Speakers
Keynote Speakers
Dr Siouxsie Wiles,
Associate Professor,
University of Auckland
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Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles MNZM is an award-winning scientist who has made a career of manipulating microbes. She heads up the Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab at the University of Auckland where she and her team make bacteria glow in the dark to understand how infectious microbes make us sick and to find new antibiotics. Associate Professor Wiles is also passionate about demystifying science, and has won numerous prizes for her efforts, including the Prime Minister’s Science Media Communication Prize in 2013. In 2017 she published her first book, ‘Antibiotic resistance: the end of modern medicine?’ and in 2019 was appointed a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to microbiology and science communication. During COVID-19 Associate Professor Wiles joined forces with Spinoff cartoonist Toby Morris to make the science of the pandemic clear and understandable. Releasing their work under a Creative Commons licence, their graphics have been translated into multiple languages and have been adapted by various governments and organisations as part of their official pandemic communications.
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Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern,
Prime Minister of New Zealand
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Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern is the 40th Prime Minister of New Zealand & Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was born in the city of Hamilton, New Zealand, and grew up rurally. She attended high school before graduating from the University of Waikato with a Bachelor of Communication Studies in Politics and Public Relations. Post-university, she worked as an advisor in the office of then-Prime Minister Helen Clark, in London for the Government Cabinet Office and as an Assistant Director in the Department for Business and Enterprise, and on a review of Policing in England and Wales. The Prime Minister joined the New Zealand Labour Party at age 18 and entered New Zealand’s Parliament in 2008. Over her twelve years as a representative she has been a strong advocate for children, women, and the right of every New Zealander to have meaningful work. She became the MP for the Auckland electorate Mt Albert in early 2017, and the Leader of the Labour Party in August 2017. As well as Prime Minister, she holds the roles of Minister for National Security and Intelligence, and Minister for Child Poverty Reduction, an issue particularly close to her heart. She is also the Minister Responsible for Ministerial Services and Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage.
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Stuart McKinnon,
Managing Director Institutional
ANZ New Zealand
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Stuart leads the market leading Institutional Banking team, which manages ANZ’s relationships with large corporate and institutional clients and provides the bank’s customers with specialised markets, transactional and financing solutions. Stuart has held several banking roles in his 23 years at ANZ, and prior to his current role he was responsible for the Relationship Banking and Specialised Finance businesses delivering financial solutions to ANZ New Zealand’s Institutional customers across a wide range of industries operating in New Zealand and abroad. Stuart holds a Bachelor of Business (Economics) from Massey University. He has also completed executive management programmes at Stanford University and MIT, covering the development of Māori business and digital business transformation. Stuart is also a member of INFINZ and the NZ Institute of Directors.
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Greg Clark,
Global Advisor, Cities & New Industries
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Prof. Greg Clark is Global Advisor and Author on Cites & Urban Economies, Leadership & Investment. He provides thought leadership on the evolution of the metropolitan century, supports leaders in more than 100 cities world-wide on strategy/positioning and advises global firms on the investment/enterprise opportunities of an urbanising world. Author of 10 books and more than 100 reports. City Expert on BBC World Service series My Perfect City. Monthly columnist for RICS, The Planet of Cities.
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Dr Caralee McLiesh,
Secretary to the Treasury
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Dr Caralee McLiesh joined the Treasury as Chief Executive and Secretary to the Treasury in September 2019. Caralee’s previous role in 2018/19 was as Managing Director at Technical and Further Education (TAFE) New South Wales (NSW), Australia, where she led the transformation of TAFE NSW to become a more modern, competitive and sustainable organisation. Prior to this, from 2008-2018 Caralee held several Deputy Secretary roles at the NSW Treasury. During her time there, she led the development of State Budgets and advised the Treasurer on fiscal and economic policy, including taxation, intergovernmental relations, and balance sheet management, as well as advised on a range of sectoral reforms. Caralee also has worked at the World Bank in Washington DC, the International Red Cross and the Boston Consulting Group.
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Hon Grant Robertson,
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, Minister for Infrastructure
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Hon Grant Robertson was born in Palmerston North and lived in Hastings before his family settled in Dunedin. Grant’s belief in social justice and a desire to see every New Zealander able to achieve their potential led him to politics, and he has been the Member of Parliament for Wellington Central since 2008. Grant studied politics at Otago, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in 1995. His involvement in the campaign against user-pays education led him to become President of the Otago University Students Association, and later Vice President and then Co-President of the New Zealand University Students Association. After leaving university, Grant joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and was also posted to the United Nations in New York. On his return to New Zealand he became an advisor to then-Minister of Environment Marian Hobbs, then to Prime Minister Helen Clark. In Opposition, Grant was Finance Spokesperson, and has previously held spokesperson roles for Labour in Employment, Skills & Training, Economic Development, Tertiary Education, State Services, Health, and Arts, Culture & Heritage. He is now the Minister of Finance and Sport and Recreation, Associate Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage as well as the Minister Responsible for the Earthquake Commission. Grant met his partner Alf in 1998 playing rugby, and their family now includes four grandchildren. In 2009 they were joined in a civil union.
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Hamish Glenn,
Policy Director
Infrastructure New Zealand
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Hamish is the Policy Director at Infrastructure New Zealand. He leads research and policy development, and can be seen advocating for improved infrastructure in media and on a number of public, private, political and educational fora. Hamish specialises in urban development and transport policy, infrastructure governance, project funding, and strategic planning. He has authored a number of major reports on infrastructure issues and policy, including on New Zealand’s need for governance reform, integrated urban development and national planning. He guest-lectures at the Auckland University of Technology and is a frequent presenter to visiting infrastructure groups from across the world. Building off Infrastructure New Zealand’s annual delegations, he has reported on the infrastructure systems of Australia, the UK, USA, Canada, China and Singapore and is an expert on global infrastructure systems. Prior to joining Infrastructure New Zealand, Hamish worked for the Auckland Regional Council and holds a Masters degree in political science.
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Ross Copland,
Chief Executive
Infracom (NZ Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga)
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Ross Copland has a background in the design, procurement, financing, and delivery of infrastructure as an engineer, an asset manager and a Chief Executive. He has worked in commercial construction and property on both sides of the Tasman, finishing up as National Operations Manager for Westfield in 2013. He returned to New Zealand to pursue a career developing tourism infrastructure. Ross holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering with First Class Honours, a Bachelor of Commerce and an MBA.
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Jo Hendy,
Chief Executive
Climate Change Commission
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Jo Hendy led the Secretariat of the Interim Climate Change Committee and oversaw the Committee’s inquiry into renewable electricity. In her former role as Director of Research and Analysis for the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, she led independent environmental investigations into issues including sea-level rise and agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Jo also spent seven years working for Motu Economic and Public Policy Research. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics, and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Science (Meteorology).
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Joanna Silver,
Head of Sustainable Finance
Westpac NZ
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Joanna Silver is Head of Sustainable Finance for Westpac NZ. She is responsible for providing sustainable finance solutions for Westpac’s customers to help them achieve their sustainability goals. Joanna’s career has intersected in various ways with climate change, leadership, finance, strategy and innovation. For the past seven years, Joanna has advised numerous CEOs and Boards of major publicly listed and private companies on a wide range of areas including strategy, commercialising sustainability, and climate change policy and markets. Prior to her advisory work, Joanna was Director of Environmental Markets for IHS Markit in London where she led the development of the world’s first multi-credit environmental markets registry. Joanna was also a commercial lawyer in the financial services sector for NZX, BNY Mellon and Aon Hewitt.
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Chris Money,
Partner – Infrastructure Advisory
EY
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Chris is a Partner in the EY Infrastructure Advisory team and also leads EY New Zealand’s Economics practice. He brings over 20 years’ experience in the public and private sector in New Zealand and abroad. Chris’ main areas of focus are business cases for infrastructure and the economics of cities. He has worked on a range of major projects, including City Rail Link, Lets Get Wellington Moving, and a number of major projects in the Health and Defence sectors. A significant focus is changing the way we think about assessing major projects and the dynamic response of people and communities to infrastructure investment.
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Brigid Duffield,
Infrastructure and Commercial Senior Lead
Auckland Council
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Brigid Duffield is a specialist at Auckland Council focusing on the Financing & Funding solutions for infrastructure for the large growth areas in Auckland. Brigid has commercial, development and infrastructure expertise gained in both the public and private sectors and provides commercial leadership to the infrastructure challenge in Auckland. She brings together the commercial, development, finance, local and central government perspectives and interplays. She draws on her prior experiences working with, amongst others, Tamaki Regeneration through the large scale procurement and the redevelopment challenges of Brownfield regeneration. Brigid has previously held executive roles in the private sector in the UK and Australia and brings these insights to the challenges of infrastructure & growth.
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Michael Burns,
Manager Financial Strategy
Auckland Council
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Michael Burns is Manager Financial Strategy at Auckland Council. Alongside delivery of the council’s long-term and annual planning process his team provides advice on financial strategies to support the council’s investment programme. Combining strategic advice with financial modelling the team has supported the council’s work on funding solutions for the infrastructure investment needed by the city. Michael is a Chartered Global Management Accountant who has held a number of senior financial positions at Auckland Council and he has extensive experience in the areas of infrastructure funding and financing, and financial modelling. He has taken a leading financial role in work with central government on projects such as the Auckland Transport Alignment Project, the regional fuel tax, and Infrastructure Funding and Financing legislation.
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Dean Kimpton,
Member of the Resource Management Review Panel
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Dean is currently a specialist consultant providing support to the public and private sector in addressing the unique challenges of growth, infrastructure strategy and delivery.
He also holds several current or former governance roles including independent chair for the Americas Cup 36th defence advisory board (Crown, Council and ETNZ), President of Engineering NZ, QuakeCoRE JV Board chair, Infrastructure NZ and the Parenting Place charity.
In September 2019 he was appointed by Cabinet to the RM Review panel. The panel was tasked with a comprehensive, future focussed, review of the resource management system in NZ which includes the Resource Management Act and related legislation.
Until May 2019, Dean was Chief Operating Officer for Auckland Council, Australasia’s largest local authority, with over $50Bn of assets and a current annual capital spend of some $2.6Bn. In the context of Auckland expecting another 1 million people by 2040; a strategic approach to planning and providing for growth, provision of services and supporting civil and social infrastructure, was a critical part of his role.
Prior to joining Auckland Council, Dean was managing director of AECOM NZ. There he developed a successful executive track record in leading buildings and infrastructure design and delivery in the transport, energy, waters and health sectors across New Zealand, Australia and throughout south-east Asia. AECOM is listed on the NYSE, and designs, builds, finances and operates infrastructure assets across some 150 countries.
Bridget Rosewell,
Commissioner
National Infrastructure Commission (UK)
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Bridget Rosewell is an experienced director, policy maker and economist, with a track record in advising public and private sector clients on key strategic issues. She is a Commissioner for the National Infrastructure Commission in the UK, Chair of Atom Bank and of the M6 Toll Company and a founder and Senior Adviser of Volterra Partners. She has been Senior Independent Director for Network Rail, Chair of Risk for Ulster Bank and Chief Economic Adviser to the Greater London Authority. Her book, ‘Reinventing London’ was published in 2014. She was appointed CBE in December 2018 and is also a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Academy of Social Science and the Society of Professional Economists. She writes on finance, risk and uncertainty as well as infrastructure and modelling validation. She has worked extensively on cities, infrastructure and finance, advising on projects in road and rail and on major property developments and regeneration. She has given expert evidence in many planning inquiries and has recently chaired a review of the operation of these inquiries for MHCLG and is a member of the Independent Panel Reviewing Transport for London’s finances. She has been a member of a number of Commissions looking at the future of public services, local government finance and city and regional economies.
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Dr Sarah Hill,
Chief Executive Officer
Western Parkland City Authority
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Sarah Hill has a well-earned reputation for getting things done. As the inaugural CEO of the Greater Sydney Commission Sarah led the organisation in developing the vision for ‘a metropolis of three cities’. The vision formed the basis of the Region Plan and five District Plans, fundamentally changing the way we think and plan for Greater Sydney. But her influence goes beyond the strategic, she is an innovator and a thinker. Sarah led the Commission to develop new ways of engaging with citizens, to measure and monitor key planning outcomes and to better align growth with infrastructure through new methods such as Australia’s first Place-Based Infrastructure Compact. Sarah has a passion for the economics of cities and the feasibility of development, completing her Doctoral thesis on the topic in 2018. Sarah is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Technology Sydney in the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building. She is a Fellow and a past-President of the NSW Division of the Planning Institute of Australia. She has received numerous professional awards locally and internationally, including the 2015 NSW and 2016 PIA Australian Planner of the Year. In her new role as the Western Parkland City Authority CEO and as a Deputy Secretary in NSW Treasury, Sarah will continue to build on the strong culture of collaboration she fostered at the Commission and during her time at Hill PDA Consulting and in London, though partnering with local councils, NSW Government agencies, the community and industry to deliver a thriving Western Parkland City.
