Patrick Millen
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Patrick Graham Millen (5 August 192714 July 1994) was a diplomat and the
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
Secretary of the Cabinet The Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office, known informally as the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary, is the second-most senior civil servant of the Cabinet Office. It was conventionally joined with the positions of Cabinet Sec ...
and Clerk of the Executive Council from 1973 until 1987. In 1991 he was
ennobled Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. Th ...
as a
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by
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...
in recognition of his long and distinguished service to the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and for his public service.


Early life and career

Born in
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,
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
, the son of a Scottish Banker, he had a cosmopolitan upbringing where he lived in
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and
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and was educated in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
. His interest in international affairs started through his childhood friendship with David Montgomery, the son of
Field Marshal Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and the ...
, through whom he met a number of European politicians including future British
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Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achi ...
. During World War II he worked for the Ceylonese Civil Defence and was awarded the Defence Medal for his service. After the war he spent two years in the
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and served on HMS London which was deployed to the Far East. He left the Royal Marines to attend Oxford University's Pembroke College, eventually gaining a Masters in philosophy, politics, and economics. While studying he courted fellow student and future wife Mary Doyle. He and Mary had the first of 12 children before emigrating to
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
in 1952 where they settled first in
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. He taught at secondary school and worked as a free-lance journalist before joining
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in 1955. During his 18 years with Foreign Affairs he had two appointments to
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, one as deputy high commissioner from 1968 to 1972.


Secretary of the Cabinet

In 1973 he was appointed to the
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Office was the
Secretary of the Cabinet The Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office, known informally as the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary, is the second-most senior civil servant of the Cabinet Office. It was conventionally joined with the positions of Cabinet Sec ...
and Clerk of the Executive Council until 1987. He served the governments of
Norman Kirk Norman Eric Kirk (6 January 1923 – 31 August 1974) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 29th prime minister of New Zealand and as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand), minister of Foreign Affairs from 1972 until h ...
,
Bill Rowling Sir Wallace Edward Rowling (; 15 November 1927 – 31 October 1995), commonly known as Bill Rowling, was a New Zealand politician who was the 30th prime minister of New Zealand from 1974 to 1975. He held office as the Leader of the New Zealand ...
,
Robert Muldoon Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st prime minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party. Departing from National Party convention, Mu ...
, and
David Lange David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. A member of the New Zealand Labour Party, Lange was also the Minister of Education ...
. Under Kirk's government Millen quickly had to get used to Norman Kirk's temperament which saw the two occasionally clash, but they maintained a mutual respect and would quickly put aside their differences. After Kirk's death in office, the caucus voted in
Bill Rowling Sir Wallace Edward Rowling (; 15 November 1927 – 31 October 1995), commonly known as Bill Rowling, was a New Zealand politician who was the 30th prime minister of New Zealand from 1974 to 1975. He held office as the Leader of the New Zealand ...
as
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
and he inherited a very challenging environment where the Labour policies no longer accorded with the impact of the oil shock. This presented challenges for the operation of Cabinet and Rowling's heart was not in it and Millen many years later reported that privately Rowling twice tried to resign. 1975 saw the election of the National Party with Muldoon as Prime Minister. After serving two Labour governments his reputation saw him stay on when Muldoon came to power. While Millen disagreed with many of his policy positions, he kept his reservations to himself and did not seek to influence Cabinet decisions which included the abandoning of the Labour parties New Zealand Superannuation Scheme. He later reflected that it was a minor tragedy as the scheme would have provided huge investment resources for the country. He developed an excellent working relationship with Muldoon who he described as being terribly shy and private, yet entirely dominating in Cabinet. It was during the Muldoon government that Millen became known as the 'fly on the wall'. 1984 saw a change in government when Lange became Prime Minister and Millen's working environment changed significantly. Lange's styled himself as chairman of the board and bought a lot of humour to the role. However, Lange's approach could be relaxed and Millen complained of 'loose ends' to Cabinet decisions. Cabinet can be informal and tempers can fray, during his 14 years in Cabinet Millen was only asked to leave the room a dozen times in order for tense situations to be dealt with by the members of Cabinet. On two occasions he excused himself in order to prevent embarrassment. Occasionally he would pause in his note taking and put his hands flat on the table to indicate that he was not recording what could be vigorous discussions in order not to inhibit the debate. As a staunch believer in Westminster parliamentary democracy in 1979 he published the Cabinet Office Manual which outlines the main laws, rules and constitutional conventions affecting the operation of the New Zealand Government. This was a document first mooted by Sir Sidney Holland some 30 years prior when Millen's predecessor
Foss Shanahan Foss Shanahan (10 June 1910 – 13 September 1964) was a New Zealand diplomat and public servant. Biography Shanahan was born on 10 June 1910 at Alexandra. He was educated at the Christian Brothers' Boys' School in Dunedin and Waitaki Boys' H ...
reorganised the processes for Cabinet operation. The Cabinet Manual has undergone revisions since, and is endorsed at the first Cabinet meeting of a new government, to provide for the orderly re-commencement of the business of government. When Queen
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
visited New Zealand as part of her Queen's Silver Jubilee tour in 1977 she held a meeting of the Privy Council in Wellington. Millen held the appointment of Secretary of the Privy Council and was awarded the Silver Jubilee Medal. He was a key member of the Danks Committee on Official Information which led to the introduction of an Act in 1982 that reversed the presumption of secrecy in the operations of Government. The Official Information Act has since been recognised as a part of New Zealand's unwritten constitution. As Clerk of the Executive Council, he accompanied Sir David and Lady Beattie and Sir Paul and Lady Reeves to London to receive their appointments as
governors-general of New Zealand Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...
. In the 1985 Queen's Birthday Honours, Millen was appointed a
Companion of the Queen's Service Order The King's Service Order () established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant of Queen regnant, Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to t ...
for public service and that same year he was sworn in as a Justice of the Peace. He retired on 21 September 1987 and was succeeded by Marie Shroff whose appointment was announced on 6 October 1987.


