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Murray Stuart McCully (born 19 February 1953) is a New Zealand former politician. He is a member of the National Party, and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2017.
In 1987, McCully defeated Knapp and entered Parliament as MP for East Coast Bays on Auckland's North Shore. He held that seat at three general elections.
At the 1996 election he became MP for the new seat of Albany before returning, in the 2002 election, as MP for the reconstituted East Coast Bays seat. McCully retired from parliamentary politics in 2017.
Over his career, McCully held senior ministerial appointments in both the Fourth and Fifth National Governments. He had a reputation as a party strategist, "fix-it man" and "Machiavellian Dark Prince." (right) in London, England, on 6 August 2012.]]
As Sport and Tourism Minister, McCully reportedly "headhunted" future Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to head up the new Office of Sport and Tourism.
Murray McCully resigned from his Tourism portfolio in April 1999 after questions were raised regarding his handling of the resignation and subsequent payout of members of the Tourism board. These questions culminated in a report of the Controller and Auditor General that deemed these payouts "unlawful," although the report accepted that all involved had proceeded on the basis of advice and "their genuine perception of what was in the best interests of New Zealand’s tourism industry."
McCully is understood to have been a key player in many of the leadership changes the National Party experienced while in opposition. McCully supported Bill English to replace Jenny Shipley as National Party leader in the 2001 New Zealand National Party leadership election, Don Brash to replace English in 2003, and Gerry Brownlee to replace Nick Smith as deputy leader in 2003. McCully was appointed "parliamentary assistant" to Brash and was reportedly the only MP Brash told about his decision to stand down in 2006. (left), Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop (center) and New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully (right) at SIDS, in August 2014.]]
In November 2015, McCully was off work after surgery for removal of a growth that was found to be benign.
On 15 December 2016, following the announcement that Key would retire from politics and the appointment of Bill English as Prime Minister, McCully announced that he would not stand for parliament in 2017 (in that year's general election). English and McCully had previously had a fractious relationship, relating to when McCully orchestrated the removal of English as party leader in 2003. Reflecting on his time as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, McCully said his most challenging and rewarding work was New Zealand's role in the Pacific: "I’ve put a lot of my personal effort into ensuring that we actually live up to the expectations our neighbours have of us and the responsibilities we should carry." He continued as Minister of Foreign Affairs under English until 2 May 2017, when he was succeeded by Gerry Brownlee.
In December 2016, McCully played a critical role in the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334.
In 2013, McCully voted against the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill, a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry in New Zealand.
In 2019, McCully was appointed an Honorary Companion of the Order of Fiji, for services to relations between Fiji and New Zealand.
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