Sir Maarten Laurens Wevers (born 24 March 1952) is a New Zealand

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

and

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

, who served as New Zealand's High Commissioner to

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He was the Chief Executive of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet from 2004 to 2012. Wevers was born in

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel. The city lies along the motorways A1/E30 and A35 and it has a station for the international Amsterdam – Hannover – Berlin service. Popu ...

, Netherlands, on 24 March 1952 and emigrated to New Zealand when he was just over one year old. He became a naturalised New Zealand citizen in 1954. He is brother to Professor

Lydia Wevers Lydia Joyce Wevers (19 March 1950 – 4 September 2021) was a New Zealand literary historian, literary critic, editor, and book reviewer. She was an academic at Victoria University of Wellington for many years, including acting as director of t ...

(Director of the Stout Research Centre at Victoria University). Wevers was educated at

Rathkeale College "Nothing is impossible for mortal man" , type = trinity school single sex boys (Years 9–13) , established = 1963; years ago , address = Willow Park Drive, Masterton, Wellington Region, New Zealand , coordinates = , principal ...

from 1965 to 1969, and went on to

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

, graduating with a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

and BA (Hons) in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Division, in 1977 and in 1982 was Second Secretary at the New Zealand Embassy in Japan. From 1985 to 1987 he was Private Secretary to 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 is not ...

and

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

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. Lange was born and brought up in Otahuhu, the son of a medical doctor. He became ...

, in Wellington before being seconded to the Institute of Policy Studies at Victoria University of Wellington to undertake research on relations between Japan and New Zealand. Between 1989 and 1992, Wevers served as Counsellor in the New Zealand Embassy, Brussels before becoming High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea (1993–1994) and as Ambassador to Japan (1994–1997). In 1999, Wevers was appointed Chair of the

APEC The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Senior Officials Meeting, during New Zealand’s APEC year. In the

2000 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2000 for the United Kingdom and New Zealand were announced on 31 December 1999, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2000. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various or ...

, he was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...

, for services to the 1999 APEC summit. In 2000, Wevers left the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to become regional director of New Zealand Post International Limited and General Manager, Government Business, for New Zealand Post Limited. In 2002 he became a general manager of Transcend Worldwide, New Zealand Post's international subsidiary. In 2004, Wevers was appointed Chief Executive of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. In the 2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours, he was appointed a

Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

(KNZM) the first CE of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to have been recognised in this way. In 2013, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of the

Earthquake Commission The Earthquake Commission, ( mi, Kōmihana Rūwhenua), is a New Zealand Crown entity that invests in natural disaster research and education as well as providing natural disaster insurance to residential property owners. In March 2022, a bill ...

, a provider of natural disaster insurance for residential property, administering the Natural Disaster Fund, and funding research and education on natural disasters and ways of reducing their impact. In 2018, he resigned as chairman and from the board of the Earthquake Commission, having lost the confidence of the minister responsible.

References

External links

List of Earthquake Commission commissioners
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wevers, Maarten 1952 births Living people New Zealand public servants 20th-century New Zealand public servants 21st-century New Zealand public servants Dutch emigrants to New Zealand Victoria University of Wellington alumni High Commissioners of New Zealand to Papua New Guinea Ambassadors of New Zealand to Japan Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit Naturalised citizens of New Zealand People from Hengelo People educated at Rathkeale College