During World War II the New Zealand government created a Department of External Affairs (now the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade) for the first time in 1943, taking control of foreign policy that had previously been run by the Dominions Office in London. In 1947 New Zealand ratified the 1931 Statute of Westminster with the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947, which made New Zealand fully independent of Britain.
During World War II the New Zealand government created a Department of External Affairs (now the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade) for the first time in 1943 taking control of foreign policy that had previously been run by the Dominions Office in London In 1947 New Zealand ratified the 1931 Statute of Westminster with the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947 which made New Zealand fully independent of Britain