Ian Raymond Fletcher (born 25 August 1959) is a New Zealand former diplomat and UK public servant, who in February 2012 was appointed head of the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Government Communications Security Bureau The Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) ( mi, Te Tira Tiaki) is the public-service department of New Zealand charged with promoting New Zealand's national security by collecting and analysing information of an intelligence nature. ...

(GCSB) for five years. Fletcher resigned as head of the GCSB position in January 2015. His appointment to the GCSB by the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to 2016. After resigning from bo ...

caused controversy when it was revealed Fletcher and Key had known each other professionally when Fletcher had headed the Queensland state government's trade department, and that thirty years before they were childhood acquaintances: At Primary school Key had been a friend of Fletcher's younger brother. Fletcher attended

Burnside High School Burnside High School ( mi, Te Kura o Waimairi-iri) is a state co-educational secondary school located in the suburb of Burnside in Christchurch, New Zealand. With a roll of students, it is the largest school in New Zealand outside Auckland, and ...

from 1972 to 1976 (where Key went three years later, from 1975 to 1979). He was the eldest son of Ray Fletcher, the first Deputy Principal of the South Division at BHS. Fletcher then attended the University of Canterbury on a scholarship, receiving a master's degree in history with First Class Honours. He joined the New Zealand Diplomatic Service, with stints in Vanuatu and Fiji, Then he transferred to the British Civil Service; first working in Kosovo after the wars of the late 1980s setting up a department to prevent smuggling currency from Russia to the area; and then in the

Intellectual Property Office (United Kingdom) The Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom (often referred to as the UK IPO) is, since 2 April 2007, the operating name of The Patent Office. It is the official government body responsible for intellectual property rights in the UK ...

(formerly the Patent Office). He was the Comptroller (Chief Executive) in 2009. He chaired the G8 committee on intellectual property and concluded two agreements with China to protect the intellectual property rights of British citizens. He then transferred to the Queensland state government where he was the Director-General and CEO of the Queensland Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation. In his role as a

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

government official, Fletcher facilitated the controversial approval of British multinational gas company

BG Group BG Group plc was a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Reading, United Kingdom. On 8 April 2015, Royal Dutch Shell announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire BG Group for $70 billion, subject to regulatory and ...

gas to liquified natural gas development in eastern Australia. On 12 May 2010 he wrote an email to the Queensland Treasurer and Coordinator-General regarding BG Group's Queensland Curtis LNG project, outlining BG Group's inability to meet the legislated environmental impact assessment requirements. The email used the terms 'constitutional innovation' and a 'court of star chamber' to describe how BG Group proposed the Queensland Government could bypass the legal requirements. Following the grant of

environmental authorities for gas tenements, Fletcher departed his Queensland post and in 2012 was appointed as head of the

(GCSB). Flectcher resigned as head of the GCSB unexpectedly in January 2015, he was replaced by Andrew Hampton.

References

1959 births Living people Australian public servants British civil servants New Zealand diplomats New Zealand public servants People educated at Burnside High School University of Canterbury alumni {{NewZealand-diplomat-stub