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Tony Kelly,
Director
TasWater
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Tony, a civil engineer, has spent over 40 years in the water industry with extensive experience in planning, design and construction roles as well as key roles in strategic planning. As a strategic planner he has been involved in major utility reforms including water utility mergers, corporatisation, contracting out, independent price regulation and privatisation. Tony was Managing Director of Yarra Valley Water for 11 years from 2003-2014. During his tenure he transformed Yarra Valley Water into one of the most efficient water Utilities in Australia, achieved a global reputation for its work on the environment and for its high performing work place culture, together with a national reputation for its commitment to customer service and treatment of customers experiencing financial hardship. In 2014 Yarra Valley Water was included in Business Review Weekly’s top 50 most innovative Australian companies. Tony was the inaugural Chair of WaterAid Australia and during his 9 years at the helm steered the organisation to become the fasted growing charity in Australia. He was also a Director of WaterAid UK and a founding member of WaterAid International. Tony was also chair of the Savewater Alliance for 9 years – a comprehensive water conservation resource serving the needs of consumers and water utilities. Tony was a director of WaterLinks, (2014-2019) an NGO based in the Philippines, that provides support for developing world utilities and policy makers. Since mid 2014 Tony has been consulting to the water industry and its suppliers. He also provides strategic advice to Israeli company Takadu and British Billing company Echo Managed Services. Tony is adjunct Professor at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia, a non-executive Director of TasWater and Chair of Isle Utilities Asia Pacific.
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Bill Bayfield,
Chief Executive
Taumata Arowai (Water Services Regulator)
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Bill Bayfield joined Taumata Arowai in May 2020, following his time as Chief Executive at Environment Canterbury Regional Council (Ecan). He has an in-depth knowledge of drinking water and environmental regulation, and is an extremely experienced Chief Executive in both central and local government. Prior to Ecan, Bill was Chief Executive at the Bay of Plenty Regional Council between 2006-2011. From 2003-2006, he was General Manager, Sustainable Industry and Climate Change Group at the Ministry for the Environment, and before that held senior roles at Taranaki Regional Council. His appointment as establishment Chief Executive of Taumata Arowai is on a fixed-term basis to December 2021. He will lead the establishment of Taumata Arowai and its first six months of ‘going live’ in 2021 as the new drinking water regulator. The Taumata Arowai Board will consider a permanent appointment for 2022 and beyond. An establishment Māori Advisory Group will provide guidance to the Establishment Board and Chief Executive on tikanga, mātauranga and Te Mana o Te Wai. Bill’s appointment is a significant step in establishing this new Crown entity, so all New Zealand communities have access to safe drinking water.
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Kevin Young,
Former Managing Director
Sydney Water
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Kevin Young is a Non-Executive Director and previous Managing Director with extensive experience in water reform in Australia and overseas. He is currently on the Board of TasWater and Deputy Chair of Wateraid Australia. Kevin served as Managing Director of Sydney Water for 8 years leading through significant change with customer satisfaction and reputation reaching all-time highs Kevin has been named four times by the Institution of Engineers Australia as one of the Top 100 most influential engineers in Australia and was also named as the 2019 NSW Water Professional of the Year by the Australian Water Association. For over 15 years, Kevin chaired the Water Services Association of Australia’s national committee of Utility Excellence / Asset Management.
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Andrew Bayly,
Infrastructure Spokesperson and Shadow Treasurer (Revenue)
National Party
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Andrew Bayly is the National Party Member of Parliament for Port Waikato, elected in Hunua, in 2014.
Andrew holds the Portfolios of Shadow Treasurer (Revenue), Infrastructure and Statistics. Prior to the 2020 election Andrew had been Spokesperson for Revenue, Commerce, State Owned Enterprises, Small Business and Manufacturing, and Associate Spokesperson for Finance. He had been a Member of the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee since his election to Parliament in 2014.
A trained accountant, Andrew had worked with merchant banks in New Zealand and London, before co-founding Cranleigh, a merchant bank which had offices in NZ, Australia and, more latterly, Singapore. With teams working in Infrastructure, Health, Property. Agriculture and Food, Cranleigh offered advisory and capital markets advice to a range of government entities, local authorities and corporate clients.
Formerly an Officer in the New Zealand Territorial Army and British Parachute (TA) Regiment, Andrew has a long career in endurance events. His mountaineering ascents include Aoraki Mt Cook and Mt. Aspiring in New Zealand, and four mountains in Antarctica..
Andrew graduated from Massey University, is a Chartered Accountant and a Fellow of the former NZ Institute of Management, Fellow of Governance NZ, Fellow of the NZ Chartered Institute of Corporate Management and the UK Chartered Association of Certified Accountants. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London.
Shamubeel Eaqub,
Partner
Sense. Partners
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Shamubeel is an experienced economist, financial analyst and author. He has worked in various banks and consultancies in New Zealand and Australia. He currently balances a portfolio of activities: consulting through Sense Partners, a boutique economic consultancy; various governance and advisory roles for private firms and charities; and regular media contributor. He holds a BCOM(Hons) in Economics from Lincoln University and is also a Chartered Financial Analyst. He has authored several books – the most recent are Generation Rent and Growing Apart. Shamubeel lives in Auckland with wife, Selena, and sons, Haydn and Hugo.
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Hon Dr Megan Woods,
Minister of Housing
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Hon Dr Megan Woods is a Christchurch local, and has been the Member of Parliament for Wigram since 2011. Following the 2017 election, Megan was sworn in as a Minister of the Crown with portfolio responsibilities including the Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Energy and Resources, and Research, Science and Innovation.
In the 2020 Labour Government, Megan was appointed Minister of Housing, Minister of Energy and Resources, and Minister of Research, Science and Innovation, alongside Associate Minister of Finance.
Prior to becoming a Member of Parliament, Megan worked as a Business Manager at Plant & Food Research. She holds a PhD in New Zealand history from the University of Canterbury.
In between a busy schedule, Megan enjoys watching cricket, rugby and spending her free time with friends and family.
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Thomas Hyde,
Chief Digital Officer
Beca
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Thomas first joined Beca in 1995 and has recently been appointed to Chief Digital Officer. Throughout his career he’s migrated through a range of roles, industries and sectors, developing expertise in an eclectic mix of technical and business subjects – from chemical engineering and academic research, to engineering consulting, new business incubation, executive leadership and corporate governance. Thomas’ insights and leadership have put Beca on the map in the areas of business performance, asset performance and applied technology. Solving complex problems for clients and the business, and making things better as a result gives him the greatest satisfaction. His strong business acumen has seen him lead the development of new services and products for Beca, with a focus on digital innovation, and helping clients exploit and adapt to technology-led disruption of their businesses. He is excited by the opportunity that post-COVID investment offers for shaping the built environment of the future. Thomas’s extensive list of achievements has recently grown further, with his recognition in the CIO50 as one of the New Zealand’s top ten technology leaders for 2020.
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Giles Southwell,
General Manager Digital and Workspace
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency
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Giles joined Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency in June 2017 as the General Manager Corporate Services. In his current role he is responsible for the Agency’s portfolio of digitally enabled change, as well as ensuring that people are supported with the tools and workspaces needed to perform effectively. Originally from the United Kingdom, Giles has worked across the public sector since the early 1990s. His roles focused on improving business performance and value for money, identifying service improvements and delivering effective corporate governance and assurance. He moved to New Zealand in 2008 to work for the Office of the Auditor-General where he was responsible for leading work on improving service performance information. More recently he was the chief financial officer at Inland Revenue. Before joining Waka Kotahi Giles completed secondments as: Inland Revenue’s chief technology officer; the Ministry of Health’s chief technology and digital services officer; and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage corporate services group manager.
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Hon Dr David Clark,
Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications
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Hon Dr David Clark was first elected as the Labour Member of Parliament for Dunedin North in 2011. He came to Parliament via a circuitous route – having run a University of Otago residential college, worked as a Presbyterian Minister, and worked as a Treasury analyst. David is Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications, Minister for State Owned Enterprises and Minister of Statistics. He is also the Minister Responsible for the Earthquake Commission. One of the key reasons David stood for Parliament was because he was concerned about the growing gap between rich and poor, which he sees as limiting New Zealand’s social and economic potential. Inequality featured strongly in his maiden address to the House of Representatives in 2012. He believes we can, and must, achieve a fairer society where everyone has an opportunity to succeed. David has twice lived in Germany and is a former competitive cyclist and Ironman. He is married with three children.
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Nicole Rosie,
Chief Executive
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency
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Recently joining Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency as Chief Executive, Nicole Rosie believes transforming New Zealand’s road safety performance is critical to reducing harm to our people and to sustaining and accelerating New Zealand’s economic success. Nicole has extensive CE and senior executive experience across both public and private sectors, working in transport and commercial sectors, for companies including Toll NZ, KiwiRail, Fonterra and most recently WorkSafe NZ. She has a wealth of knowledge in building systems that are resilient and safe as well as driving change in regulatory environments. Nicole’s leadership approach has enabled her to successfully lead strategic change, develop high performing cultures and deliver operational excellence. She is passionate New Zealander who cares deeply for the well-being of people.
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Bryn Gandy,
Deputy Chief Executive, System Strategy and Investment
Ministry of Transport
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Bryn leads the Ministry of Transport’s System Strategy and Investment group, which is responsible for transport policy, long term planning and investments. It has specific responsibilities for the supply chain and rail, placemaking and urban development, transport revenue and funding, demand management, and transport innovation and technology, as well as stewardship of the $4bn per year National Land Transport Fund. While at the Ministry, Bryn has led the introduction of a transport outcomes framework that connects the transport system with the government’s living standards framework, and the reforms needed to integrate heavy rail into the land transport system. His group’s current programme includes 10-50 year transport investment and infrastructure planning; advising on how the current transport revenue system can be replaced; Auckland Light Rail; and establishing a pathway to a low emissions freight and supply chain system. Bryn has held roles in the defence, health, internal affairs, justice, and social and children’s sectors. While at Defence, Bryn led an organisational transformation programme to improve Defence’s delivery of long-range strategy and policy advice and enable its delivery of a $20 billion capital programme. While in the social sector, he led a multi-agency service delivery transformation that received the IPANZ Prime Minister’s Supreme Award for Public Sector Excellence.
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Richard Hobbs,
General Manager Strategy
Transpower
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Richard joined Transpower in July 2019 to head up the Strategy division. His responsibilities include development and implementation of the organisation’s strategy, customer relationships and non-regulated revenue. Prior to this role, Richard was based in Sydney where he worked as Investment Manager for Spark Infrastructure. Previously, he held roles at the Boston Consulting Group, Bloomberg New Energy Finance and the Australian Government’s Clean Energy Regulator. Richard holds a Master’s in Business Administration with distinction from the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School.
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Karl Wilkinson,
Director, Project Delivery, Health Infrastructure Unit
Ministry of Health
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Karl has a diverse background in design and construction leadership, with a mix of consultancy and contractor experience across buildings and civil infrastructure in New Zealand and overseas. Karl qualified in engineering from the University of Auckland and began his career in the construction industry with international engineering consultant, Beca. While working in New Zealand and Singapore, he held various roles in project and business leadership, with a focus in the health and education sectors. His interest in the health sector developed through his passion for clarity in communication, stakeholder engagement and forward-thinking asset management and development. Karl has experience of working on both public and private sector health projects. More recently, Karl joined global engineering, design and advisory consultancy Aurecon in 2018, where he led their Health Sector and Mechanical Service Line across New Zealand. Karl then joined the Ministry of Health in late 2019 as Director, Health Infrastructure Unit (HIU), with a focus on building capability, capacity and efficiency in design and delivery of health infrastructure. The HIU’s purpose is to work with partners to plan, prioritise and deliver future ready health infrastructure, and improve how projects are designed and delivered. In this role, Karl is overseeing the delivery of the largest hospital build project in New Zealand, the $1 billion plus new Dunedin Hospital. He has overseen the final stage and completion of Te Nikau Hospital and Health Centre on the West Coast earlier this year, as well as the final stages of Christchurch Hagley Hospital.
