Mike Moore, a former Labour prime minister who once headed the World Trade Organisation, is to be New Zealand's next ambassador to the US.Foreign Minister Murray McCully will make the official announcement this afternoon.The Washington DC position is rega
Mike Moore, a former Labour prime minister who once headed the World Trade Organisation, is to be New Zealand's next ambassador to the US.
Foreign Minister Murray McCully will make the official announcement this afternoon.
The Washington DC position is regarded as the country's highest diplomatic job and since Jim Bolger's term ended in 2001 has been filled by a career diplomat.
Mr Moore, 60, was conspicuously passed over for a senior post-Parliamentary appointment during the nine-year term of the Helen Clark-led government.
He stepped down from the WTO in 2002 and apart from a roving trade envoy position was kept well out of the loop until the election of the National government in 2008.
According to his Wikipedia profile, Mr Moore holds 20 honorary and other positions, mainly in advisory roles, for a wide range of international organisationsand educational institutions.
His only commercial position is as a senior counsellor to dairy industry giant Fonterra. He is also a widely published columnist and the author of many books, the latest being Saving Globalisation (2009).
