Interview with Gerald Hensley: Commonwealth Oral History Project

Interview with Gerald Hensley carried out in Wellington on 2nd April 2013 as part of the Commonwealth Oral History Project. The project aims to produce a unique digital research resource on the oral history of the Commonwealth since 1965 through sixty oral history interviews with leading figures in the recent history of the organisation. It will provide an essential research tool for anyone investigating the history of the Commonwealth and will serve to promote interest in and understanding of the organisation. Biography: Hensley, Gerald. 1935- . New Zealand Department of External Affairs, 1958-1965. New Zealand Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. Special Assistant to the Commonwealth Secretary General, 1965-1969. Counsellor at the New Zealand Embassy in Washington, 1969-1976. New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Singapore, 1976-1980. Head of the New Zealand Prime Minister’s Department, 1980- 1987. Co-ordinator of Domestic and External Security, 1987-1989. Fellow at the Centre for International Affairs at Harvard University, 1989-1991. Secretary of Defence, 1991-1999. Chaired the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group, advising Papua New Guinea Government on the reconstruction of its armed forces, 2000. President of the Asthma Foundation, 2001-2007.