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Chris Fry,
Director, Capital Investment, Health Infrastructure Unit
Ministry of Health
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Chris has 35 years’ experience in leadership, governance and commercial management roles in both the public and private sectors in Australia and New Zealand. He has extensive leadership experience with a track record of achieving delivery outcomes, change management, stakeholder management and governance. He also has experience working with Indigenous communities and leaders. Chris is currently seconded to the Health Infrastructure Unit at the Ministry of Health, which works with partners to plan, prioritise and deliver future ready health infrastructure, improving the way projects are designed and delivered. As Director Capital Investment, Chris oversees a number of key areas – including investment management and strategy, asset management, service design and monitoring and quality assurance. Chris has been Deputy Chief Executive Commercial Services, Department of Corrections since 2016, with oversight and delivery of the Department’s largest and complex outsourced contracts and contract procurements. Last year, Commercial Services won the EY National NZ Procurement Award for social and environmental contracts, and the International Association of Contract Management Asia Pacific Award. In 2018, Chris created the DCE Construction Forum for key agencies and major city councils across New Zealand to discuss industry issues and government construction pipelines. Starting his career in Australia, Chris went on to hold numerous management positions at the National Australia Bank, before becoming the Chief Executive Officer for Indigenous Business Australia.
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Alison Murray,
Director Commercial Procurement, Education Infrastructure Service
Ministry of Education
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Alison Murray has worked in procurement in operational, consulting and leadership roles for over 20 years in New Zealand and the United Kingdom in both the commercial and public sector. Alison joined the Ministry of Education in 2014 and has been integral part of transforming school infrastructure procurement and leading a step change in procurement capability by driving best procurement practice and striving to make the Ministry easier to do business with. Last year Alison was the recipient of the President’s Award from the Association of Consulting Engineers New Zealand. This award was recognition of her collaborative approach and commitment to encouraging clients to work with consultants and contractors for the good of Aotearoa New Zealand
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Vui Mark Goshe,
Chair
Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities
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Vui Mark Gosche was a Member of Parliament from 1996 to 2008 and held several Cabinet posts, including Minister of Housing. He is the Chairperson of Counties Manukau District Health Board and until recently was the Chief Executive of Vaka Tautua, a Pacifica-based health and social services provider. He was the Chair of Housing New Zealand until 30 September 2019 and was confirmed as the Chair of Kāinga Ora in January 2020.
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David Carey,
Senior Economist
OECD
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David Carey is the senior economist on the Finland/New Zealand Desk in the Economics Department of the OECD. He is responsible for the preparation of OECD Economic Surveys, projections and structural policy reviews for these two countries. In his 31 years at the OECD, he has led the production of surveys for many other countries, including the United States, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands. Before joining the OECD, he worked as an economist at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand for nine years. David is a New Zealander and holds a Master of Commerce degree from the University of Auckland.
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Moderators
Sharon Zollner,
Chief Economist
ANZ New Zealand
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Sharon joined the ANZ economics team in 2010 and became Chief Economist in late 2017. She started her career as a macroeconomist at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in 1998, and has also worked at the central bank of Norway for two years, before moving to the New Zealand banking sector. Sharon holds a Master of Commerce from the University of Canterbury. Sharon developed the ANZ Truckometer, an economic indicator based on traffic flow data, and writes the weekly ANZ Charts that Matter.
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Judy Zhang,
Director Accord Transformation Unit – Construction Sector Accord
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
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Judy leads the programme unit supporting the Construction Sector Accord working across agencies and industry to deliver the system transformation for a higher performing construction sector in New Zealand. Judy is part of the leadership team in the Building System Performance branch in the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) that oversees the design and development of building policy and management of the Building Code. Judy has a background in strategy, tertiary education, and behavioural economics. Prior to joining MBIE, Judy was at the Tertiary Education Commission and led the design and implementation of their learner information strategy to improve the learner decision making experience for tertiary education in New Zealand.
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Tracey Ryan,
Managing Director, New Zealand
Aurecon
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Tracey is the Managing Director, New Zealand for international engineering, design & advisory company Aurecon, responsible for the leadership and performance of approximately 850 people across five locations. This includes health and safety, client engagement, staff engagement and project, financial and operational performance to meet Aurecon’s strategic and operational business goals for New Zealand. Tracey is a member of the Infrastructure New Zealand board and the Chair of the FIDIC Sustainable Development Committee. Tracey’s career to date has been focused on business growth, leading enterprise-wide multi-disciplinary teams and creating inclusive and engaged cultures. She has held senior leadership roles and directorships in several global professional services companies, including Beca, where she was the Transport and Infrastructure Clients and Markets Director; EY where she was Director for Sustainability and Climate Change, and ERM, where she was Managing Partner. She has also undertaken leadership positions with not-for-profit foundations providing technical, fundraising and pro-bono support for social enterprises committed to creating a more sustainable and equitable world. Tracey’s technical STEM background and 25 years international professional services experience makes her incredibly passionate about getting more young women and girls to choose STEM careers.
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Martin Philipsen,
Independent Director
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) NZ
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Martin is an Independent Director of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) NZ. He has over 35 years experience in the Financial Services industry both internationally and in NZ. ICBC has an unrivalled heritage in China, a vast global network and expertise in mega infrastructure projects, ICBC NZ wishes to bridge NZ-China infrastructure knowledge, opportunities and expertise. ICBC is the largest bank in the world in terms of total assets, customers’ deposits and profitability. The Bank is active in six continents and its overseas network has expanded to 48 countries and regions. The Bank provides comprehensive financial products and services to over 8.5 million corporate customers and over 650 million personal customers by virtue of the distribution network consisting of 16,177 domestic institutions and 428 overseas institutions.
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Hannah Crosby,
Director, Specialised Finance
ANZ New Zealand
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Hannah is a Director in the Loans & Specialised Finance team at ANZ and is responsible for project finance (including PPPs) and structured asset finance transactions. ANZ continues to have considerable involvement financing major New Zealand infrastructure projects. It has supported all New Zealand PPP transactions, irrigation schemes, telecommunications infrastructure and a number of renewable energy projects. Hannah has experience across all these project types. Particular highlights include closing the Waikeria prison PPP and financing the Southern Cross trans-Pacific submarine telecommunications cable. Hannah joined ANZ in 2013 and held a number of internal legal positions before joining the Loans & Specialised Finance team. Prior to ANZ, she worked as a finance lawyer for Buddle Findlay and Russell McVeagh in New Zealand. She worked at Slaughter and May in London where she worked on a number of international project finance transactions. Hannah also has experience with start-ups, having spent six years establishing a financial services business (a tax pooling intermediary) before selling it in 2015.
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Amelia Linzey,
Chief Planner
Beca
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Amelia is a planner with over 20 years’ experience in her field. Her extensive knowledge and leadership in this space saw her invited to join the six person government appointed panel for the comprehensive review of the resource management system in 2019. A geographer by training, Amelia is a Senior Technical Director at Beca, a member of Beca Group Board and the Board sponsor for sustainability. She has directed many community-changing strategic and policy planning, infrastructure planning, statutory consents and consultation projects. Amelia is passionate about the growth and development of communities and places and particularly enjoys working with communities in collaborative problem solving. She has worked with a diverse range of clients, including infrastructure clients, to deliver transformative change through projects across New Zealand. Amelia has been a member of the Advisory Board for the New Zealand Sustainable Business Council and is the Editor for Planning Quarterly, the NZ Planning Institute’s official journal. She is a full member of NZPI and is an alumni of the Global Women Breakthrough Leadership Programme.
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Heather Shotter,
Chief Executive
Palmerston North City Council
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Heather joined Palmerston North City Council as Chief Executive in 2017. She has extensive leadership experience in the private sector with senior leadership positions with SKYCITY, plus governance roles with public and private sector organisations. In 2010 Heather became Executive Director of the Committee for Auckland, a membership organisation dedicated to accelerating economic and social development in New Zealand’s largest city. Born and bred in Hawkes Bay, she was pleased to return to regional New Zealand to lead the Palmerston North City Council executive team in delivering an ambitious plan for growth, in a city where food innovation, logistics and distribution, defence and knowledge intensive services underpin a resilient and high-performing regional economy. She is currently a member of the Three Waters Steering Group (comprising representatives from DIA/LGNZ/SOLGM/Local Government sector) and the LGNZ Infrastructure Reference Group.
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Ross Pennington,
Partner
Chapman Tripp
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Ross Pennington is a leading capital markets, banking and structured finance lawyer at Chapman Tripp. Ross advises on a broad range of funding transactions, including asset-backed and other limited recourse structures, and sustainable finance. In New Zealand’s infrastructure sector, Ross’s work includes innovative infrastructure funding and financing arrangements, culminating in the Crown Infrastructure Partners’ Milldale transaction and – most recently – the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Act 2020. Ross has twice been recognised on the KangaNews Award Market People of the Year list and has been awarded an INFINZ fellowship for his contribution to the New Zealand capital markets.
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Amelia Linzey,
Chief Executive Officer
NZTech
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Graeme Muller is the CEO of NZTech and is passionate about the impact that technology can make to the economy. Graeme leads with a vision of creating a prosperous New Zealand underpinned by technology. During his tenure, NZTech’s membership has seen phenomenal growth. He says the importance of technology is no longer a debate as membership expands beyond traditional tech firms. Graeme has also driven the establishment of the Tech Alliance, representing 20 of New Zealand’s largest tech associations that collectively employ more than 100,000 New Zealanders who provide the voice of a tech ecosystem that is redefining the world we live in. Graeme has a 20 year career in technology and business research, management consultancy and marketing across multiple sectors and geographies. Graeme is a strategic thinker who is able to quickly identify critical issues in complex environments and simplify to lead change and create growth. Prior to leading NZTech, Graeme was based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands after living and working in Sydney, Australia. Graeme holds an MBA from Cass Business School, City University, London, a Marketing Degree from Auckland University and a Bachelor of Pharmacy from Otago University. When not working, Graeme can be found mountain biking, running, swimming, skiing and adventuring with his family.
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Alan McDonald,
Head of Advocacy and Strategy
Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA)
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Alan McDonald is the Head of Advocacy and Strategy for the EMA. Alan’s role is to set and guide the policy agenda for the EMA and lobby both central and local government on behalf of the organisation. He has a background in corporate and public affairs especially in developing and implementing large scale campaigns to effect significant industry change or achieve critical business goals.
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Laura Harris,
Head of Infrastructure, Government & Specialised Finance
Bank of New Zealand
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Laura is Head of Infrastructure, Government & Specialised Finance at BNZ. Laura leads the Bank’s Infrastructure and Government sector strategies, has overall responsibility for the delivery of world class relationship banking to BNZ’s largest clients in these sectors, and also leads BNZ’s Project Finance team that specialises in infrastructure, renewable energy and social & urban housing development transactions. Laura has 12+ years of Corporate Finance experience in Project Finance, Leveraged & Acquisition Finance, and Export Credit Agency finance, across a broad customer base in the institutional, corporate, commercial and private equity sectors and across a range of industries. Laura has been involved in all the NZ PPP transactions to date (leading the bank syndicates on Wiri Prison, Transmission Gully and NZ Schools 3 PPPs), several in Australia with National Australia Bank, and more recently various renewable energy, social housing, university student accommodation and urban development transactions. Laura is an Infrastructure New Zealand board member and is passionate about infrastructure and what it can deliver for NZ; enabling economic growth, increased productivity and wellbeing, and addressing climate change.
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Sam Clement,
Associate Director, Institutional Banking
Bank of New Zealand
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Sam is an Associate Director in the Infrastructure, Government and Specialised Finance team at BNZ. His role covers a range of transactions across sectors including energy, digital, social infrastructure, wastewater and government. He completed an Honours Degree in Economics and Finance at the University of Canterbury and is a CFA charterholder. Sam has also been on the Emerging Talent Network committee for a number of years, supporting the development of the next generation of infrastructure industry leaders. He is passionate about the industry in New Zealand and the economic, social, and environmental benefits world class infrastructure could bring in our recovery.
