NEW MOONS FOR SAM: Becoming Kiwi--Life of a New Zealand Diplomat.

• Jurisdiction: New Zealand
• Date: 01 January 2022
• Author: Hoadley, Stephen

NEW MOONS FOR SAM Becoming Kiwi--Life of a New Zealand Diplomat

Author: Peter Hamilton Published by: Mawhitipana Publishing, Waiheke Island, 2021, 407pp, $35.

His Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade associates know Peter Hamilton as the diligent, able and agreeable colleague who rose steadily through the ranks to become deputy secretary. I know Peter Hamilton as the lead negotiator of the New Zealand-Singapore free trade agreement whom I featured in a book on that successful initiative. Many others know him through his postings as a diplomat in Suva, Ottawa, Geneva, Apia, Berlin and Singapore, the latter three as chief of mission.

Now a wider circle can learn more about Hamilton, and about New Zealand's diplomacy and diplomats, through his lucid and detailed autobiography. The first of many insights offered by his memoir is that a prospective diplomat is shaped long before taking up any formal overseas post. A diplomatic persona evolves from attitudes and experiences, and learning of skills, as a youth. Self-knowledge and self-confidence moderated by tolerance and engagement with people and...