Graham Charles Fortune (13 December 1941 – 19 March 2016) was a New Zealand diplomat and public servant. He served as New Zealand's High Commissioner to Australia from 1994 to 1999, and Secretary of Defence from 1999 until 2006.

Early life and family

Fortune was born on 13 December 1941, the son of Winifred Jessie Fortune (née Hutchison) and her husband, Charles Henry Fortune, a journalist who died when he was at school. Educated at

King's High School, Dunedin King's High School is a state single-sex boys' secondary school in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the city close to the boundary between the suburbs of South Dunedin, St. Clair and Forbury, next to the parallel single ...

from 1955 to 1959, he went on to study chemistry and geology at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in 1962 and a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

in 1963. His thesis, supervised by Geoff Malcolm, was entitled ''Measurement of thermal pressure coefficients of polyethylene and polypropylene''.

Career

After leaving university, Fortune worked as a journalist for four years on the Dunedin ''Evening Star''. In April 1964 he joined the Department of External Affairs. Initially he was in the South Pacific and Antarctic Affairs Division, and involved with administration of New Zealand's science and exploration programme in the

Ross Dependency The Ross Dependency is a region of Antarctica defined by a circular sector, sector originating at the South Pole, passing along longitudes 160th meridian east, 160° east to 150th meridian west, 150° west, and terminating at latitude 60th para ...

and the development of

Scott Base Scott Base is a New Zealand Antarctic research station at Pram Point on Ross Island near Mount Erebus in New Zealand's Ross Dependency territorial claim. It was named in honour of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, RN, leader of two British exp ...

. He then had a number of overseas postings, including to the

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

in 1965, five years in Ottawa, and three years in Papua New Guinea. After a secondment to the

State Services Commission The Public Service Commission (PSC; ), called the State Services Commission until 2020, is the central public service department of New Zealand charged with overseeing, managing, and improving the performance of the public sector organisations ...

from 1977 to 1980, he was a senior administrator in the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

for six years before being appointed the deputy secretary of Foreign Affairs. From 1987 to 1990 he served as New Zealand's permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, and he was High Commissioner to Australia from 1994 to 1999. Fortune was as Secretary of Defence from 1999 until his retirement in 2006. He subsequently served as a board member of

Antarctica New Zealand Antarctica New Zealand is an agency set up by the Government of New Zealand to manage its interests in Antarctica and the Ross Sea. As well as providing logistics support to a large scientific programme, it also runs bases such as Scott Base. ...

and undertook various consultancy roles for the New Zealand government in the areas of policy and management. In the

2007 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2007 were appointments made by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year cele ...

, Fortune was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

, for public services.

Orienteering

Outside of his career as a public servant, Fortune was active in

orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that involve using a map and compass to navigation, navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specia ...

, and won several Australian and New Zealand championships. He served as vice president of the New Zealand Orienteering Federation from 2007 to 2008, and was a member of the steering committee for the 2013 Orienteering World Cup.

Death

Fortune died suddenly in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

on 19 March 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortune, Graham 1941 births 2016 deaths People educated at King's High School, Dunedin University of Otago alumni 20th-century New Zealand public servants High commissioners of New Zealand to Australia Permanent representatives of New Zealand to the United Nations in Geneva Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand orienteers Male orienteers New Zealand referees and umpires 21st-century New Zealand public servants