Paul Charles Cotton CVO QSO (27 March 1930 – 16 July 2022) was a New Zealand public servant, diplomat and journalist.
[1][4] Cotton studied at Victoria University College, graduating with a Master of Arts with third-class honours in 1953,[5] and then the London School of Economics.
Together with Neil Walter and Rod Gates, Cotton modernised New Zealand's administrative arrangements with Tokelau.
[citation needed] He was the managing director of South Pacific Associates and an emeritus member of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
[22] In 1977, Cotton was appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order on the occasion of the Queen's visit to Western Samoa.
[23] He was made a Companion of the Queen's Service Order[4] in the 1990 Royal Visit Honours, and he was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal the same year.