The Cabinet is a group of high-ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It should not be confused with the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive committee. Cabinet is a group of senior ministers who hold very important portfolios. But Council of Ministers is a group of Cabinet Ministers as well as some other ministers. Cabinet is present inside the Council.

Overview[link]

In some countries, particularly those that use the Westminster system, the Cabinet collectively decides the government's policy and tactical direction, especially in regard to legislation passed by the parliament. In countries with a presidential system, such as the United States, the Cabinet does not function as a collective legislative influence; rather, their primary role is as an official advisory council to the head of government. In this way, the President gets opinions and advice in upcoming decisions. The second role of cabinet officials is to administer executive branch government agencies or departments (in the United States, these are the federal executive departments)

In most countries, including those that use the Westminster system, Cabinet ministers are appointed from among sitting members of the legislature and remain members of the legislature while serving in the cabinet. In other countries, especially countries with a presidential system, the opposite is true - Cabinet members must not be sitting legislators, and legislators who are offered appointments must resign if they wish to accept.

In most governments, members of the Cabinet are given the title of minister, and each holds a different portfolio of government duties ("Minister for the Environment," etc.). In a few governments, as in the case of the United States, the Philippines, Mexico and the United Kingdom, the title of secretary is also used for some Cabinet members ("Secretary of Education," or "Secretary of State" in the UK). Attorneys general also sit in the cabinet. The day-to-day role of most cabinet members is to serve as the head of one segment of the national bureaucracy to whom all other employees in that department report.

The size of cabinets varies, although most contain around ten to twenty ministers. Researchers have found an inverse correlation between a country's level of development and cabinet size: on average, the more developed a country is, the smaller is its cabinet.^[1]

Origins of cabinets[link]

Historically, cabinets began as smaller sub-groups of the English Privy Council. The term comes from the name for a relatively small and private room used as a study or retreat. Phrases such as "cabinet counsel," meaning advice given in private to the monarch, occur from the late 16th century, and, given the non-standardized spelling of the day, it is often hard to distinguish whether "council" or "counsel" is meant.^[2]

The Oxford English Dictionary credits Francis Bacon in his Essays (1605) with the first use of "Cabinet council", where it is described as a foreign habit, of which he disapproves: "For which inconveniences, the doctrine of Italy, and practice of France, in some kings’ times, hath introduced cabinet counsels; a remedy worse than the disease".^[3]

Charles I began a formal "Cabinet Council" from his accession in 1625, as his Privy Council, or "private council", was evidently not private enough^{[citation needed]}, and the first recorded use of "cabinet" by itself for such a body comes from 1644, and is again hostile and associates the term with dubious foreign practices.^[2] The process has repeated itself in recent times, as leaders have felt the need to have a Kitchen Cabinet or "sofa government"^{[original research?]}.

Westminster cabinets[link]

Under the Westminster system, members of the cabinet are collectively responsible for all government policy. All ministers, whether senior and in the cabinet or junior ministers, must publicly support the policy of the government, regardless of any private reservations. Although, in theory, all cabinet decisions are taken collectively by the cabinet, in practice many decisions are delegated to the various sub-committees of the cabinet, which report to the full cabinet on their findings and recommendations. As these recommendations have already been agreed upon by those in the cabinet who hold affected ministerial portfolios, the recommendations are usually agreed to by the full cabinet with little further discussion.

Cabinet deliberations are secret and documents dealt with in cabinet are confidential. Most of the documentation associated with cabinet deliberations will only be publicly released a considerable period after the particular cabinet disbands; for example, twenty years after they were discussed.

In theory the prime minister or premier is first among equals. However, the prime minister is the person from whom the head of state will ultimately take advice on the exercise of executive power, which may include the powers to declare war, use nuclear weapons, expel ministers from the cabinet, and to determine their portfolios in a cabinet reshuffle. This position in relation to the executive power means that, in practice, the prime minister has a high degree of control over the cabinet: any spreading of responsibility for the overall direction of the government has usually been done as a matter of preference by the prime minister – either because they are unpopular with their backbenchers, or because they believe that the cabinet should collectively decide things.

