Brook Barrington

He has previously served as chief executive of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

[4] Barrington began his public service career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) in 1990.

[5] He was seconded as a foreign policy, trade and defence advisor at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) until his appointment as the Ambassador of New Zealand to Thailand, which he held from 2006 until 2009.

[2][7][3] He returned to MFAT as chief executive in 2015 and was credited with "restoring order" to the department after a "controversial" restructuring process.

[7][8] State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes reassigned Barrington to the head of DPMC in 2019 as part of a series of high-profile transfers between departments.