MAF Timeline
This is a first attempt to chart the courses of the New Zealand Government agencies charged with agriculture and forestry over the years.
Any comments or corrections are welcome!
| Notes | Agriculture Agencies | Date | Forestry Agencies | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1874 |  |
First Commissioner for State Forests Appointed | Appointed under the New Zealand Forests Act. The Commissioner also happened to be the Commissioner for Lands | ||||
| Stock Inspectorates set up |  |
1876 | |
State Forests Department set up | Captain J Campbell Walker was appointed to inspect forests and write a report about he establishment of a State Forests Department. The Department was set up soon after the report was finished. | ||
| Stock Inspectorates became the Sheep and Cattle Branch created within the Colonial Secretary's Office | |
1878 | |||||
| Inspector of Dairy Factories appointed | |
1883 | |||||
| Forests and Agriculture Branch formed within the Crown Lands Department. Branch abolished 1888 | |
1885 | |
Appointment of a Commissioner of State Forests and a Conservator of State Forests. Forests and Agricultural Branch formed within the Crown Lands Department. Branch abolished 1888. | The 1885 State Forests Act replaced the 1874 Act. It provided for the roles of the Commissioner and the Conservator of State Forests. The Conservator role was to advise the Commissioner on all technical matters about the management of State forests and to carry out the Commissioners instructions. | ||
| The Sheep and Cattle Branch turned into the Livestock Branch of the Crown Lands Department | |
1887 | |||||
| Dairying Instructor appointed within the Crown Lands Department | |
1889 | |||||
| The Department of Agriculture formed from the Livestock Branch and Agriculture Branch. It had a permanent Secretary who was also Chief Inspector of Stock | |
1892 | |||||
| 1893 | |
State Forest Service set up as part of the Lands and Survey Department | There seems to have been no department responsible for forestry between 1888 and 1893. | ||||
| Veterinary, Dairying, Biology, Horticulture, Chemistry, poultry, Experimental Stations, Stock Inspectorate, Agriculture Statistics. Plus two branches in the Secretary's Office for correspondence and accounts. | By 1902 there were 8 Branches within the Department | |
1902 | ||||
| Viticulture Division was formed | |
1904 | |||||
| Veterinary Division was formed | |
1905 | |||||
| Departmental reorganisation including the formation of a Livestock and Agriculture Division | |
1907 | |||||
| The new Department had 5 branches: Livestock and Meat, Fields and Experimental Forms, Dairy Produce, Orchards Gardens and Apiaries, Commerce and Tourists. The Secretary's Office had 4 sections: General, Accounts, Publications, Biology. There were also 7 District Offices. The Chemistry Division moved to the Department of Internal Affairs. | Became the Agriculture, Commerce and Tourists Department with amalgamation of the Tourists Department, the Industries and Commerce Department and the Agriculture Department | |
1909 | ||||
| The Board of Agriculture was established. The Tourists Division was detached and made into the Tourist and Health Resorts Department | |
1912 | |||||
| The Chemistry Division was transferred back from the Department of Internal Affairs | |
1915 | |||||
| The Commerce functions were formed into their own department again - the Industries and Commerce Department which left the Department of Agriculture | |
1920 | |
Forestry Department set up as its own entity | |||
| The Fields Branch was made a Division | |
1923 | |
Department was renamed to be the State Forest Service | |||
| The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research was formed | |
1926 | |||||
| Animal Research Division established | |
1939 | |||||
| The Department was heavily involved with the National Council of Primary Production and the District Production Councils. At the end of the war the Agricultural Development Committee was formed and its work was carried out by a newly established Rural Development Division | |
1945 | |||||
| The Rural Development Division was amalgamated with the Fields Division to form the Extension Division | |
1948 | |||||
| 1950 | |
The State Forest Service became the New Zealand Forest Service | |||||
| The Hope Gibbons Fire resulted in the loss of most pre 1920 departmental records | |
1952 | |||||
| The Marketing Department was merged with the Department of Agriculture | |
1953 | |||||
| MAF had 9 divisions: Advisory Services, Agricultural Research, Animal Health, Dairy, Economics, Fisheries Management, Fisheries Research, Meat, Port Agricultural Service (which was known as the Agriculture Quarantine Service from 1981) | The Fisheries Management and Fisheries Research Divisions of the Marine Department were combined with the Department of Agriculture to form the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF). | |
1972 | ||||
| Business Groups: MAF Technology, MAF Fisheries, MAF Quality Assurance/Management, MAF Corporate Service, MAF Policy | MAF reorganised and amalgamated its divisions into 5 business groups | |
1987 | |
The NZFS restructured its functions into 3 separate entities. Some functions become contestable with the private sector. This included the establishment of a Residual Management Unit to wind up operations of the New Zealand Forest Service. | The New Zealand Forestry Corporation Ltd (NZFC - which also managed Prolog Industries and New Zealand Timberlands) and the Ministry of Forestry were established. Some functions also went to the Department of Conservation | |
| 1990 | |
NZFC split into 4 separate businesses. | Timberlands Bay of Plenty (which controlled the Forest Corporation of New Zealand), New Zealand Forestry Corporation Limited, Timberlands Westcoast Limited, New Zealand Timberlands | ||||
| The 5 business groups became: MAF Fisheries (minus the Freshwater part which was transferred to NIWAR), MAF Policy (minus the functions performed by the newly established Regulatory Authority), MAF Regulatory Authority (a stand alone business group), MAF Quality Management (had been MAF Quality Assurance), MAF Corporate Office, Agriculture New Zealand (which had been part of MAF Technology). MAF Technology was split into Agriculture New Zealand, NZ Pastoral Agricultural Research Institute, Horticulture and Food Research Ltd, NZ Institute of Crop and Food Research, Land Care Research NZ Ltd, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) | MAF reorganised with some functions moving to Crown Research Institutes or becoming stand alone businesses | |
1992 | |
The Ministry of Forestry split off its research function to set up the Forest Research Institute, now Scion Research | ||
| MAF Quality Management separated off to become its own stand alone business. All Fisheries responsibilities moved to the newly created Ministry of Fisheries. Agriculture New Zealand was sold to Wrightsons | |
1995 | |||||
| 1998 | |||||||
| Retained the same acronym as earlier Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries | Ministry of Forestry and Ministry of Agriculture merged to become the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry | ||||||
| MAF Quality Management was split into Asure New Zealand Ltd and AgriQuality New Zealand Ltd as SOEs, with MAF Quarantine Service returning to core Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry | |
1998 | |||||
| MAF Regulatory Authority was divided into MAF Food Assurance Authority and MAF Biosecurity Authority | |
1999 | |||||
| MAF Food Assurance Authority and parts of Ministry of Health form New Zealand Food Safety Authority | |
2002 | |||||
| MAF Biosecurity Authority becomes Biosecurity New Zealand, resulting in the consolidation of some central government biosecurity services within MAF | |
2004 | |
MAF Forest Management split, with all units except Crown Forestry Group being absorbed into core MAF | |||
Contact for Enquiries
MAF Communications
Level 9
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: +64 4 894 0100
Fax: +64 4 894 0300
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