The shadow cabinet consists of the leading members, or frontbenchers, of an opposition party, who generally hold critic portfolios "shadowing" cabinet ministers, questioning their decisions and proposing policy alternatives.

The Westminster cabinet system is the foundation of cabinets as they are known at the federal and provincial (or state) jurisdictions of Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Pakistan, India, South Africa, New Zealand, and other Commonwealth of Nations countries whose parliamentary model is closely based on that of the United Kingdom.

United States Cabinet[link]

Barack Obama's Cabinet, 2009

Under the doctrine of separation of powers, a cabinet under a presidential system of government is part of the executive branch. In theory, at least, they carry out policy rather than create it. In addition to administering their respective segments of the executive branch, cabinet members are responsible for advising the head of government on areas within their purview.

They are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the head of government and are therefore strongly subordinate to the president as they can be replaced at any time. Normally, since they are appointed by the president, they are members of the same political party, but the executive is free to select anyone, including opposition party members, subject to congressional confirmation.

Normally, the legislature or a segment thereof must confirm the appointment of a cabinet member; this is but one of the many checks and balances built into a presidential system. The legislature may also remove a cabinet member through a usually difficult impeachment process.

In the Cabinet, members do not serve to influence legislative policy to the degree found in a Westminster system; however, each member wields significant influence in matters relating to their executive department. Since the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the President of the United States has acted most often through his own executive office or the National Security Council rather than through the Cabinet as was the case in earlier administrations.

European Union[link]

In some European countries and in the institutions of the European Union, "cabinet" (French pronunciation: [kabiˈne]) refers not to a group of officials, but to the private office of consultants and assistants working directly for a minister or senior executive.

Cabinets[link]

See also[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Cabinet.

• Ministerial responsibility
• Cabinet collective responsibility

References[link]

Ashwani Kumar
MP
Constituency	Punjab
Personal details
Born	(1952-10-26) 26 October 1952 (age 59) Delhi
Political party	INC
Spouse(s)	Madhu Kumar
Children	1 son and 1 daughter
Residence	Gurdaspur, Punjab
As of November 22, 2010 Source: [1]

Shri Ashwani Kumar (born 26 October 1952), a politician from the Indian National Congress party, currently serving as Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Planning. A Member of the Parliament of India representing Punjab in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, he earlier was the Minister of State in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in UPA Government till 2009.

Kumar was born in Delhi and is married with one son and one daughter.

Kumar is also a member of Indo-Japan Parliamentary Group.

External links[link]

• Profile on Rajya Sabha website

Penny Pritzker
Born	1959/1960 (age 52–53)[1] Chicago, Illinois
Residence	Chicago, Illinois
Citizenship	United States
Alma mater	Harvard University, Stanford University
Occupation	Businesswoman
Net worth	US $ 1.7 billion (est.) (September 2011)[1]
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Bryan Traubert
Children	two

Penny Sue Pritzker (born 1959) is an American business executive, and a member of the Pritzker family of Chicago, one of America's wealthiest business families. She is the founder and current Chair of Classic Residence by Hyatt, or Vi, a chain of luxury senior living communities spread throughout the United States, and the national finance chair of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. In 2011 the Forbes 400 list of "America's wealthiest" showed her as the 263rd richest person in the U.S., estimated net worth of US $1.7 billion.^[2] Also in 2011 Forbes listed her as the world's 651st richest person.^[2]

On November 20, 2008, CNN reported that Pritzker was Barack Obama's top choice for Commerce Secretary, quoting "multiple" unnamed sources.^[3] However, it was later reported that because of her involvement in the failure of subprime lender Superior Bank, Pritzker took herself out of the running.^[4][5][6]

Biography[link]

Born in 1959, Pritzker is a member of the Pritzker family, a notable and influential Jewish American business family. Pritzker is a daughter of Sue (Sandel)^[7] and Donald N. Pritzker (1932–1972), co-founder of the Hyatt hotel chain, which grew dramatically under his leadership as President from 1959 until his death in 1972. She attended Castilleja School^[8] until 1977.^[9] She earned a BA in Economics from Harvard College (1981), and a JD/MBA from Stanford University (1984).^[10]

Career highlights[link]

• 1998 – co-founded The Parking Spot, the fastest growing company in off-site airport parking management,^[11] with CEO Martin Nesbitt. She continues as chair.