Later life

Following retirement from the public service in 1987 he became advisor to the National Director of
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, secretary on the Committee of Advertising Practise, and a member of the Wellington Criminal Justice Advisory Council. His involvement with the Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation Society started in 1965 and he was later appointed a life member. In 1989 he was elected the Society's national president. He was awarded the
New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to 3,632 people. Background The New Zealand 1990 Com ...
and in October 1991 he received the papal award Knight in the Order of St Gregory by
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...
for his long and distinguished service to the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and for public service. After his many years of exercising discretion in his role of Cabinet Secretary, in retirement he became politically vocal against the Bolger Government. In 1992 he released a press statement that the government had forfeited its mandate and said that it lacked moral legitimacy. This led him to present a petition on the steps of parliament for a fresh election. His political aspirations were cut short when he died in 1994 at the age of 66 in Wellington. He was buried in Otaki next to his wife Mary and was survived by his 12 children and 38 grandchildren. His wife Mary had died only eight months previously. At his funeral former Prime Minister
David Lange David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. A member of the New Zealand Labour Party, Lange was also the Minister of Education ...
described him as "The diligent, literate, consummately discreet and professional civil servant."


Honours

* Knight's Cross of the Order of St. Gregory the Great (Holy See 1991) *
Companion of the Queen's Service Order The King's Service Order () established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant of Queen regnant, Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to t ...
(New Zealand 1985) * Defence Medal (United Kingdom 1945) *
New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to 3,632 people. Background The New Zealand 1990 Com ...
(New Zealand 1990) *
Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal () is a commemorative medal created in 1977 to mark the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. The medal is physically identical in all realms where it was awarded, save for Canada ...
(New Zealand 1977) * Justice of the Peace (New Zealand 1985)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Millen, Patrick 1927 births 1994 deaths New Zealand public servants Alumni of the University of Oxford Companions of the Queen's Service Order New Zealand justices of the peace Knights of St. Gregory the Great