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Georgia Sweet,
Manager – Infrastructure Advisory
EY
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Georgia’s interest for economics was sparked back in high school, when her school entered the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Challenge. She chose to follow this pathway at university, completing a degree in economics and public health. After university, Georgia joined EY’s Infrastructure Advisory Team. She is now a Manager in the team, and specialises in providing strategic, economic and commercial advice in the health and human services sectors. Georgia is particularly passionate about healthy public policy and procuring infrastructure which improves the Hauora of people through wider social, cultural and environmental benefits. Georgia is also part of Emerging Talent Network committee where she helps to represent the younger generation of the infrastructure industry.
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Fran O’Sullivan,
Editorial Director – Business
NZME
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Fran is a leading business commentator who writes a regular column in the NZ Herald and appears frequently on television current affairs shows. As Executive Editor of the Herald’s Business Reports she launched an annual Infrastructure report in the Herald more than a decade ago. This report is published annually to coincide with Infrastructure NZ’s Building Nations Summit. Fran was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to journalism and business.
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Panellists
Peter Reidy,
Chief Executive – Construction
Fletcher Building
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Peter Reidy joined Fletcher Building as Chief Executive – Construction in October 2018. Prior to joining Fletcher, he was Chief Executive of KiwiRail, the national freight and passenger rail business in New Zealand. Peter has brought to Fletcher Construction a successful track record of leading and growing customer intensive infrastructure-based businesses in the transport, tourism, energy and construction sectors in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the United Kingdom. Prior to KiwiRail, he held a number of senior leadership roles with Downer Group in New Zealand, Australia and Singapore and before that, senior roles with Todd Energy and Freightways New Zealand. Peter also co-chairs the NZ Construction Sector Accord, a partnership between the New Zealand Government and the construction sector to lead transformation within the New Zealand construction industry.
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Graeme Johnson,
Chief Executive Officer, New Zealand
Fulton Hogan
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Graeme is Chief Executive of Fulton Hogan New Zealand, with over 15 years’ experience in prior roles including design engineering, project management and general management of associated multi-disciplinary civil contracting and materials supply chain businesses. He is particularly interested in policies that promote a healthy industry through certainty of the project pipeline, effective procurement and resource management. Graeme has extensive experience in the procurement, establishment, management and governance of large civil construction projects and asset management undertakings, carried out under a wide range of traditional and collaborative contracting models across New Zealand and the South Pacific. Passionate about collaborative approaches that drive ‘best for project’ outcomes, and value creation through the application of diverse, skilled and innovative teams who can provide great solutions for clients and stakeholders. A Chartered Professional Engineer, a director of Southern Aggregates Ltd, Stevenson Aggregates Ltd, Stevenson Concrete Ltd and is a member of the Industry Advisory Board for the Department of Civil & Natural Resources Engineering at the University of Canterbury.
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Steve Killeen,
Chief Executive Officer, New Zealand
Downer
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Steve Killeen was appointed CEO of the New Zealand business in January 2017. He is a senior executive and director with over 25 years’ experience in the delivery of social infrastructure including transportation, water, energy and communications. Steve joined Downer in 2004 and he has held a number of senior operational roles including Executive General Manager, Northern Region and Executive General Manager, Infrastructure. He was a member of the New Zealand leadership team for eight years. Prior to his appointment as New Zealand’s CEO, he was Downer’s Group Executive Manager, Strategy and Development. Before joining Downer, Steve held senior positions in both consulting and contracting businesses in the UK. Steve holds qualifications in business, management and engineering including a master’s degree in Engineering Studies from Auckland University.
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James Hughes,
Technical Director – Climate Change and Resilience
Tonkin + Taylor
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James is T+T’s Technical Director – Climate Change and Resilience, and supports public and private sector organisations understand the risk from climate change and natural hazards, and establish adaptation and resilience responses. He was the Built Environment Domain Lead for New Zealand’s First National Climate Change Risk Assessment (NCCRA), having technical oversight of the approach to quantifying climate risk to New Zealand’s infrastructure. His recent and ongoing work in the risk and resilience fields includes projects focussing on both urban, community and infrastructure resilience. These include: LGNZ’s Sea Level Rise Exposure Survey and Climate Guidance, the Rockefeller 100 Resilient Cities Project, NZTA’s Resilience Programme Business Case, a range of climate change risk assessments for Regional / Local Councils, and he was lead author of risk management scoping guidance for the proposed Local Government Risk Agency. In late 2016, James was appointed to The Ministry for the Environment’s Climate Change Technical Advisory Group. He has been involved in the National Science Challenges, works closely with local Universities and regularly speaks and presents at Climate/resilience conferences and seminars. James brings a practical and up-to-date understanding of risk and resilience approaches both globally and within New Zealand.
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Simon Drew,
General Manager Infrastructure
Dunedin City Council
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Simon leads the infrastructure teams at Dunedin City Council where he is tasked with delivering an ambitious long term plan, responding to the climate-driven challenges facing the city, and building high performing teams. He is a recent recruit to Local Government after spending 20 years in the private sector in prior roles including design engineering, project management and contract management of large multi-disciplinary civil engineering projects, in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Simon is a chartered professional civil engineer. He is passionate about raising the profile of the humble New Zealand engineer as many more will be needed to help deliver the social, cultural, environmental and economic benefits that great infrastructure brings.
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Matthew Riddle,
Executive Chairman, New Zealand
Marsh
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Matthew Riddle is a Director and the Executive Chairman of Marsh New Zealand. In April 2019, Marsh’s global parent, Marsh & McLennan, acquired the largest UK listed broking firm Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) of which Matthew was the New Zealand Chief Executive for the prior 10 years, assuming his role as Executive Chairman following integration. Matthew has over 30 years’ experience in both broking and insurance underwriting in New Zealand and London. He remains directly involved in the expanded Marsh Public Sector businesses along with a role in major client engagement. The Marsh Public Sector businesses include a significant portfolio of Central and Local Government clients requiring the full suite of risk services. Marsh & McLennan (MMC) is a NYSE listed global professional services firm operating in the areas of risk, strategy and people with revenue of US17b and 75,000 employees. MMC’s businesses include Marsh, Mercer, Oliver Wyman and reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter. Marsh is a global leader in insurance broking and risk management solutions and has operated in New Zealand for over 60 years.
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Anita Wreford,
Associate Professor
Lincoln University
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Anita is an applied economist based at the AERU at Lincoln University, specialising in responses to climate change, with a particular focus on the economic analysis of adaptation. Anita also leads the Impacts and Implications Programme of the Deep South National Science Challenge. She was a lead author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Climate Change and Land, and is currently a lead author on the Australasia chapter of the Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC. Anita led the Economy Domain of the National Climate Change Risk Assessment released earlier this year. She has worked closely with policy makers both at a national level and local government providing advice and analysis. Anita has also conducted work for the EU Commission and the OECD, the Scottish Government’s ClimateXChange programme, and the UK’s Committee on Climate Change.
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Mayor Tenby Powell,
Mayor of Tauranga
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Tenby Powell was elected as the Mayor of Tauranga City in Oct 2019, following a campaign built upon a philosophy of Tauranga Together – Kotahitanga. Raised in Tauranga, he was educated at the University of Waikato (which recognised him as a Distinguished Alumnus in 2010) and Harvard Businesses School, and went on to serve in the NZ Defence Force (rising to the rank of colonel). Since leaving the army, he has served as a director or chairman for numerous business and government organisations and not-for-profit entities. In the private sector, Mayor Powell held senior management positions in Fletcher Challenge and Skellerup Group prior to forming private investment company, Hunter Powell Investments Limited, with his entrepreneur wife Sharon Hunter in 1999. In May 2018, he was appointed by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as Chair of the Small Business Council, a new organisation tasked with driving improvement and innovation in the small business sector, with the strategic objective of lifting the performance of New Zealand’s many small enterprises. He has also been a New Zealand Representative on the APEC Business Advisory Council. Mayor Powell’s mix of commercial, government and not-for-profit experience has created a rich cross-sector and international knowledge base, enabling him to work effectively with people from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, domestically and internationally. He is committed to driving infrastructure improvements through regional and national collaboration and believes sound and trusting relationships with iwi and hapu will underpin the city’s future development
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Mayor Sheryl Mai,
Mayor of Whangārei
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Mayor Sheryl Mai was born in Putaruru, a small town in New Zealand’s central North Island. She was raised and educated both there and in Rotorua before studying horticulture at Massey University.
On moving to Whangārei more than 30 years ago, Sheryl immediately became involved in a wide range of community organisations. She was a Council Parks employee and has worked for a number of businesses in the city.
Sheryl was first elected to Whangarei District Council in 2004, which led to committee representation on more than ten arts, environmental, sporting and charitable community groups. She also has a strong interest and involvement in waste minimisation issues.
Sheryl served two terms as a councillor before taking a break to travel overseas. On her return she contested and won the mayoralty of Whangārei in 2013. She is currently serving her third term.
Whangārei, like many districts in New Zealand, faces the challenge of managing aging infrastructure in conjunction with accelerating district growth. Sheryl has a keen interest in the facilitation of infrastructure works across New Zealand, particularly in areas experiencing high levels of growth and the challenges and opportunities that represents.
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Mayor Paula Southgate,
Mayor of Hamilton
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Paula Southgate was elected Mayor of Hamilton in October 2019 after serving a term as Chair of the Hamilton City Council’s Community and Services Committee.
Prior to her election as City Councilor, Paula chaired the Waikato Regional Council where she led the development of major policy initiatives including the Lake Taupo and Healthy Rivers Wai Ora Plan Change. She negotiated and collaborated alongside local, regional and central government to develop the Lake Taupo Plan Change and Geothermal Variations of the Waikato Regional Plan and led the completion and adoption of Variation 6 for water allocation.
Paula is currently a member of MBIE’s IVL Advisory Group and the LGNZ Governance & Strategy Advisory Group.
In late May 2020 she was appointed by the Crown to the Board of the Waikato River Authority .
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Hamilton City Council website
Robert Pigou,
Head of the Provincial Development Unit
Provincial Growth Fund
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Robert Pigou is the Head of the Provincial Development Unit (PDU) which manages the administration and monitoring of the Provincial Growth Fund. Previously, Robert was the Head of Investment Management at PDU, the team responsible for detailed assessments, analysis, and critiquing of all funding applications, and making recommendations to decision-makers. Robert has extensive experience in the corporate finance and banking sectors both in New Zealand and Asia. He has held senior leadership roles at EY, AsiaPower Developments Limited and Lloyds Bank, The National Bank of New Zealand and Southpac. He has more recently served in senior roles in the public sector, including as Deputy Secretary, Higher Courts at the Ministry of Justice, as General Manager, NZ Petroleum and Minerals at Ministry of Economic Development and as a consultant at CERT New Zealand. Robert has been a member of the Institute of Directors since 2016.
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Andrew Crisp,
Chief Executive
Ministry of Housing and Urban Development
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Andrew has been Chief Executive of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) since December 2018. Andrew joined HUD as Acting Chief Executive in October 2018, on secondment from his substantive role as Chief Executive at Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). At LINZ he was responsible for overseeing a diverse range of functions, with the aim of ensuring New Zealand has accurate information about where people and places are, people have confidence in their property rights and Crown property is well managed for future generations. Prior to LINZ, Andrew held a number of leadership roles across the public sector, including at The Treasury, the Department of Labour, the Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). Andrew was part of the leadership team that established MBIE in 2012 and held the role of Deputy Chief Executive, Building, Resources and Markets. Andrew began his career in the private sector at accounting and consultancy firm Coopers and Lybrand. He has a broad range of experience across a number of policy and regulatory domains, in operations and in strategy and corporate functions. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration degree from Victoria University of Wellington, and is a Chartered Accountant.
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Hamiora Bowkett,
Deputy Chief Executive Strategy, Governance, and State Sector Performance
Te Puni Kōkiri
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Hamiora Bowkett is presently Deputy Chief Executive Strategy, Governance, and State Sector Performance at Te Puni Kōkiri. Hamiora has 20 years’ experience working in and around government across a number of agencies including the Treasury, the Ministries of Education, Science, Health and Social Development, MBIE, Te Puni Kōkiri and the justice sector. Hamiora has been a consultant for much of his career holding Partner and Executive Director roles at PWC and EY. In his consulting career he worked on a number of infrastructure and economic development projects. He has also worked on social policy and health policy issues and the establishment and management of the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agencies and approach for Te Puni Kōkiri. Hamiora has a long connection with the health system having worked on a number of hospital rebuild projects (including the rebuild of Christchurch Hospital after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes and the rebuild of Grey Base Hospital) and was a Deputy Director-General of Health. He is currently a Crown appointee to the Capital and Coast District Health Board. He has also worked as a commercial advisor on projects including the Wiri PPP, the contract managed remand prison, the Whole of Government Radio Network and work on the Defence Estate. Most recently at Te Puni Kōkiri he supported the analysis and progression of a number of Covid Relief and Recovery Fund initiatives including infrastructure and other capital projects. Hamiora was born and raised in Rotorua and affiliates to Ngāti Rangiwewehi and Te Rarawa in the north.
