44 Facts About Phil Goff

Philip Bruce Goff was born on 22 June 1953 and is a New Zealand politician and diplomat.

Phil Goff currently serves as High Commissioner of New Zealand to the United Kingdom since 2023.

Phil Goff was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1981 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2016.

Phil Goff served as leader of the Labour Party and leader of the Opposition between 11 November 2008 and 13 December 2011.

Phil Goff was elected mayor of Auckland in 2016, and served two terms, before retiring in 2022.

Phil Goff's family was very poor, and his father wanted Goff to enter the workforce immediately after finishing high school.

Phil Goff wished to attend university, a decision that caused him to leave home when only sixteen years old.

Phil Goff joined the Labour Party in 1969, the same year he left home, and held a number of administrative positions within the party.

Phil Goff was chairman of the Labour Youth Movement and was twice elected a member of the Labour Party's national council.

Phil Goff was campaign chairman for Eddie Isbey in the Papatoetoe electorate.

In early 1981 Phil Goff put himself forward for the Labour candidacy for the Roskill electorate.

Phil Goff beat 13 contenders to win the nomination on 23 April 1981.

Three years later, when Labour won the 1984 elections, Phil Goff was elevated to Cabinet by Prime Minister David Lange, becoming its youngest member.

Phil Goff served as Minister of Housing and Minister for the Environment.

Phil Goff instigated changes to funding of tertiary studies incorporating financial contributions by students rather than the complete government funding that existed at the time.

Later, after a significant rearrangement of responsibilities in August 1989 following Lange's resignation, Phil Goff became Minister of Education under new Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer while relinquishing Employment and Youth Affairs.

Phil Goff inherited responsibility for the Tomorrow's Schools reform initiative discovering budgeting errors and a staffing shortage that occurred under his predecessor in the portfolio.

Phil Goff was appointed to a position at the Auckland Institute of Technology, and later accepted a scholarship to study for six months at Oxford University.

In 1996, Phil Goff was part of the group which asked Clark to step down as leader.

Clark survived the challenge, and was advised by her allies to demote Phil Goff, but chose not to do so.

Phil Goff retained his seat in the 1996 elections, having elected not to be placed on Labour's party list.

In 2019, Phil Goff stated he thought that New Zealand's decision to take refugees from the Tampa was one of the best decisions made by the Fifth Labour Government.

Phil Goff defended the use of air strikes as part of the invasion which the government stressed were targeted at terrorists and were justified under the United Nations Charter stating that they were "regrettably necessary".

Phil Goff had a strong public profile and became one of the better-known members of the Labour Party; he was placed number three on the Labour Party list during the 2008 general election.

Phil Goff signed the agreement on behalf of the New Zealand government together with the Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 7 April 2008.

Phil Goff became leader after a special caucus meeting on 11 November 2008 with former senior minister Annette King was elected as deputy leader.

Phil Goff criticised the National Government for free-market economic policies that Goff argued were accentuating inequality; he attributed social inequality to societal problems such as drug abuse and obesity.

Phil Goff opposed the raise, saying that "GST increase will hurt families that are already struggling to make ends meet", and the Labour caucus set out on an 'Axe the Tax' nationwide road trip.

In May 2010 Phil Goff suggested exempting fresh fruit and vegetables from GST.

Outside Parliament Phil Goff told protesters that he and Labour would oppose the proposals "at every stage", and pledged to re-protect any land released from Schedule 4, should his party return to power.

Phil Goff became the fourth Labour leader, the first since the ousting of Arnold Nordmeyer in 1965, to leave the Labour Party leadership without ever becoming prime minister.

Phil Goff was succeeded as leader by David Shearer, who designated him Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Phil Goff resigned from Parliament on 12 October 2016, necessitating a by-election in his electorate of Mount Roskill.

On 22 November 2015 Phil Goff announced he would run for Mayor of Auckland in the 2016 mayoral election.

On 8 October 2016 Phil Goff won the election, becoming the second mayor of the Auckland 'super city'.

Phil Goff was formally sworn in as Mayor of Auckland at a ceremonial event at the Auckland Town Hall on 1 November 2016.

In early July 2018, Mayor Phil Goff announced that the Auckland Council would not allow the far right Canadian activists Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux to use council premises on the grounds that they stirred up ethnic or religious tensions and promoted divisive views.

Phil Goff welcomed the development and reiterated his opposition to allowing Council facilities to host events promoting hate speech.

In late October 2021, Phil Goff joined several other mayors across New Zealand including Mayor of Christchurch Lianne Dalziel, Mayor of Wellington Andy Foster, Mayor of the Far North District John Carter, and Mayor of Dunedin Aaron Hawkins in opposing the Government's "Three Waters reform programme", which proposes taking away control of water utilities from local councils and placing them under the control of four new entities.

On 14 February 2022, Phil Goff announced that he would not seek re-election for a third term of Auckland mayoralty in September 2022, saying that he intended to retire after 41 years in politics.

In October 2022, it was announced that Phil Goff would take up the position of high commissioner of New Zealand to the United Kingdom in January 2023.

In May 2023, Phil Goff caused offence to the Maori King Tuheitia Paki during an official function for the New Zealand delegation in London attending the coronation of King Charles III.

Phil Goff forgot to perform a karakia and remarked that nobody in the room had experienced a coronation.

Phil Goff is married to Mary Ellen Goff, whom he met in 1971 and married in 1979.