Philanthropic activities[link]

Pritzker is involved in the reform of Chicago’s public education system. Currently she is chair^[12][13] of the Chicago Public Education Fund, the successor organization to the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.^[14]

Political involvements[link]

Pritzker contributed some $493,174^[15] to numerous campaigns and political action committees since the 2000 election cycle. Among the recipients have been the presidential campaigns and exploratory committees, including those of George W. Bush, Joe Lieberman, Bill Bradley, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain (2000), Al Gore, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton.^[16]

Since the spring of 2008, Pritzker has served as Barack Obama's National Finance Chair.^[17] On Wednesday July 2, 2008, Ms. Pritzker and her husband hosted a $28,500 per plate fundraiser for Mr. Obama's campaign in Chicago with Warren Buffett and his wife, and Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett. ^[18]

She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations^[19] and President Barack Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

Superior Bank involvement[link]

Ms. Pritzker has been associated with the Subprime mortgage crisis. Ms. Pritzker's late uncle, Jay Pritzker, purchased a 50% stake in Hinsdale, Illinois-based Superior Bank of Chicago in 1989 from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which had taken over the bank when it failed in the late 1980s.^[20] Penny Pritzker became chairman of the bank in 1991. Under Ms. Pritzker's chairmanship, the bank "embarked on a business strategy of significant growth into subprime home mortgages," according to a 2002 report by the United States Treasury Department.^[20] She stepped down from the chairmanship in 1994 but continued to serve on the board of the holding company, Coast to Coast. In the months leading up to the 2001 seizure, she tried to work out a major recapitalization plan to "once again restore Superior's leadership position in subprime lending."^[20] In July 2001, FDIC seized the bank after the recapitalization could not be resolved. .^[21][22] Subsequently, the Pritzker family reached an agreement with regulators to pay $460 million over 15 years toward the costs of the closure; these funds will go towards reducing the costs of the FDIC's losses and partially reimburse depositors with accounts in excess of FDIC insurance limits.^{[20][23][24][25]}

More than a thousand Superior Bank depositors are still owed money, and industry experts have criticized Pritzker's handling of the situation.^[26] Consumer advocates as well as government investigators have asserted Superior "engaged in unsound financial activities and predatory lending practices."^[20] Responding to questions from the Wall Street Journal, Ms. Pritzker noted she had no ownership in the bank, either direct or indirect, and that the bank's reasons for failure "were complex. They include changes in accounting practices, auditing failures, reversals in regulatory positions and general economic conditions."^[20] She said the bank complied with "fair lending laws" and ethical business practices.^[20] Writing about the largest thrift failure in almost a decade, the FDIC in 2002 noted that the bank had paid out $200 million in dividends during a time of seemingly rising profits; in reality, these profits were a product of "flawed" accounting and masked operating losses.^[20] Pritzker noted in turn that Superior's financial statements were found to be acceptable by regulators for many years before the failure.^[20] A 2001 Business Week article described the bank's other half-owner, Alvin Dworman, as the more dominant partner in its operation as a result of agreements Jay Pritzker made early on.^[21] Quoted in the New York Times about the failure of the bank, a Pritzker family friend observed Pritzker was trapped in a deal of her uncle's making: "Penny got sucked into this … This was really the legacy of Jay." ^[27] Yet Jay Pritzker passed away in 1999 and the bank got in trouble and was shut down in 2001, and Penny Pritzker endorsed the bank's subprime lending practices and badly mishandled the bank's finances as evidenced in a letter written by her just months before the bank's collapse. In it she wrote she intended to "once again restore Superior's leadership position in subprime lending.".^[26]

Breakup of Pritzker Empire[link]

