Explainer: Phil Goff has lost his job as UK High Commissioner, after the Foreign Affairs minister declared comments he made at a public event about US President Donald Trump had left his position "untenable".
Goff, once a Foreign Affairs minister himself, was attending a speech by Finland's Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen. She was speaking about how Finland, NATO's eastern-most member, kept the peace with its neighbour Russia.
During a Q&A session, the High Commissioner took the microphone: "I was re-reading Churchill's speech to the House of Commons in 1938 after the Munich Agreement, and he turned to Chamberlain. He said, 'You had the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour, yet you will have war'," Goff said.
"President Trump has restored the bust of Churchill to the Oval Office. But do you think he really understands history?"
Goff was effectively drawing parallels between Trump's attempts to strike a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, and Nazi Germany's annexation of the Sudetenland.
Winston Peters had seen enough. On Thursday, he removed Goff from his prestigious post, saying it did not matter what country he was talking about, people in Goff's position are not allowed to "free think."
Phil Goff practically accused the US President of appeasement. Photo: AFP / Pool
What was Goff alluding to?
By referencing the Munich Agreement, Neville Chamberlain, and Winston Churchill, Goff's question that was phrased more like a comment (the bane of every Q&A session) practically accused Trump of appeasement.
The 1938 Munich Agreement allowed Hitler to annex part of Czechoslovakia, in an attempt to avoid further conflict. Czechoslovakia was not part of the negotations.
Arriving back in the UK, Chamberlain proudly declared the settlement had secured "peace for our time".
Spoiler alert: it had not.
As Churchill predicted, the agreement failed. Germany occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia a few months later, and then less than a year after the Munich Agreement was signed, it invaded Poland, causing the outbreak of World War II.
Chamberlain, meanwhile, was succeeded by Churchill as prime minister in 1940, and to this day is primarily known for his failed policy of appeasement.
Fast forward to 2025, and Trump is trying to secure peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Winston Peters says Phil Goff wasn't able to "free think" in his role. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
As the adage goes, "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it," and Goff was implying Trump's diplomatic efforts will likely be ignored by Russia, leaving Trump more as a Chamberlain than a Churchill.
Goff is not the only person to make this comparison. Politicians and academics around the world have been drawing comparisons with 1938 and referring to appeasement.
"They are talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator," said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday.
"There can't be negotiations around Ukraine without Ukraine being at the heart of it," Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The major difference here is Trudeau and Starmer can say that.
Goff, given his position, could not, and it has cost him his job.
Why couldn't Goff say it?
Goff's case is not an example of a National-ACT-New Zealand First coalition looking to get rid of a Labour appointee.
Indeed, Peters himself said it was a difficult decision to remove his former colleague, with whom he has sat at the Cabinet table.
Peters has also been adamant it was not specifically because the comments were about the US, as New Zealand tries to work out how to make its case to avoid Trump's signalled tariffs on agricultural exports.
"We cannot have people making comments, which impinge upon our very future, no matter what the country is, whether it's Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Japan or dare I say it the United States," he said.
Despite being known for his quick wit and occasional gaffe as a member of Parliament and as Auckland's mayor, Goff's role in London effectively put a muzzle on him.
Ambassadors and high commissioners are there to represent New Zealand, not the political party they may once have been part of.
Like other countries, New Zealand's diplomatic postings are a mix of career diplomats and former members of Parliament.
However, New Zealand's postings are not like the United States', where they all serve at the pleasure of the President and are recalled upon a change of administration. New Zealand's overseas postings can, and do, survive changes of government here.
Tim Groser was appointed to Washington by a National government in 2015, and served a full three-year term despite the 2017 change in government. Almost all of former National MP Paul East's tenure in London from 1999-2002 was under a Labour government.
Diplomats, by their very definition, have to be diplomatic. MPs who may have once been known for their wit or brashness have gone on to serve as diplomats without creating a single headline.
Despite ACT's protests about his posting, Sir Trevor Mallard has kept his head down in Ireland.
Goff, on the other hand, has put his foot in it.
Despite Helen Clark declaring it a "thin excuse" for removing Goff on X, international law professor Al Gillespie told Morning Report it was justified.
"Mr Goff, like our diplomats and ambassadors, needs to represent the views of the country whether they agree with them or disagree with them, and right now our view with Mr Trump is one of silence, and trying not to be critical or offend him in any way," he said.
"I think the approach we've adopted is questionable, but it's okay for me to say that as a professor of law, but it's not okay for Mr Goff to say that as a representative of New Zealand government."
What happens now?
It is all still a little up in the air.
RNZ has contacted Goff a number of times, but his phone has gone to voicemail and texts have been left unanswered.
It is still unclear whether Goff has been sacked effective immediately and there is now someone serving in an acting role, or whether Goff remains the High Commissioner until a replacement is brought in. There has been no word on how long that process will take.
These questions were put to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In a statement it responded: "the Ministry is in discussion with High Commissioner Goff about his return to New Zealand. We have no further comment at this time".
