The New Zealander appointed by World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz to help manage the multi-national aid agency has played a crucial role is disposing of his President Bush-appointed boss.
Graeme Wheeler called publicly for Wolfowitz to stand down after it was revealed the former US Deputy Defence Secretary
had inappropriate involvement in his Libyan girlfriend Shaha Ali Riza getting a highly paid job in the US State Department.
Wolfowitz yesterday resigned his World Bank presidency and he'll leave at the end of June.
Though it is understood Bush will probably appoint another American to the position, Wheeler was at one point a likely contender.
He is already New Zealand's highest placed official in an international organisation, barring political appointees.
Wheeler was one of the first career staffers Wolfowitz moved into his management team after he took the helm of the bank in 2005 and came under fire for surrounding himself with people from the Pentagon and White House.
Wheeler is a former World Bank treasurer, who joined from the New Zealand Treasury. He was not the one to blow the whistle Wolfowitz's influence in his girlfriend's appointment, but after the revel-ation he did publicly call on him to resign.
Wheeler's actions were seen to be in line with "good old-fashioned public service ethics" by those who worked with him in New Zealand.
"He's somebody I have the highest respect for," said his former boss at the Debt Management Office, Pat Duignan.
"His actions do reflect the ethics of the Treasury and the New Zealand public service.
"He's the sort of guy who would reluctantly, but determinedly, declare his position when it became appropriate it was necessary to do so.
There was no response yesterday when the Herald rang Wheeler's office for comment on Wolfowitz's resignation.
GRAEME WHEELER
* A specialist in management issues associated with Treasury operations, sovereign asset and liability management.
* Joined World Bank in 1997, appointed vice-president and treasurer in July 2001.
* Former deputy secretary to the New Zealand Treasury.