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Gary Taylor,
Chief Executive
Environmental Defence Society
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Gary has extensive experience in corporate governance, having been the Chairman of the Auckland Area Health Board, the Climate Change and Business Centre (Australia) and the Peoples Centre Health Trust. He has been a director of Watercare Services Ltd, Infrastructure Auckland, the Queen Elizabeth National Trust, the Auckland Regional Transport Authority and the Hobsonville Land Company. He has also been a city and regional councillor. Gary is an experienced environmental policy analyst and consultant and is currently Executive Director of EDS. Gary was awarded a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
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Daniel Minhinnick,
Partner (Environment, Planning and Natural Resources)
Russell McVeagh
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Daniel is the Practice Group Chair of Russell McVeagh’s Environment, Planning and Natural Resources Team, where he has been since 2005. Daniel’s practice specialises in all aspects of resource management, but he has a particular focus on major infrastructure projects. Daniel advises a range of major infrastructure providers, including Watercare, Ports of Auckland, Spark, Vector, Panuku and NZ Super Fund. He has been advising numerous clients on recent legislative and policy developments in the resource management space, and is a member of the New Zealand Law Society’s Environmental Law Committee.
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Lesley Baddon,
Director – Urban Policy & Infrastructure
Ministry for the Environment
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Lesley was born in Scotland and moved to New Zealand in 1988 commencing a career in Auckland local government before moving to Ministry for the Environment in 2012. At MfE she has led its Auckland based team and been involved in various projects, including the National Policy Statement on Urban Development Capacity and partnering with MBIE in the development of the Urban Growth Agenda. This later work focused particularly on urban planning. Lesley has also led the development of the legislation for the streamlined process for the Auckland Unitary Plan and most recently the review of the Resource Management system.
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Patrick Dougherty,
Deputy Chief Executive – Construction and Innovation
Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities
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Patrick Dougherty leads the Kāinga Ora Construction and Innovation Group, which is charged with delivering the Crown Entity’s new public housing across New Zealand. Since taking responsibility for this part of the business in September 2016, new state house delivery has grown from just a few hundred homes a year to approaching 2,000 new homes per annum and rising. The group Patrick leads, of more than 250 property professionals, delivers new warm and dry homes a year – about 4,000 of these are under construction right now. It also reconfigures and renews part of the existing Kāinga Ora housing portfolio of more than 63,500 homes. Patrick’s team is also actively pursuing innovations, such as the use of offsite manufacturing, as well as undertaking research and development to enable Kāinga Ora to build better homes through the use of technology and innovation, undertake faster, safer and more predictable procurement, and save on the time and cost of delivering new homes. He’s a property professional with more than three decades’ experience in leading projects which range from multi-unit residential, multi-use retail/commercial/residential, tourism, office parks, and light industrial. Patrick has experience in all aspects of development from feasibility analysis, design development, consenting, sales, marketing, and construction management through to comprehensive master planning.
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Leonie Freeman,
Chief Executive
Property Council New Zealand
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Leonie is a well-respected industry leader with extensive experience in the New Zealand property industry, having held top positions in both the public and private sector. In 2011, Leonie was appointed to the board of NZX listed company Goodman Property Trust, and up until her 2018 appointment as Property Council’s chief executive, she dedicated her time to leading an independent philanthropic initiative to solve Auckland’s housing crisis. Leonie holds a Master of Commerce, majoring in valuation and property management and is a life member of the Property Institute of New Zealand, a chartered member of the Institute of Directors, and a member of Global Women. Leonie is a strategic thinker, capable of seeing the big picture whilst also digging into the detail – a rare combination that makes her both an inspirational leader and exemplary spokesperson.
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Steve Evans,
Chief Executive – Residential and Development
Fletcher Building
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Steve has lead Fletcher Building’s Residential and Development Division since coming from London to New Zealand in 2014, building it into the largest developer of homes in Auckland and Christchurch. Focussing on creating communities rather than simply building homes, Steve and his team have been responsible for successful mixed use developments such as Stonefields, Kowhai Ridge, Waiata Shores, Red Beach and many others. This has been done through strategic partnerships and relationships with existing communities, iwi, government, council and other key stakeholders. Now with a team of over 250, the division is expanding into the development of low and medium rise apartments, industrial development and other areas of property. This includes Auckland largest offsite manufacturing businesses called CleverCore which started production in 2019 and which is now successfully delivering panelised homes and townhouses throughout the isthmus. Prior to this, Steve had spent over 20 years in director roles in the building and property development industry in Australia, Asia and the UK, across low and high rise industrial, commercial and residential developments. A particular highlight was his role as one of the founding directors of an urban regeneration business providing mixed-tenure housing solutions in inner and greater London including state housing, shared ownership and key worker housing. Steve is also one of the steering group members of the Construction Industry Accord, a member of MBIE’s Building Advisory Panel, and a board member of the Urban Development Institute of New Zealand (UDINZ).
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Ngarimu Blair,
Deputy Chair
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei
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Ngarimu is the Deputy Chair of the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust, the mana whenua of central Auckland and their appointee to its commercial subsidiary Whai Rawa Ltd which is a large property owner in the City. He is also a Director of Kāinga Ora, New Zealand’s public housing provider which also delivers Kiwibuid. He’s also a Director at Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research, a Crown Research Institute and the Co-Chair of the Tāmaki Makaurau Kaitiaki Forum of tribes who are focused on regional matters of importance to Iwi. Ngarimu is a Blake Trustee and North Harbour Rugby Board member.
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Cobus Nel,
General Manager Information Services & Technology
Transpower
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Cobus Nel joined Transpower in 2011, and has held senior roles including ICT Strategy and Architecture Manager. As a multi-skilled ICT professional Cobus has past experience in Defence, Enterprise, Telecommunications and Utility organisations. Cobus is passionate about the electricity industry and specifically the challenges global warming poses and the contribution electrification, and technology in general, can make to improving the world we live in. Responsibilities (IST): Maintenance and development of Transpower’s information and communications technology including security, data and analytics. Leading the Building Information Modelling (BIM) programme.
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Rebecca Chenery,
Chief Digital Officer
Watercare
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Rebecca leads the Digital team and is responsible for all aspects of technology at Watercare. As the Executive Sponsor of Watercare’s recent transformation programme, Rebecca is passionate about the opportunities that come with the evolution of technology solutions and teams from ‘back office support’ to critical business enablers. Prior to joining Watercare in 2010, Rebecca worked held a variety of roles in the information services and telecommunications industries in New Zealand and overseas.
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Myles Lind,
Head of Asset Management
Auckland Transport
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Myles Lind is Chartered Engineer and is the President of New Zealand’s Institute of Public Works Engineering (IPWEA). He has previously led the digital engineering programme at Waka Kotahi and is now the Head of Asset Management at Auckland Transport. Myles is a member of the National Technical Standards Committee which is working to implement asset metadata standards across the transport, three waters and building sectors. Myles has a passion for the transformation that digital is bringing to the public infrastructure sector as we move through Industry 4.0 and beyond.
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Saba Samiei,
Partner Development Manager
Microsoft New Zealand
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Saba’s mission in life is to do her best in creating a better future for humanity and all that lives around us. She has quite a diverse experience in the tech industry from hands-on coding to leading multi-million dollar transformation projects. Saba developed an in-depth passion for artificial intelligence back in 2017 and has dedicated her life outside of work to this topic ever since. She recently completed her Masters in Computer and Information Science from AUT and in her thesis she focused on understanding the why behind the warnings about the danger of AI and continues to work on this topic in more depth. In 2017, Saba was recognised as the top 3 finalists in New Zealand CIO emerging leader awards and top 4 finalists in Women of Influence Young leader awards. In 2019 she has been recognised as New Zealand Reseller News 30 under 30. Saba has recently founded an initiative called Comfort.AI with the intention to make artificial intelligence the comfort zone of her audience. She is also currently contracting at Microsoft as a partner development manager, helping New Zealand businesses grow using Microsoft technology. Saba’s motto in life is “I’ll find a way or make one!”
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Liz Halsted,
Advisory Services Leader
Arup New Zealand
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Liz is the Advisory Services Leader for Arup New Zealand and boasts a track record of over 18 years of experience advising transport, energy and infrastructure planning and delivery projects. Her current key market focus is on energy, transport and water for a variety of public and private sector clients in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. Prior to joining Arup in March 2018, Liz was Head of Innovation, Digital and Sustainability at Auckland Transport where she was responsible for the delivery of transport system planning and its integration with land use and other infrastructure planning, business planning and performance frameworks. Liz also developed policy for emerging technology and the role it plays in Auckland’s integrated transport and land use system. From 2003 – 2014 Liz worked in London where she was a policy manager for Transport for London and delivered London’s integrated transport strategies, growth area plans and policies. Liz worked on London’s Road Modernisation Plan and the redevelopment of the Kings Cross area, including the redevelopment of St Pancras and Kings Cross stations. She also worked on the redevelopment of Euston Station, and the development of Crossrail 1, 2 and High-Speed Rail. Liz also led on the development of Europe’s first ultra-low emissions-based road pricing scheme which opened in 2019. She was also part of the UK Intelligent Mobility working group that delivered the UK’s first autonomous vehicle trial in Milton Keynes.
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Andrew Caseley,
Chief Executive
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA)
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Andrew joined EECA in 2017. Previously he was Managing Director for MWH, a global engineering and environmental consultancy, and CEO of the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council for 13 years. Andrew has a commerce degree with an accounting major and is a Companion Member of the Institute of Professional Engineers.
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Murray Sherwin,
Chair
New Zealand Productivity Commission
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Murray is an economist with over 40 years of experience in a wide variety of public policy roles. He has been Chair of the New Zealand Productivity Commission since it commenced operations in April 2011. The Commission – an independent Crown entity – conducts in-depth inquiry reports on topics selected by the Government, carries out productivity-related research, and promotes understanding of productivity issues Murray’s previous appointments include: Chief Executive and Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry; Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand; member of the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank; and member of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Group.
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Lewis Mills,
Head of Public Policy – New Zealand
Uber
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Lewis is responsible for policy, regulatory and government affairs for Uber and Uber Eats in New Zealand. He began his career in private legal practice, working as a Crown prosecutor and regulatory litigation lawyer at Meredith Connell. He then moved in-house to the public sector, practising in both central and local government. Prior to joining Uber in 2019, Lewis was Senior Counsel to the Mayor of Auckland, Phil Goff. He holds a BA/LLB (Hons) and studied at the University of Auckland and the University of Virginia School of Law.
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Peter Murray,
GM Major Projects and Advisory
Infracom (NZ Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga)
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Peter Murray joined Infracom in February 2020. He leads the MPA team, which is focused on best practice, advice and governance, as well as the infrastructure pipeline. Peter was formerly the Executive Director of Infrastructure Finance and Capital Works at the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government in Canberra. He has extensive experience in public sector roles in several Australian jurisdictions including the ACT, NSW, South Australia and the Commonwealth, in infrastructure advisory roles and project delivery. Peter has a Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Commerce from the University of New South Wales and is a Certified Practicing Accountant.
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Ngahuia Leighton,
Commercial Advisor
Crown Infrastructure Partners
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Ngahuia is a commercial advisor in the Housing Infrastructure team at Crown Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and an Emerging Talent Committee Member. Ngahuia’s work focuses on alternative funding and financing models to increase housing supply. Ngahuia was part of the transaction team that developed and implemented the Milldale model in North Auckland. She worked with central government on the progression of this model into the recently enacted, Infrastructure Funding and Financing Legislation (IFF). Ngahuia is part of the CIP team currently working with councils and developers on the implementation of the IFF model. In recent months, Ngahuia has been a member of the project team supporting the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group’s ‘Shovel Ready’ economic stimulus initiative. This has involved Ngahuia finalising commercial arrangements with project owners to ensure successful projects are fit for purpose and will achieve economic and public benefit goals. Ngahuia comes from Ngati Awa (Eastern Bay of Plenty) and spent her earlier years working for an iwi owned social and health service provider before starting her career in the Treasury Graduate Programme. Ngahuia remained at Treasury for four years advising on the Crown’s commercial interests before moving to CIP to be closer to policy implementation. Ngahuia is passionate about using policy levers (including investment in infrastructure) to secure better outcomes for New Zealanders.