Accused of looting family trusts, Ms. Pritzker and cousins Tom and Nick were sued by cousin Liesel Pritzker and Matthew Pritzker who claimed fraud and sought damages in excess of $6 billion.^[28] In early 2005, the parties settled the lawsuit which led to the family fortune being split 11 ways, resulting in 10 more Pritzkers joining the Forbes 400; the most members of any family.^[29] Under the settlement, Liesel and Matthew each received roughly U.S. $280 million in cash and were given more control over other trusts valued at about U.S. $170 million each.^[30]

See also[link]

• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
• List of JD/MBAs
• Office of Thrift Supervision

References[link]

External links[link]

• Shattered Dynasty, Vanity Fair (magazine)
• Money Maven
• Penny Pritzker at NNDB
• 2002 article on Superior Bank failure, In These Times
• The Forbes 400 – #135 Penny Pritzker 2007 profile
• The Harvard Crimson – Penny Pritzker Madeline W. Lissner, June 5, 2006
• SEC filings
• Personal website

The Right Honourable John Key MP
38th Prime Minister of New Zealand
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 November 2008
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	Anand Satyanand Jerry Mateparae
Deputy	Bill English
Preceded by	Helen Clark
31st Leader of the Opposition
In office 27 November 2006 – 8 November 2008
Deputy	Bill English
Preceded by	Don Brash
Succeeded by	Phil Goff
12th Leader of the National Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 November 2006
Deputy	Bill English
Preceded by	Don Brash
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Helensville
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 July 2002
Majority	20,547 (56.49%)[1]
Personal details
Born	(1961-08-09) 9 August 1961 (age 50) Auckland, New Zealand
Political party	National Party
Spouse(s)	Bronagh Key (1984–present)
Children	Stephie Max
Alma mater	University of Canterbury Harvard University
Signature
Website	Official website

John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand, in office since 2008. He has led the New Zealand National Party since 2006.

Born in Auckland before moving to Christchurch when he was a child, Key attended the University of Canterbury and graduated in 1981 with a bachelor of commerce, also later undertaking management studies at Harvard University in Boston. 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. He has held the seat since then. 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 in both the November 2008 and the November 2011 general elections.

As Prime Minister, Key leads the Fifth National Government of New Zealand which entered government at the beginning of the late-2000s recession in 2008. In his first term, Key's government implemented a GST rise, personal tax cuts and a raise in the minimum wage. In February 2011, a major earthquake in Christchurch, the nation's second largest city, significantly impacted the national economy and the government formed the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority in response. In its second term, Key's government announced a policy of partial privatisation of state-owned assets. In foreign policy, Key announced the withdrawal of 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 Strategic Economic Partnership.

Personal life[link]

Key was born in Auckland, New Zealand, to George Key and Ruth Key (née Lazar), on 9 August 1961. His father was an English immigrant and a veteran of the Spanish Civil War and World War II.^[2] He died of a heart attack in 1967. Key and his two sisters were raised in a state house in the Christchurch suburb of Bryndwr by his Austrian Jewish immigrant mother.^[3][4]

He attended Aorangi School, then Burnside High School, and earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree in accounting from the University of Canterbury in 1981.^[3][5] He has attended management studies courses at Harvard University.^[6]

Key met his wife Bronagh when they were both students at Burnside High School. They married in 1984. She also has a BCom degree, and worked as a personnel consultant before becoming a full-time mother. They have two children, Stephie and Max.^[4]

Before politics[link]

Key's first job was in 1982, as an auditor at McCulloch Menzies, and he then moved to be a project manager at Christchurch-based clothing manufacturer Lane Walker Rudkin for two years.^[7] Key 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,^[8] then moved to Auckland-based Bankers Trust in 1988.^[3]

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.^[3][9] 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.^[4][9] He was a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the New York Federal Reserve Bank from 1999 to 2001.^[10]

In 1998, on learning of his interest in pursuing a political career, the National Party president John Slater began working actively 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".^[4][11]

Member of Parliament[link]

