HE Rosemary Banks

Rosemary Banks is New Zealand’s ambassador to the
United States, having been reappointed in June 2024 after initially serving in the role from 2018 to 2022. With over four decades of distinguished diplomatic experience, she served as Chair of the NZ-US Council before her latest appointment.  Banks’ extensive career includes roles as New Zealand’sPermanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Permanent Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and ambassador to France and Portugal.

As Deputy Secretary in New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), Banks was responsible for multilateral, legal and consular affairs. Banks later served as a Crown negotiator for the Treaty of Waitangi settlement process. She was also a member of the University of Canterbury Council and a Senior Adjunct Fellow in the Department of Political Science.

Banks has provided diplomatic trade craft training for the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, The Treasury, the New Zealand Defence Force and the Papua New Guinea Department of Foreign Affairs. Banks has a Master of Arts degree in Russian with First Class Honours from Canterbury University and a Master of Science from London School of Economics.