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Hugh Kettle,
Partner
Bell Gully
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Hugh Kettle is a partner at Bell Gully and is recognised as one of New Zealand’s leading infrastructure lawyers. His practice focuses on infrastructure development and his experience includes the procurement, contracting, funding and financing of a wide range of social and economic infrastructure. Hugh was closely involved in the introduction of public private partnership (PPP) procurement to New Zealand, assisting the Treasury on its establishment of the model contract framework and acting for the Crown and Waka Kotahi on all PPP projects to date. He has worked closely with Crown Infrastructure Partners following its repurposing on the Milldale transaction, the ‘shovel ready’ initiative and in connection with the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Act. He has also advised on the design, funding and implementation of various social housing programmes, including Kāinga Ora on its successful Western Porirua Public Housing partnership with Ngāti Toa.
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Karen Mitchell,
Principal Consultant
Advisian NZ
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Karen Mitchell has held senior and executive level positions within both the public and private sectors Currently, Principal Consultant for Advisian NZ, Karen is a well-respected leader in complex, high profile infrastructure procurement and commercial negotiations. With her in-depth knowledge of the government and infrastructure sectors she led the establishment of Treasury’s Infrastructure Transactions Unit, transitioning it to the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission – Te Waihanga (Infracom). In this role she was a valued member of the Construction Sector Accord Steering Group, leading work to examine infrastructure procurement and contractual issues, respond to COVID impacts and support sector recovery. Karen has led some of New Zealand’s largest public-sector infrastructure projects from the decision to invest through procurement and delivery, including pathfinder Public Private Partnership prisons, roads and social housing. She has advised clients on numerous infrastructure projects including City Rail Link, Dunedin Hospital, KiwiRail Terminals Upgrade, Tamaki Regeneration and Let’s Get Wellington Moving. She was the author of Infracom’s Major Project Governance Guidance and has been an observer and member of a number of project governance boards.
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Susan Freeman-Greene,
Chief Executive
Local Government New Zealand
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Susan Freeman-Greene is the incoming Chief Executive of Local Government New Zealand. She was Chief Executive of Engineering New Zealand (formerly IPENZ) from February 2015 until last month. At Engineering New Zealand she led the transformation of the engineering professional body into an outward facing organisation dedicated to engineering better lives for New Zealanders by increasing the profession’s credibility, influence, recognition and connection. Susan was formerly Chief Executive of the Broadcasting Standards Authority and before that was Chief Mediator with the Human Rights Commission. Her professional background is in law which she practiced for years before becoming an specialist mediator. Her broad experience, combined with her analytical skills as a lawyer and her influencing skills as a mediator, have given her a wide perspective and an extensive set of skills to bring to her leadership roles. Susan is also a director of Vital and a Trustee of Tāwhiri – the New Zealand Festival of the Arts.
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Fraser Whineray,
Former Chair
Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council
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Fraser Whineray joined Fonterra in March 2020 as the Chief Operating Officer. He is responsible for our New Zealand manufacturing site and global supply chain operations, sustainability, innovation and R&D, IT and safety, quality and regulatory teams.
Fraser joined the Co-op from Mercury, a 100% renewable electricity retailer and generator, where he was the Chief Executive from 2014 and held executive roles since joining the company in 2008.
He has also worked in the investment banking and forestry industries, both in New Zealand and internationally.
Fraser is a keen advocate for astute long-term decisions that leverage New Zealand’s competitive advantages, including its people, for sustainable growth.
He served as a Non-Executive Director of Opus International Consultants from 2008 – 2016 and of Tilt Renewables and Chaired the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council. In 2019 he was named the Deloitte Top 200 Chief Executive of the year.
Fraser holds an MBA from the University of Cambridge, a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from Canterbury University and a Diploma in Dairy Science and Technology from Massey University.
Dame Paula Rebstock,
Independent Director
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Dame Paula Rebstock is an Auckland based economist and company director.
She is Chair of the Accident Compensation Corporation and of Ngati Whatua Orakei Whai Maia. Paula is also a Director of Kiwi Group Holdings Ltd, of Auckland Transport and of Vector Ltd. Moreover, she is the Chair of the Finance, Risk and Assurance Committee of the Auckland District Health Board. She was formerly Chair of the Commerce Commission and Deputy Chair of KiwiRail.
Dame Paula was the New Zealand Herald New Zealander of the Year in 2007. In 2009 she was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for public services, and was appointed Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for Services to the State in 2016.
Dame Paula received the 2016 Deloitte Top 200 Prize for Excellence in Corporate Governance (on behalf of the ACC Board) and the 2017 NZIER Economics Award.
Sir Stephen Tindall,
Founder and Trustee
The Tindall Foundation
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Sir Stephen Tindall founded The Warehouse in 1982 and established The Tindall Foundation in 1995, one of New Zealand’s leading philanthropic foundations that has since donated more than $190 million towards strategies to improve communities and the environment. He founded K1W1, the Tindall family’s seed and venture capital fund, which has invested in more than 200 start up and early stage business in biotech, clean tech, high tech, and environmental technologies. He has provided sponsorship to Team New Zealand in contesting the America’s Cup and as Chair of Team New Zealand is currently involved in preparing Auckland to host a defence of the Cup. He chaired the Growth and Innovation Advisory Board from 2007 to 2009, the Climate Change Leadership Forum from 2007 to 2009, and the Broadband Investment Forum from 2008 to 2009 and the Emissions Trading Scheme establishment Group in 2008. He co-chaired the Job Summit Working Group in 2009, with a particular focus on Auckland, including an involvement co-funding the Mayor’s taskforce on jobs. He helped establish Trees That Count, which have counted and planted more than 11 million native trees across New Zealand in the past year. He was a Council member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and remained involved as a co-founder and Chair of Kiwi Expat Association (KEA) until 2012.
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Margaret Devlin,
Chair
Women’s Infrastructure Network Advisory Board
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Margaret Devlin is a professional company director, working primarily in the infrastructure and service sectors. She is currently Chair of Watercare, Lyttelton Port Company, Hospice Waikato, the WIN Advisory Board and Deputy Chair of WINTEC. Margaret also has directorships with Waikato Regional Airport, Waimea Water Ltd, Aurora Energy, IT Partners Group and Infrastructure New Zealand. Margaret began her governance career in 2006 upon emigrating to New Zealand from the UK. Previously she had held executive management roles in the water and retail sectors in the UK, with a focus on customer and stakeholder engagement.
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Nick Molcsan,
Chair
Emerging Talent Committee
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Nick is the Chair of the Emerging Talent Committee and works as a Project Manager with RCP in Auckland. While studying at the University of Canterbury during the Christchurch earthquakes, Nick gained fast-tracked, hands-on civil engineering experience through his degree and summers working with SCIRT. Upon graduation he worked as an engineer in Auckland on several water and roading projects before heading to the UK and Netherlands for a stint playing club hockey professionally.
Nick now works closely with public and private sector clients to help deliver their most challenging projects. Nick is passionate about future-proofing the infrastructure industry and utilising the built environment to promote well-being within our communities. Having worked in a handful of countries since leaving university, Nick aims to bring a global perspective to solving local problems while promoting the voice of the next generation of infrastructure leaders.
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Emerging Talent Network website
Katrina Van Houtte,
Partner
Dentons Kensington Swan
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Katrina Van Houtte is a Partner at Dentons Kensington Swan with an outstanding track record of working in the construction sector. Equipped with over 14 years of experience in construction law and dispute resolution, Katrina is adept in construction and infrastructure projects, advising on all matters throughout the project life cycle, including front- and back-end construction matters and on project delivery issues. Katrina has been at the forefront of some of the industry’s most prominent challenges within New Zealand and has made significant contributions to many of New Zealand’s largest construction and infrastructure projects in recent years. Katrina is dedicated to securing best-for-business outcomes and brings a unique, perspective and approach to problem-solving from her deep knowledge and understanding of the industry.
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Mayor Phil Goff,
Mayor of Auckland
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Phil Goff is a born and bred Aucklander. He put himself through school and the University of Auckland working at the Westfield Freezing Company for seven seasons.
He has a first-class Masters in Politics from the University of Auckland and won a scholarship to do postgraduate study at the University of Oxford.
Phil represented Mt Roskill for 10 terms of parliament.
He became New Zealand’s youngest ever cabinet minister in 1984. In his 15 years in cabinet, he covered a number of portfolios including housing, environment, and education.
In the Clark government, he was responsible for foreign affairs, justice, trade and defence. He was also Associate Finance Minister. He served as the leader of the Labour Party and the leader of the opposition.
As Minister of Education, Phil initiated New Zealand’s international education industry which is now worth over $3 billion.
He was also the first Minister of Trade of a developed country to negotiate a free-trade agreement with China and initiated the TPP trade agreement.
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Auckland Council website
Amanda Singleton,
Chief Customer Officer
Watercare
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Amanda is originally from South Africa, where she worked in the telecommunications industry, as well as consulting for a number of major corporates in brand and corporate strategy. A passionate customer advocate, she has held senior customer roles at Genesis Energy and Vodafone since moving to New Zealand in 2014. Amanda was appointed Watercare’s Chief Customer Officer in May 2018 and has responsibility for building a customer-centric culture and overseeing all the customer touch-points in the business.
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Andrew Stevens,
Chair
Infrastructure New Zealand
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Andrew is the Chair of Infrastructure New Zealand having been elected at the 2018 AGM. He has been an active member on the Board of Infrastructure New Zealand since late 2012 and represents the private construction contracting and services sector. Andrew is an experienced Senior Executive in the Infrastructure, Construction, Services and related Building and Engineering sectors and is currently the CEO of a specialised engineering, planning and survey business. Prior to this, he has led several of our largest construction and services contracting businesses and has had an active involvement in delivery all of the Billion dollar projects in this country in the last decade. Degree qualified in business and engineering, Andrew has over 30 years experience in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. In his professional career Andrew has handled many diverse roles spanning governance, consulting, design and project management, major project delivery, major term-services contracts, infrastructure network construction and maintenance, energy, telecommunications, manufacturing and building services. He is passionate about the role Infrastructure can and should play in the narrative of a successful New Zealand.
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Victoria McArthur,
CEO
MATES in Construction NZ
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For the past seven years Victoria has been part of the construction industry and her passion for and commitment to people within the industry is hard to beat. This passion for people was piqued by the mission of MATES in Construction to reduce suicide in the industry, something Victoria is definitely determined to see happen as their Chief Executive. MATES in Construction is a collaborative industry suicide prevention organisation focusing on raising awareness, building capacity, providing help and establishing a programme of research that will help to reduce that high rate of suicide significantly. Victoria is not in this for the short-term, she is here for the duration. Nor is she doing it all by herself – she’s the first to admit she has a great team supporting her. Her vision is to break down the stigma and create a positive cross-industry culture toward mental health and suicide prevention. “We need to work hard, inject passion and be consistent about what we do as an industry to look after our people.” Victoria says she’s driven by making a difference, and she hopes the changes she and MATES will bring to the construction industry will encourage its employees to seek help from and for each other and, collectively, to provide an environment that encourages positive well-being both on and off the construction site.
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Andrea Rickard,
General Manager: Transport and Infrastructure
Beca
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Andrea is the General Manager: Transport and Infrastructure at Beca in NZ. She leads a team of over 500 in ten offices involved in land development, land transport, infrastructure asset management, airports and aviation, water, ports and marine projects throughout Aotearoa, the Pacific and further afield. A planner and social scientist by background, she over 25 years’ experience in leading teams and in working alongside clients in the areas of urban growth and regional development strategy, industrial and land development, infrastructure and place-making. As a planner, she has been involved in major infrastructure projects and programmes including in the areas of: three waters infrastructure, industrial site development, transport infrastructure and community infrastructure supporting urban growth,. She has broad experience in a range of different types of procurement models and has been involved in the optioneering, tendering and construction of some of Aotearoa’s largest road, rail and water infrastructure projects. Andrea has been involved in strategic policy direction on issues as diverse as air and water quality, marine development, waste strategy and land use planning and zoning, having been involved in major policy changes, including in the Auckland Unitary Plan, and as an expert witness in numerous proceedings. Andrea is a Director of Beca International Consultants Ltd, is on the membership panel for the NZ Planning Institute and was an elected member of the National Committee of the Resource Management Law Association for eight years.
