On the diplomatic team

How is it that a student who graduates with a Masters of Science in pure mathematics ends up in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, working in such places as Belgium, Jakarta, Washington DC and Turkey?

Andrea Smith has a career to envy.  When she graduated from the University of Waikato in 1989 and was looking for a job she applied to Foreign Affairs and was accepted.  “They take on people from all sorts of backgrounds; people with law and commerce degrees, economists, politics and history graduates.  It probably helped that alongside my maths, I’d studied German.”

Andrea is currently Director of the Pacific Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade having recently returned from Ankara where she was New Zealand’s ambassador to Turkey.  “I was running the embassy there and was also cross-accredited to Israel, Jordan and the (Israeli) Occupied Territories. Mostly I was working on trade and economic relationships in the region – and there is lots of potential for linkages there – but it was also very special to be part of the Gallipoli commemorations each year and hosting senior government and military personnel.” 

Andrea, who attended Melville High School before studying at Waikato, says she may not have used a lot of high-level maths during her career but the problem solving techniques she learnt during her university years have been an asset as she’s come face to face with many and varied issues and incidents.

She spent three years as foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Helen Clark, and in Washington DC she headed up the Trade and Enterprise division based at the New Zealand Embassy.  “This was at the time when we were trying to open up negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement with the US.  A lot of the work we do in Foreign Affairs is done behind the scenes and can sometimes take months or years.  The public usually only hears about the end result.”

One of Andrea’s least pleasant experiences was when she was based in Jakarta at the time of the 2002 Bali bombings, and later the Marriot Hotel bombing in Islamabad.  “We became the first port of call for New Zealanders based there and for the families and friends back in New Zealand.  On a personal level it was shocking.  For the local people it was disheartening and they too were shocked and horrified by it.”

She says her job, the regular moving around, wouldn’t suit everyone, but she loves it.  “It’s a wonderful job. You immerse yourself in other cultures but at the same time you’re taking with you a New Zealand dimension, you’re part of a community of people who are trying to increase New Zealand opportunities overseas. That’s an absolute privilege.”