Brian John Lynch (born 1936) is a former New Zealand public servant, diplomat, and director of the

New Zealand Institute of International Affairs New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

Background

Lynch studied at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

where he completed master's degrees in history (1958) and Geography (1962). He was then a secondary teacher for three years.New Zealand Geographic Society, Brian Lynch, 2005

Public service

Lynch joined the New Zealand

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

in 1964 where he was successively, Careers and Special Projects Office (1969–1971), Deputy High Commissioner in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

(1971–1974), and Head of the Asian and Pacific Division in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

(1974–1977). He was involved in the building of the first tentative relationship with

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, extricating New Zealand from

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, establishing the new Pacific Forum as a going concern and also in setting up the new

Pacific Forum Line Pacific Forum Line (PFL) is a regional shipping line in Polynesia. Established in 1976 by the Pacific Islands Forum to ensure a regional shipping service, it was purchased in 2012 by the government of Samoa. It is currently operated as a joint ven ...

. He was Deputy High Commissioner in London (1977–1981) and Assistant Secretary of the Ministry in 1981 and 1982. Lynch was Deputy Secretary of the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government age ...

from 1982 to 1992, a decade during which the whole structure of air, rail, road and sea transport was corporatized and eventually privatised as part of the restructuring of the

state sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...

which occurred in those years in New Zealand.

Meat, trade and international affairs

Lynch was the Chief Executive of the Meat Industry Association from 1992 until 2003. "It was for his work in assisting the meat industry to rationalize and adjust to a very different commodity chain in the post-subsidy open market conditions of the 1990s that he was made Officer 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 (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...

in June 2004". He played a major role in debates about the implications of trade liberalization for New Zealand's food industries. He was the foundation chairman of the New Zealand Trade Liberalization Network from October 2001. He was also Chairman of the New Zealand Food Industry Foundation and the New Zealand Horticulture Export Authority and a Senior Adviser and Alternate Member on the New Zealand Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council. In 2004 Lynch became Director of the

. He was replaced in 2012 by Peter Kennedy.

Honours

In the

2004 Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2004 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 11 June 2004 for the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the Cook IslandsCook Islands list: and elsewhere to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2004. The recipients of honours are d ...

, Lynch was appointed an

Officer 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 rend ...

, for public services and services to the meat industry.

References

External links

New Zealand Institute of International Affairs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Brian 1936 births Living people New Zealand people of Irish descent University of Canterbury alumni New Zealand public servants New Zealand diplomats Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand schoolteachers