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Steve Webster,
Chief Infrastructure Officer
Watercare
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Steve Webster is a civil engineer with more than 25 years’ experience in senior leadership roles, predominantly in the infrastructure sectors in New Zealand and Australia, delivering projects and maintenance services to government, local authority and private asset owners. He is Watercare’s Chief Infrastructure Officer responsible for Watercare’s delivery of infrastructure projects from servicing strategies, through planning to construction and for supporting external developer services to enable growth in Auckland. Steve is the executive sponsor of climate change for Watercare, plus the sponsor of both the 40:20:20 vison and Enterprise Model for the delivery of Watercare’s infrastructure programme. Steve is a member of the Construction Sector Accord Steering Group and the Construction Strategy Group.
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Ilze Gotelli,
Head of Major Developments
Watercare
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Ilze Gotelli is Head of Major Developments at Watercare Services Limited. Currently, she is responsible for managing Watercare’s engagement with large-scale housing developers, including managing Watercare’s engagement with Kāinga Ora for the Auckland Housing Programme. She is proactively involved in the dialogue on infrastructure requirements to service Auckland’s growth and housing requirements. Prior to this role, she was Environmental Planning Manager at Watercare, responsible for leading Watercare’s inputs to the Auckland Unitary Plan. Before joining Watercare, Ilze was an international consultant working on water supply and sanitation, electricity, and other infrastructure projects in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Ilze currently serves as a member of the board of director of Transpower.
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Penny Ford,
Executive, Corporate & Institutional
Bank of New Zealand
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Penny is our Executive, Corporate & Institutional. In this role Penny is responsible for leading the Corporate and Institutional business supporting customers across a range of industries including infrastructure, government, financial institutions, agriculture and property. Penny re-joined the Bank of New Zealand in March 2019, having started her banking career at BNZ 19 years ago in Financial Markets. Following her start at BNZ, Penny held a variety of banking roles across Financial Markets in sales and structuring and most recently as General Manager Auckland Northland in the Commercial and Agri business at ANZ. Additionally Penny held governance roles on the ANZ Investments and UDC Finance boards. While the majority of Penny’s time has been in NZ business, she has also spent time in Australia and Asia in Financial markets roles. Penny holds a Chemical and Process Engineering degree from the University of Canterbury and Masters in Applied Finance from Victoria University of Wellington. Additionally Penny has attended executive education at both Columbia Business School and MIT- Sloan School of Management. Penny is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
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Geoff Busch,
Partner
Anderson Lloyd
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Geoff is a partner at law firm Anderson Lloyd. He specialises in project and infrastructure financing, and has been involved in the financing of a wide range of social and economic infrastructure both in New Zealand and offshore. Geoff’s 28 year career includes advising the successful sponsor consortia on financings of 7 of the 8 PPPs procured in New Zealand to date, and advising financiers and sponsors on a number of large scale social housing, renewable energy and water infrastructure project financings. Geoff is recognised as a leading New Zealand lawyer in banking and finance or project finance in all the leading international legal directories and is a member of the New Zealand organising committee of the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association.
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Henry Arundel,
General Manager – New Zealand
Programmed
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Henry brings over 20 years of facilities management experience to Programmed. He has an outstanding track record of leading organisations to deliver customer service excellence. He is accountable for contributing to Programmed’s profitability and growth by directing a high quality of service outcome to our customers. He achieves this by delivering outcomes around strategy, people, programs, policies and procedures for all contract operations in New Zealand.
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Charles Dodds,
Contract Manager
Programmed
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Charles is the Contract Manager for Programmed FM’s Fonterra Facilities Management Contract, with extensive experience in project and contract management across a variety of sectors and industries. He was promoted to his current role following his success as Project Manager with Fonterra. Charles will absorb Contract Management Responsibilities for IRD into his current workload. Charles has strong leadership qualities and adopts a personable style in leading his teams. He develops excellent business relationships with customers and providers to deliver on urgent and complex requirements as well as maintaining high performance customer service outcomes.
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Karen Kemp,
Partner
Anthony Harper
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Karen Kemp co-heads Anthony Harper’s internationally ranked construction practice. She is an experienced construction and infrastructure litigator, providing expert strategic advice and practical risk and dispute management for clients across the country including The Fletcher Construction Company, CPB Contractors, Fulton Hogan and KiwiRail. Karen began life as a Project Finance lawyer in the UK, so well understands how important it is to structure the relationships in complex infrastructure projects. She has since worked primarily on project risk management and disputes, where her previous deal-structuring knowledge has been invaluable. Karen takes a pragmatic and commercial approach to the wide range of claims that she works on. These extend across the industry and include complex projects for roading, railway networks, bridges, water and irrigation. She has also gained extensive experience on significant commercial and residential construction projects. Karen is recognised by her peers as being an expert in her field, and has been invited to speak at the Society for Construction Law Conference, the Building and Construction Regulation and Law Conference and the Women in Law Summit. She was on a Panel for the British New Zealand Business Association and Infrastructure New Zealand’s debate on the role of British infrastructure expertise. Karen is committed to the future success of infrastructure in New Zealand and her team supports the Emerging Talent (ET) network as well as being on the Committee. Karen sits on the National Advisory Board of the Women in Infrastructure Network (WIN) and was a delegate on the INZ international delegation to Hong Kong, Singapore and China in 2019.
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MC
Miriama Kamo,
Conference MC
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Award winning journalist, Miriama Kamo, is the presenter and a reporter for TVNZ’s flagship current affairs programme, Sunday and a presenter on TVNZ’s bilingual Maori and English current affairs show, Marae.
A founding Sunday team member, Miriama has relished working on the stories that matter to New Zealander’s. Miriama also proudly fronts Maori current affairs programme Marae, alongside Scotty Morrison.
Miriama has worked across most of TVNZ’s stable of news and current affairs programmes, including 20/20 and 1 News at Six.
As a newsreader, Miriama has been at the forefront of many major New Zealand events, including the Pike River Explosion, the passing of Sir Edmund Hillary, and the Christchurch earthquakes.
A writer, Miriama’s work is regularly featured on news sites, online publications and in magazines and in early 2018 Miriama had her first children’s book published.
Miriama draws on her skills as a journalist and television presenter – injected with her natural warmth to ensure events run smoothly and is the ultimate professional MC.
Sarah Lang,
Project Director
Infrastructure New Zealand
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Sarah Lang is Project Director at Infrastructure NZ, New Zealand’s peak infrastructure body. Sarah is responsible for business development activities, strategic partnerships, sponsorship and membership acquisition and retention for the organisation. In 2016 Sarah established the NZ Women’s Infrastructure Network (WIN) and is an advocate for the advancement of women in the infrastructure sector. Sarah has led the growth of the WIN network to over 1800 members spread over seven chapters nationwide, and was recently awarded the 2018 Women of Influence Diversity Award and was a nominee for the 2019 New Zealander of the Year Award.
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Andrew Bashford,
Head of Institutional Relationships, Corporate Business and Property Finance
Westpac NZ
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Karen Kemp co-heads Anthony Harper’s internationally ranked construction practice. She is an experienced construction and infrastructure litigator, providing expert strategic advice and practical risk and dispute management for clients across the country including The Fletcher Construction Company, CPB Contractors, Fulton Hogan and KiwiRail. Karen began life as a Project Finance lawyer in the UK, so well understands how important it is to structure the relationships in complex infrastructure projects. She has since worked primarily on project risk management and disputes, where her previous deal-structuring knowledge has been invaluable. Karen takes a pragmatic and commercial approach to the wide range of claims that she works on. These extend across the industry and include complex projects for roading, railway networks, bridges, water and irrigation. She has also gained extensive experience on significant commercial and residential construction projects. Karen is recognised by her peers as being an expert in her field, and has been invited to speak at the Society for Construction Law Conference, the Building and Construction Regulation and Law Conference and the Women in Law Summit. She was on a Panel for the British New Zealand Business Association and Infrastructure New Zealand’s debate on the role of British infrastructure expertise. Karen is committed to the future success of infrastructure in New Zealand and her team supports the Emerging Talent (ET) network as well as being on the Committee. Karen sits on the National Advisory Board of the Women in Infrastructure Network (WIN) and was a delegate on the INZ international delegation to Hong Kong, Singapore and China in 2019.
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Anthony Ruakere,
Director
EY Tahi
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Anthony Ruakere is a Director in EY’s Māori sector practice, Tahi Business Services. Having worked with and alongside Māori organisations in legal and business advisory capacities since 1996, Anthony brings a wealth of institutional and subject knowledge to his client engagements. In particular his work has seen him advise in various areas including strategy development and implementation, infrastructure procurement modelling, operating model design, Māori stakeholder relationship management and engagement, Māori partnership strategies, outcomes framework development, detailed service design, social enterprise, marketing, branding and supply chain management. Anthony leads many projects that employ Tahi’s wānanga engagement methodology – a form of focus group engagement with Māori stakeholders that seeks to bring the group along on a journey, facilitating a richer discussion around the experiences, needs, desires and aspirations of the group.
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Te Radar,
Gala Dinner MC
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In the course of his career Te Radar has dived with sharks, narrowly avoided a rabbit while racing a Formula 3 car at 200kph, plunged into the frozen Ross sea in only a skimpy pair of togs, been stung in a rather awkward place by a scorpion, and become (unofficially) New Zealand ’s worst television gardener.
With a string of more official awards to his name, including the country’s highest accolades for comedy and television, he is one of New Zealand ’s most recognized comedians and personalities.
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Te Radar website
Penelope Rae,
Business Director – Digital Consulting and Strategy
Beca
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Penelope is an energetic digital strategist and problem solver, with a strong focus on the customer and a willingness to challenge and transform the norm, explore ideas, continuously learn and innovate. Highly accomplished in both business and digital leadership roles, she brings a unique ability to blend customer needs with technology opportunities, leading and delivering value across complex and varied landscapes. Penelope brings experience from across the public and private sector, including roles as Chief Information Officer and Strategic Programme Lead – Wāheke at KiwiRail, and National Planning and Logistics at Toll New Zealand. She has a proven track record in developing and driving digital solutions, building strong, enduring relationships, and ensuring consistent delivery of exceptional results.
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Thought Leadership Video Presenters
Laura Clarke,
British High Commissioner to New Zealand
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Ms Laura Clarke took up her role as High Commissioner to New Zealand, and Governor of the Pitcairn Islands, in January 2018.
Her previous role was as Head of the South Asia Department in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and Government Coordinator for India. Other roles include Political Counsellor in Pretoria, South Africa; Chief of Staff to the Minister for Europe; work in FCO London on Sudan and Yemen, and EU Justice and Home Affairs. Prior to joining FCO she worked in the Ministry of Justice, the European Commission, and the British Parliament.
Laura studied modern languages at Cambridge University, and International Relations at the London School of Economics. She is married to Toby Fisher, a human rights barrister, and has three children.
The High Commissioner is the UK government’s representative in a Commonwealth nation. They are responsible for the direction and work of the High Commission and its Deputy High Commissions and/or Consulates, including political work, trade and investment, press and cultural relations, and visa and consular services.
Adrienne Miller,
General Manager, New Zealand
Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA)
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Adrienne Miller was appointed General Manager, New Zealand for ISCA in June 2020. Alongside that executive role she is also a member of INZ’s WIN Advisory Board, a Trustee on the board of Diversity Works (old EEO trust), a member of the Building Advisory Panel at the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment and a director of boutique consulting practice Cupola, which she founded. A trained lawyer, she has worked in private practice and as an executive and adviser across the waste, building products, construction & infrastructure sectors & at a public sector water utility – working for Waste Management NZ Limited, Carter Holt Harvey, Downers, Fletchers and Watercare.
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Ainsley Simpson,
Chief Executive Officer
Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA)
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As CEO of ISCA, Ainsley fosters partnerships to advance sustainability; enabling industry to deliver infrastructure for our all communities. She has worked in an executive level at ASX listed organisations, with operational roles in the public sector. Her journey with ISCA has included the deployment and continuous development of IS Rating Scheme, as well as actively investing in building capacity in the ANZ infrastructure industry. Prior to migrating to Australia, she actively participated in multi-scale housing and civil infrastructure projects in Southern Africa. Project involvement spans environmental assessment and management for transport infrastructure as well as utilities, including transmission assets, water networks, waste facilities and telecommunications. With a keen interest in building capacity and accelerating approvals processes, she specialised in the development of local and state government decision-support tools for sustainable planning and management. Ainsley has academic credentials in business management and environmental science.
