1. Grant Murray Robertson was born on 30 October 1971 and is a retired New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party who served as the Minister of Finance from 2017 to 2023, as Minister of Foreign Affairs in November 2023, and as the 19th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2020 to 2023.
Grant Robertson was the member of Parliament for Wellington Central from 2008 to 2023.
Grant Robertson was elected Labour's deputy leader in 2011 under leader David Shearer, and contested the leadership of the party in both 2013 and 2014.
Subsequently, Grant Robertson was named the party's finance spokesperson and was ranked third on Labour's party list.
Grant Robertson was born in Palmerston North, the youngest of three boys.
Grant Robertson's father, Douglas Robertson, was an accountant and Presbyterian lay-preacher, who was imprisoned in 1991 for stealing around $120,000 from the law firm he worked for.
Grant Robertson had a paper round as a boy and at 16 he got his first job at a New World supermarket in Dunedin in the fruit and vegetable department preparing fruit and vegetables for display and sale.
Grant Robertson attended King's High School in Dunedin, where he was head boy.
Grant Robertson then studied political studies at the University of Otago, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with honours in 1995.
Grant Robertson served as President of the Otago University Students' Association in 1993 and as co-president of the New Zealand University Students' Association in 1996.
Grant Robertson joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1997 after leaving university.
Grant Robertson returned to New Zealand during the first term of the Fifth Labour Government to work as a ministerial advisor to minister for the environment Marian Hobbs and, later, prime minister Helen Clark.
Grant Robertson had a role in designing Labour's interest-free student loans policy, which was credited with winning the election for Labour.
Grant Robertson was considered to be a front runner and was selected unopposed.
Grant Robertson ran a well-staffed campaign, based on local issues like the closure of the Crossways Community Centre and threats to the Public Service.
Grant Robertson was involved in the formation of a Wellington inner-city residents' association.
Grant Robertson was appointed as the opposition's spokesperson for state services, and associate spokesperson for arts, culture and heritage and foreign affairs by new Labour leader Phil Goff.
On 15 June 2010, Goff promoted Grant Robertson to be spokesperson for tertiary education and the 20th-ranked Labour MP, the highest of the 2008 intake of Labour MPs to be promoted at that point.
In Shearer's shadow Cabinet, Grant Robertson served as spokesperson for employment, skills and training, and arts, culture and heritage.
Under Cunliffe's leadership, Grant Robertson was the third-ranked Labour MP and held various portfolios including spokesperson for economic development and shadow Leader of the House.
Grant Robertson repeatedly called for her to resign during the Oravida saga, and when Collins later released information to the media about 1News journalist Katie Bradford, he reiterated his call for her to resign, claiming she had "lost all perspective".
Grant Robertson was seen by some in the party as taking insufficient blame for the defeat.
Grant Robertson lost the leadership election to Andrew Little by a small margin, Little receiving 50.52 per cent of the vote to Grant Robertson's 49.48 per cent after the votes from the other unsuccessful candidates had been reallocated.
However Grant Robertson won the support of most of the caucus, as well as a majority of the membership.
Grant Robertson chaired the Labour Party's "Future of Work Commission," a two-year-long policy investigation.
Grant Robertson said his aims for the portfolio were to cut down on the number of policies, and "humanise" the policy.
Grant Robertson was given the key role of finance minister by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, along with the portfolios of Minister for Sport and Recreation and associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage.
On 27 June 2019, Grant Robertson was appointed as Minister Responsible for the Earthquake Commission, succeeding Megan Woods.
Grant Robertson was eventually appointed Deputy Prime Minister after the 2020 election when deputy party leader Kelvin Davis declined the position.
In mid-February 2021, Grant Robertson pulled out of his weekly interview slots with Peter Williams' Magic Talk radio show after Williams questioned him about his views on the implications of the World Economic Forum's Great Reset for New Zealand.
Grant Robertson immediately responded that he would not be seeking election as her successor but that he would contest the 2023 general election.
Grant Robertson stood down as deputy prime minister, but continued as finance minister and became Leader of the House and, after Cyclone Gabrielle struck parts of New Zealand, Minister for Cyclone Recovery.
Grant Robertson was briefly Minister of Foreign Affairs in November 2023 after incumbent Nanaia Mahuta lost her re-election bid.
On 30 November 2023, Grant Robertson became speaker for finance and racing in the Shadow Cabinet of Chris Hipkins.
On 5 December 2023, Robertson was granted retention of the title The Honourable, in recognition of his term as a member of the Executive Council.
On 20 February 2024 Grant Robertson announced he was retiring from politics in March to take up a new job as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Otago, commencing 1 July 2024.
Grant Robertson's resignation led to a reshuffle in Hipkins' shadow cabinet, with Barbara Edmonds assuming Robertson's finance portfolio.
Grant Robertson assumed the role of Vice-chancellor of the University of Otago during a welcoming ceremony on 1 July 2024.
In November 2024, Grant Robertson announced that he would personally be funding seven scholarships, worth NZ$7,000 annually, as a supplement to first-year Otago students, who had been awarded an Otago equity scholarship and qualify for financial support.
Grant Robertson was among New Zealand's first prominent gay politicians, and drew media focus as the country's first openly gay deputy prime minister.