Auckland's population growth, as evidenced in the 2001 census, led to the creation of a new electorate called Helensville, which covered the north-western corner of the Auckland urban area.^[12] Key beat long-serving MP Brian Neeson (whose own Waitakere seat had moved on paper to being a Labour seat by the boundary changes) for the selection. At the 2002 elections Key won the seat with a majority of 1,705, ahead of Labour's Gary Russell, with Neeson, now standing as an independent, coming third.^[13] Key was re-elected with ease at the 2005 election garnering 63% of votes cast in Helensville,^[14] and increased his majority again in 2008, gaining 73% of the electorate vote.^[1]

Electorate office of John Key, located between Waimauku and Huapai on State Highway 16

Finance spokesman[link]

In 2004, Key was promoted to the Opposition front benches by party leader Don Brash and was made the party spokesman for finance. In late 2006 Brash resigned as leader, citing damaging speculation over his future as the reason. His resignation followed controversies over an extramarital affair, and over leaked internal National Party documents which were later published in the book The Hollow Men.^[15]

Leader of the Opposition[link]

In his maiden speech as leader on 28 November 2006, Key talked of an "underclass" that had been "allowed to develop" in New Zealand, a theme which received a large amount of media coverage.^[16] Key followed this speech up in February 2007 by committing his party to a programme which would provide food in the poorest schools in New Zealand.^[17]

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. Many parents saw this bill as an attempt to ban smacking outright.^[18] Key and Prime Minister Helen Clark agreed a compromise giving police the discretion to overlook smacking they regard as "inconsequential".^[19]

In August 2007, Key came in for criticism when he changed his position regarding the Therapeutic Products and Medicine Bill:

"John Key had finally slipped up. National's leader had told the Herald on Tuesday he would have signed up to a New Zealand First-initiated compromise on the stalled Therapeutic Products and Medicines Bill had he seen it – and was still willing to sign up – only to change his mind yesterday after his remarks appeared in print."^[20]

Also in August 2007, Labour's Trevor Mallard hinted in Parliament that Labour were going to 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 forestalled the accusation by 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 during the investigation into the affair could only have helped to convict the people involved. This statement was supported publicly by then-SFO director Charles Sturt.^[21][22]

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.^[23]

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. Key had an estimated wealth of NZ$50 million.^[24] Key is the wealthiest New Zealand Member of Parliament.^[25]

Prime Minister[link]

John Key (right), with (from left to right) son Max, wife Bronagh, and daughter Stephie, celebrating on election night, 8 November 2008

Key became Prime Minister following the general election on 8 November 2008 which signalled an end to the Labour-led government of nine years under Helen Clark. The National Party, promoting a policy of "change", won 45% of the party vote and 59 of the 122 seats in Parliament (including a two-seat overhang), a substantial margin over the Labour Party, which won 43 seats.

Key was sworn in as Prime Minister on 19 November 2008 along with his new cabinet.^[26] His first international outing as Prime Minister was the 20th APEC meeting in Peru the following day.

Arriving at the Ngapuhi Te Tii marae the day before Waitangi Day 2009, Key was briefly shoved and grabbed by two protesters before diplomatic protection officers pulled them off. He told reporters he was "quite shocked" but continued onto the marae and spoke, while police took the two men away and charged them with assault.^[27][28]

Key has also been tied with the National Cycleway Project since its conception at the national Job Summit in early 2009. He proposed it, and as Minister for Tourism, was instrumental in getting NZ$50 million approved for initial construction work.^[29]

In January 2009, after addressing Chinese New Year celebrations at the Greenlane ASB Showgrounds, Key tripped after coming down a small set of stairs in front of cameras leaving him with a broken right arm and "embarrassed".^[30]

Controversies[link]

During the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, Key was a proponent of Hosni Mubarak's government, citing his support of Israel and refusing to call for his resignation. When asked after the fall of Mubarak whether he had called on the Egyptian leader to step down, he said "no", but welcomed his resignation as the best possible means of restoring order in Egypt.^[31] In 2011, Key was caught up in a controversy over the purchase of government limousines which he denied knowledge of initially but later reports surfaced his office was aware. He was accused of being dishonest and eventually apologised, calling the deal sloppy.^[32][33]

