Larkindale joined the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1972 , and had postings to New Zealand 's embassies in Vienna and Washington . He then served as the director of Pacific aid , based in Wellington and , later , Tokelau official secretary . Subsequently , he was the deputy head of mission in Beijing and then London . In 1994 he was appointed executive director of the Commonwealth Heads of Government ( CHOGM ) task force , responsible for organising the CHOGM summit held in Auckland the following year . Between 1996 and 1999 , Larkindale was the New Zealand ambassador to the Russian Federation . Returning to Wellington , he was appointed deputy secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade . Larkindale 's final diplomatic appointment was as high commissioner to Australia , in which role he served from 2006 until his retirement in 2011
CHOGM summit
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1995
John Larkindale