Skip to main content

Story: Foreign policy and diplomatic representation

High commissioner in Malaya, 1960

Video file

New Zealand's first Māori high commissioner, Charles Moihi Bennett, took up his duties in the Federation of Malaya (later Malaysia) in 1959. This 1960 newsreel shows him visiting New Zealand troops on jungle patrol shortly before the end of the Malayan Emergency.

Using this item

Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: Pictorial Parade 101. National Film Unit, 1960

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Michael Green, Foreign policy and diplomatic representation – Alliance diplomacy, 1950s to 1970s, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/34282/high-commissioner-in-malaya-1960 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Michael Green, published 28 May 2012, updated 1 May 2016.