In October 2011, Key made a statement where he claimed Standard and Poor's had said at a meeting in the prior month that "if there was a change of Government, that downgrade would be much more likely", this claim was contradicted by S&P after Key's credibility had been called into question.^[34][35] Just before the election in November 2011, a recording was made of a conversation between John Key and ACT Party candidate John Banks that they considered private.^[36] Mr Key made a complaint to the police who began an investigation to ascertain whether any laws had been broken. He refused to answer media questions about what was said and the recording, which became known as the "teapot tapes", dominated media discussion in the days before the election. The unreleased recording allegedly concerns the leadership of ACT and disparaging remarks about elderly New Zealand First supporters.^[37]

UN Security Council bid[link]

John and Bronagh Key meet Barack and Michelle Obama at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, 23 September 2009.

Key launched New Zealand's campaign for a Security Council seat at the UN General Assembly meeting in September 2009.^[38] He met briefly with US President Barack Obama and former US President Bill Clinton. While in New York, Key appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman. He read out the Top Ten list, 'Top Ten Reasons You Should Visit New Zealand'.^[39]

Political views[link]

Key's views are largely aligned with his own party's view. However he also notes the differences between his predecessor are more of style and focus rather than view.^[40] Key has in the past noted others' concern at the pace of asset sales, but argued that the arguments against selling assets in the 1980s were largely irrational.^[41] In a 2002 interview he said "some form of orientation towards privatisation" in health, education and superannuation, such as giving firms tax breaks for employer super schemes, made sense.^[42] After leading the National party to victory in the 2011 election, Key rejected that the National Party lacks a mandate to partially sell off state-owned assets, he acknowledged that some New Zealanders were anxious about the mixed ownership model. "But I think we got a mandate."^[43]

Key has a mixed voting record on social issues: he voted against the bill creating civil unions,^[44] claiming that this represented his constituents' views but he supports them personally.^[45] He was part of a large block of MPs voting to defeat a bill that defined marriage as being between a man and a woman.^[46] Key has also stated that he does not oppose gay adoption.^[47]

In regard to addressing the social destruction caused by binge drinking, in 2008 Key voted for an ill-fated attempt to raise the legal drinking age from 18 back to 20 ^[48] but subsequently ignored a Law Commission recommendation to increase levies on alcohol.^[49] He claimed there was 'no appetite' for such a move.^[50] A 'suppressed' report on public attitudes to alcohol law reform eventually came to light indicating that in 2010, when he made this claim, 56% of New Zealanders supported a price increase.^[51]

Key says that he believes that global warming is a real phenomenon, and that the Government needs to implement measures to reduce human contribution to global warming.^[52] Key has committed the National Party to working towards reducing greenhouse emissions in New Zealand by 50% within the next fifty years.^[53] Commentators note that as recently as 2005, Key made statements indicating that he was sceptical of the effects and impact of climate change.^[52][54]

Key with his predecessor, Helen Clark

Critics note that Key has changed his views on the Iraq war since becoming leader of the opposition. In 2003, as an opposition MP, Key emphasised National's position of supporting New Zealand's traditional allies, the United States and Australia. Key came under fire in the New Zealand Parliament in August 2007, when the Government claimed that had Key been Prime Minister at the time, he would have sent troops to Iraq.^[55]

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." ^[56] Key later stated that he is a monarchist, and that a New Zealand republic would "Not [happen] under my watch".^[57]

Religious views[link]

Key attends church frequently but is agnostic when it comes to belief in God.^[58][59] He has stated that he does not believe in an afterlife, and sees religion as "doing the right thing".^[58] Key's wife, Bronagh (née Dougan) Key, is the daughter of Northern Irish emigrants of mixed religious descent.^[60] Key is the third prime minister or premier of New Zealand (after Julius Vogel and Francis Bell) with Jewish ancestry.^[61]

See also[link]

• Contents of the United States diplomatic cables leak (New Zealand)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: John Key

Wikinews has related news: Exclusive interview with New Zealand politician, John Key

• Official website
• Prime Minister of New Zealand official website
• Profile at New Zealand National Party website
• Profile at Parliament of New Zealand website
• Releases and speeches at Beehive website
• The New Zealand Herald feature: John Key–the unauthorised biography