second term, Key's government implemented a policy of partial privatisation of five state-owned enterprises, while voters in a citizens-initiated referendum on the issue were 2 to 1 opposed to the policy. He also faced a severe housing crisis, especially in Auckland, and was widely criticised for a perceived lack of action. In foreign policy, Key withdrew New Zealand Defence Force personnel from their deployment in the war in Afghanistan, signed the Wellington Declaration with the United States and pushed for more nations to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Post-prime ministerial career
Following his resignation, Key stated that he would leave Parliament before the 2017 general election. However, he stated that he would resign within six months of the election so as to not trigger a by-election in the Helensville electorate. He gave his valedictory speech in Parliament on 22 March 2017 and formally resigned the following month, on 14 April.
In May 2017, Key was appointed to the board of directors of Air New Zealand, and took up the position on 1 September 2017. He was also appointed chairman of ANZ Bank New Zealand, taking up the position on 18 October 2017. On 31 March 2020, Key stood down as a director of Air New Zealand. He joined the board of American cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks in 2019.
Political and social views
Key's views were largely aligned with his own party's view. However, he noted that his differences from his predecessor are more of style and focus rather than view.
Climate change
Key says that global warming is a real phenomenon, and that the Government needed to implement measures to reduce human contribution to global warming. Key committed the National Party to working towards reducing greenhouse emissions in New Zealand by 50% within the next fifty years. Commentators note that as late as 2005, Key made statements indicating that he was sceptical of the effects and impact of climate change.
COVID-19
In September 2021, Key criticised the Labour Government's elimination-based lockdown policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, likening it to making New Zealand a hermit kingdom like North Korea. He also accused the Government of ruling by fear and lacking a post-lockdown strategy. To speed up COVID-19 vaccination, he recommended boosting funding for Māori and Pasifika health providers, introducing financial incentives for young people, and allowing only vaccinated people into licensed premises. TVNZ journalist Jack Tame described Key's views on the Government's handling of COVID-19 as provocative but praised his five-point plan as a "collection of sensible ideas worthy of consideration."
Foreign policy issues
As a first-term MP in 2003, Key criticised the Labour-led government's stance on the Invasion of Iraq, claiming that New Zealand was "missing in action" by failing to support its ANZUS allies, the United States and Australia. In August 2007 Key claimed that he would have taken a similar position to Clark and not sent troops to Iraq. In response, the Government argued that his comments from 2003 suggest that Key would have deployed troops had he been prime minister at the time.
In August 2022, Key described Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan as "reckless" and provocative towards China during an interview with TVNZ journalist Jack Tame. Since Beijing regarded the visit as a violation of the One China Policy, China had downgraded bilateral relations with the United States. During his premiership, Key had cultivated a close relationship with President of China Xi Jinping, describing Xi as "extremely trustworthy, very open, consistent."
In early October 2024, Key opined that Donald Trump was better for the economy while expressing disagreement with his "isolationist" America First foreign policy during the leadup up to the 2024 United States presidential election. During an interview with Stuff, Key said: he's [Trump] likely to embrace a bit more market. He's likely to have less red tape and he's certainly going to have lower taxes. So that bit is good." Key also described the Democratic Party candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris' economic polices as "radically left-wing" and more aligned with Senator Bernie Sanders than President Joe Biden.
Māori issues
In early August 2024, Key spoke at the National Party's national conference and urged the National-led government to thread carefully on Māori issues including the Treaty Principles Bill (which had been introduced by coalition partner ACT), the planned repeal of section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 and National's decision to overrule a court ruling on the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011. He said: "The important thing is that we're all New Zealanders and I think everybody wants to live in a place where we can respect one another, get along well and foster a better New Zealand. So I'd kind of encourage everyone to maybe take the temperature down a wee bit."
Marriage
Key had a mixed voting record on social issues. In 2004 he voted against the bill creating civil unions, stating that, while he personally supports such unions, he acted in accordance with his electorate's views. However, in 2005, Key was part of a large bloc of MPs voting to defeat a bill that defined marriage as being between a man and a woman.
Key stated in 2008 that he did not oppose same-sex couples adopting children. In 2013 he expressed support for same-sex marriage and voted for the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013.
Monarchy vs Republic
Like his predecessor Helen Clark, Key views a New Zealand republic as "inevitable", although probably not for another decade. "If Australia becomes a republic there is no question it will set off quite an intense debate on this side of the Tasman", he said. "We would have to have a referendum if we wanted to move towards it." Key later stated that he was a monarchist, and that a New Zealand republic would "Not [happen] under my watch". In 2009 Key's government restored titular honours, including knighthoods and damehoods — the abolishment of these titles in 2000 had been seen as an advancement towards republicanism.
Privatisation
Key noted others' concern at the pace of asset sales, but stated that the arguments against selling assets in the 1980s were largely irrational. In a 2002 interview, he said that "some form of orientation towards privatisation" in health, education and superannuation, such as giving firms tax breaks for employer super schemes, made sense. After his party won a plurality in the 2011 election, Key rejected claims that the National Government lacked a mandate to partially privatise state-owned assets.
Personal life
Personal wealth
On 25 July 2008, Key was added to the New Zealand National Business Review (NBR) Rich List for the first time. The list details the wealthiest New Zealand individuals and family groups. He had an estimated wealth of NZ$50 million, which made him the wealthiest New Zealand Member of Parliament, and the wealthiest prime minister ever. In the 2016 NBR Rich List, Key had an estimated wealth of NZ$60 million. Most of his financial investments are held in a blind trust.
Family
Key married Bronagh Irene Dougan in 1984; they met when they were both students at Burnside High School. She has a BCom degree, and worked as a personnel consultant before becoming a full-time mother. They have two children, Stephie and Max. Max is a night-time radio host for George FM, and is also a singer. Stephie is a performance artist.
Religious views
In 2008, Key stated that he attended church frequently with his children, but was an agnostic. He has said that he does not believe in an afterlife, and sees religion as "doing the right thing".
Private pilot licence
In October 2024, Key revealed that he began studying for helicopter license during the COVID-19 lockdowns in New Zealand and has since logged 280 hours of flight time. Key owns a Guimbal Cabri G2, which he has customised with the proposed alternative New Zealand flag design, three white rabbit emblems for good luck, and his personal callsign, ZK-IJK. Key stated in the news that he mostly flies his helicopter to golf courses.
Honours
On 3 August 2010, Key gained the style "The Right Honourable". Previously, as he was not a privy councillor, he had not been entitled to use the style—his predecessor ended the appointment of New Zealanders to the Privy Council. However, in 2010 the Queen approved the use of the style by prime ministers, governors-general, speakers of the House, and chief justices.
Key was appointed a Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, in recognition of "services to the State", in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours. Later Key was appointed an honorary Companion of the Order of Australia, for "eminent service to Australia-New Zealand relations", by the Governor-General of Australia on the personal recommendation of the Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull.
On 7 August 2017, Key was awarded an honorary doctorate by his alma mater, the University of Canterbury, to become a doctor of commerce.
See also
In Spanish: John Key para niños
- Electoral history of John Key
- List of New Zealand ministries
- Contents of the United States diplomatic cables leak (New Zealand)
