Grant Robertson (at King’s High School from 1985 to 1989)
Grant was Head Boy and Proxime accessit to the Dux. He was the winner of the Jubilee Scholarship, an All-Round Merit Award, the Form 7 History Prize, and a Service Award for his work on the school magazine. The school awarded Grant a School Blue for debating. He was elected a student representative to the School Board of Trustees, a member of the School Council, and Chairman/Treasurer of the School Formal committee. Grant played in the Second Rugby XV, the 7th Form Social Basketball Team and the Third Cricket Eleven.
On leaving school, Grant studied political studies at the University of Otago, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with honours in 1995. His honours dissertation studied the restructuring of the New Zealand University Students’ Association in the 1980s. Robertson served as President of the Otago University Students’ Association in 1993 and as Co-President of the New Zealand University Students’ Association in 1996.
Grant joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1997 after leaving university. His overseas postings included the United Nations in New York. Grant also managed the NZ Overseas Aid Programme to Samoa–a $7.7 million fund with projects in diverse areas such as basic education, healthcare, public sector capacity building, small business development and the empowerment of women. He left MFAT in 2001.
Grant returned to New Zealand during the first term of the Fifth Labour Government to work as a ministerial advisor to the Minister for the Environment, Marian Hobbs, and later to Prime Minister Helen Clark. Following this, he took a business development role with the University of Otago, working with researchers, investors, and businesses to develop and commercialise the university’s world-leading research.
Grant’s belief in social justice and a desire to see every New Zealander achieve their potential led him to politics, and he has been the Member of Parliament for Wellington Central since November 2008. In Opposition, Grant held a range of portfolios, including Finance from 2014 to 2017.
Following the 2017 election, Grant received appointments as Minister of Finance, Minister for Sport and Recreation, and Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage. In November 2020, Grant was named Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand by Jacinda Ardern.
He lists his hobbies as watching rugby, football and cricket, playing indoor netball and squash, cooking, watching movies, listening to Kiwi music and reading.
The University of Otago appointed Grant Robertson to the role of Vice-Chancellor in July 2024. The Council and the Staff Advisory Group unanimously supported Grant’s appointment and acknowledged that he will be the first non-academic candidate to be appointed to the role. This was a decision the Council considered carefully during a robust and extensive recruitment process.