John McKinnon

Who is John McKinnon?

John Walter McKinnon QSO is a New Zealand diplomat and public servant.

McKinnon was educated at Nelson College from 1963 to 1967, Victoria University of Wellington, and the London School of Economics. He is the younger brother of former New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, and, former Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon; and of Ian McKinnon, Chancellor of Victoria University of Wellington and the current Deputy Mayor of Wellington City; twin-brother of historian and New Zealand international relations expert Malcolm McKinnon; and, the son of Major-General Walter McKinnon, a one time Chief of General Staff and Chairman of New Zealand Broadcasting.

McKinnon joined the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1974, and was posted to Beijing as second secretary in 1978. In 1985, he was posted to Washington as First Secretary, then to Canberra as Counsellor in 1986.

In 1992, McKinnon became New Zealand’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York and was the only senior New Zealand diplomat to preside over the entirety of New Zealand's third tenure on the United Nations Security Council.