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Tony Cussins,
Sector Director – Water
Tonkin + Taylor
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As Tonkin + Taylor’s Sector Director – Water, Tony has a responsibility for developing a wide range of technically challenging water projects and consultancy services throughout New Zealand, Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. These include civil, water resource and geotechnical engineering, dam engineering, environmental and planning services that combine exceptional quality of project delivery, which consistently exceed client expectations.
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Manea Sweeney,
Discipline Manager – Horizon Planning
Tonkin + Taylor
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Manea has extensive experience as an environmental advisory specialist and manager. Her work spans; planning and delivery of multidisciplinary infrastructural and public works projects, placemaking projects and research on emerging industry trends and disruptions across New Zealand and internationally. Her collaborative style and her commitment to creating high performing team’s means that she has held executive leadership positions in disaster recovery and resilience, community engagement, and environmental management.
Manea has particular expertise in working in cross-cultural contexts, with and for indigenous peoples, and is of Ngāpuhi, Te Atiawa and English decent. She is fluent in Te Reo Māori and English and has elementary command of Spanish and German. She believes that a language helps to understand a culture, acknowledging that this this approach has enabled her to work closely with a wide range of clients from Governments, indigenous organizations to local communities.
She is a Geographer by training, and specialised in Environmental Management, graduating with a BSC, PGDipSci and MSc (first class honours) from the University of Auckland where she evaluated the impacts of waste management on small island economies, a project funded by NZ Aid (NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade). Manea is also a graduate of the Leadership Institute, NZ Coaching and Mentoring Institute, and an active member of the NZ Planning Institute and the Resource Management Law Association.
Tom Young,
NZ Group Manager, Urban Planning & Environmental Services
Stantec
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Tom’s 2018 move from Canada to New Zealand opened his eyes to how the transit-oriented development trends of North America can help New Zealand interweave transport and land use to create more livable and affordable communities for all. With many years of experience developing comprehensive plans for walkable, mixed-use communities in Canada, Tom relocated to lead Urban Planning & Environmental Services teams in New Zealand. Planning is a ‘long-game’ that has the potential to dramatically shape how communities grow and develop. One of Tom’s Canadian projects involved regenerating a former municipal airport in Edmonton into a mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly, low-carbon neighbourhood for 30,000 people, all served by light rail transit. Since relocating to New Zealand, he has led the creation of a Transit Oriented Development strategy paper for Auckland Council, provided urban design input into improving active transport and public space for the Wanaka Town Centre Masterplan, and is currently helping to deliver a programme business case for pedestrian improvements for Auckland Transport.
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Mair Brooks,
Partner – Major Project Advisory
KPMG
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A senior executive with over 20 years of global experience in infrastructure across the public and private sector. As an infrastructure specialist Mair has designed, delivered and reviewed major projects, programs and portfolios that cover an estimated value of over $200bn of assets covering transport, education, health, mining, utilities, oil and gas sectors. She is an innovative thinker and whilst in Australia she chaired a joint industry-government Infrastructure Innovation Taskforce. Mair returned to New Zealand in late 2019 to join KPMG Infrastructure Practice.
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Steph Ward,
Director – Infrastructure and Government
KPMG
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Steph is a Director in KPMG’s Infrastructure and Government Advisory and specialises on the interface between the public and private sectors. She has lived in the UK and Canada, supporting governments with infrastructure and housing decisions that focus on the long-term outcomes for cities and regions. Her advice includes evidence-based decision making, developing commercial structures, and supporting major procurement processes. These days Steph is back living in Auckland and is working across public transport, housing and water on new forms of partnerships and funding models. Steph is a member of the Women Infrastructure Networks in NZ and Canada and has a keen interest in the role infrastructure can play in social and environmental sustainability.
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Workshop Facilitators
Rohan Bush,
Chief Advisor, Construction and Innovation
Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities
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Rohan has 20 years’ experience in urban development, housing policy and sustainability strategy. She has excelled in a number of leadership roles in the built environment and is skilled in strategic planning, analytical thinking, advocacy, programme management and stakeholder engagement. Rohan has international experience and has worked at all tiers of government across New Zealand, Australia and more recently the UK. She joined the Construction and Innovation team at Kāinga Ora late last year, having returned from a role as Head of Partnerships & Future Skills for Construction Scotland Innovation Centre. Prior to leaving NZ, Rohan held the post of Manager of Affordable Housing Policy for Auckland Council, and managed a team of housing policy professionals. Prior to this role Rohan worked alongside the founding Chief Executive to establish and grow the New Zealand Green Building Council as an influential industry organisation in the property sector. Board experience includes Rohan’s role as Trustee of Environmental Choice New Zealand, the leading eco-labelling organisation in New Zealand, and three years on the Professions Advisory Board for the School of Architecture and Design at Victoria University, Wellington. In 2015, Rohan was invited to join a government-funded research delegation to visit sustainable residential developments in Northern Europe, and meet with leading urban sustainability organisations. Awards include first prize for excellence in Māori planning research in 2015. Rohan has been a guest lecturer at Heriot Watt University, Auckland University, Unitec, AUT and Victoria Universities, and an invited speaker at numerous conferences in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
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Neil Sorensen,
Priority Focus Lead – Partnering
Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities
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A highly regarded people and team leader with over 25 years’ experience of leading teams in operations, security, health and safety, HR, industrial relations, inclusion and diversity, integrity, mental wellness, financial management, strategic planning and vision setting with boardroom experience and media relations acumen. Sorensen also works in the Men’s Mental Health space as a Wellington based member of the ‘One for the Blokes’ support group, where he shares his story of living with and overcoming a PTSD from prolonged and severe sexual abuse suffered in childhood that is receiving incredibly positive results. Sorensen is passionate about authentic leadership and was drawn to Kāinga Ora in early 2020 by the new leadership he observed, the ability to make a difference for Kiwis in need and the desire to contribute to creating a better NZ to live in or visit. Prior to that, he spent 18 years at NZ Rugby as General Manager Rugby and was Head of Sports Betting at NZ TAB. His leadership style has been described as ‘courageous’, ‘down to earth’ and ‘real’ He willingly demonstrates vulnerability which team mates say, builds trust within teams he leads. Sorensen talks about wanting Kāinga Ora to be an organisation that cares about the welfare of its people and the people they serve. The culture must be ‘touchable’ you won’t need to read values posters to feel the culture. It will be led from the top down and bottom up, creating a broad, energised and respectful workplace.
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Pamela Bell,
Innovation Consultant
Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities
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Pamela brings experience in architecture (MArch), Olympic-level sport (snowboarding), business entrepreneurship (PrefabNZ Inc, Fruition Apparel Ltd, NZ Snowboard Academy Ltd) and governance (BRANZ, Mt Vic Hub, Snow Sports NZ). She founded PrefabNZ in 2010 from her Master of Architecture thesis ‘Kiwi Prefab’, and handed over the reins in 2019 when offsite construction reached a ‘tipping point’ of awareness for government, industry and public alike. Today, Pamela is an independent Innovation Consultant, specialising in the built environment, growing start-ups, and future-focused governance, to clients around the world. She has been the lucky recipient of a number of awards throughout her career, most recently the Victoria University of Wellington Alumni Award (2019).
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Steve Dudley,
Director, Infrastructure Advisory
Aurecon
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Aurecon’s Steve Dudley is both a Transport Planner and Urban Planner with more than 25 years in leadership roles on transport corridor, bus and rail projects throughout New Zealand and Australia. He brings in-depth understanding of the fundamental drivers of transport investment, interchange design requirements and urban integration strategies. Steve’s work at the forefront of Auckland’s public transport projects includes leading strategically critical and varied business cases and associated design. He has been involved in most major rapid transit studies undertaken in Auckland and the design of several multi-modal interchanges through all phases. Steve has a proven record of leveraging real urban outcomes from transport projects, a vital role of urban interchanges. He has led the planning and design of interchanges and stations at Otahuhu, Newmarket and Manukau. These interchange stations have generated actual or potential transit-oriented developments – Manukau, in particular, was a unique example in New Zealand of real outcomes and a catalyst for investment and enhanced community outcomes. Steve’s broad experience means he has faced challenges and applied design standards in a wide range of situations, delivering real results on the ground. From off-street operational hubs like Otahuhu to complex, on-street urban interchanges like Downtown Auckland and local centre integrated outcomes like Manurewa, Steve’s full suite of practical experience enables him to bring customers and communities to the forefront of system design.
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Claire Lyons,
Design Thinking Facilitator
Aurecon
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Claire Lyons is an experienced Design Thinking practitioner who strongly believes that building a shared understanding puts individuals and teams in the best position to shape better choices for the future. With more than 25 years in the consulting industry, Claire is passionate about facilitating discussions using a variety of tools and her personable approach to create a ‘safe’ environment where individuals and teams feel free to share ideas without judgement. She is skilled at bringing together individuals from varied backgrounds and seniority, from across both the private and public sectors, to focus on creating a shared understanding of challenges. Using rigorous and proven methodologies, Claire’s strength is in her proven ability to help different groups, often with competing interests, identify issues affecting customers, ask ‘why’ they are happening and to put themselves in respective parties’ shoes to deliver game-changing solutions. Claire can draw on her ability to help people step back and look at complex issues from a range of vested interests, including that of the end users.
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Noriko Wynn,
Futures Research Leader
Aurecon
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Noriko leads the Futures Research area in Aurecon’s Futures Team, a dedicated service helping clients use strategic foresight the navigate uncertain futures and anticipate new opportunities for innovation, products and services. As Futures Research Leader, Noriko works with clients using strategic mapping, systems thinking and technology foresight to help clients develop situational awareness to anticipate future operating environments. She draws on strategic thinking and foresight capabilities to help clients navigate complexity and ambiguity and deliver innovative solutions. An experienced facilitator, Noriko has a background in economic development, innovation, digital strategy and public policy. She joined Aurecon from the public sector, where she worked at the highest level of two Australian state governments specialising in economic development, innovation policy, digital economy, investment attraction, defence and precinct development.
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Rebecca Hollett,
Associate, Infrastructure Advisory
Aurecon
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Rebecca is an experienced Infrastructure Advisory specialist with an extensive background in project definition, planning, design and delivery. Her expertise includes business case development, feasibility studies, urban and regional planning, environmental and other statutory approvals, community engagement and consultation, site redevelopment, design and construction management, and property divestment. Rebecca has worked in Australia and New Zealand on diverse projects and locations, where every community is different and is constantly evolving in relation to the environment, especially with technological change and disruption. Her broad experience means Rebecca is skilled at quickly identifying critical success factors and working collaboratively to respond to the opportunities and constraints of different regulatory environments. A skilled communicator, Rebecca responds clearly and empathetically to the needs and aspirations of communities, identifying and working through complex strategic problems using the principles of urban planning to create places in which people enjoy both visiting and living and working in. She understands the drivers of both the public and private sector investment and is skilled at aligning the two to navigate challenging processes in a way that leads to mutually beneficial outcomes.
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Geoff Cooper,
General Manager, Strategy
Infracom (NZ Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga)
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Geoff Cooper is General Manager, Strategy at the Infrastructure Commission, and is leading development of its 30-year strategy for New Zealand’s infrastructure. He has a background in global policy having worked for the United Nations, the United States Treasury and the Federal Reserve. He is a former Chief Economist for Auckland Council, where he worked on infrastructure, housing, regulation and financial policy. More recently, as Chief Economist at PwC, Geoff has contributed to the economic appraisal of a range of large infrastructure projects, including Wellington’s Let’s Get Wellington Moving programme, Auckland Light Rail, Hamilton to Auckland High Speed Rail and Queenstown’s Way to Go programme. Geoff holds a Master of Economics with First Class Honours from the University of Auckland and a Master of Public Affairs from Princeton University.
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Richard MacGeorge,
Chief Advisor, Strategy and Finance
Infracom (NZ Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga)
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Richard MacGeorge is the Infrastructure Commission’s Chief Advisor, Strategy and Finance. As part of the team developing its 30-year infrastructure strategy, he is looking at global and sector issues, with a focus on emerging trends. He has a background in infrastructure finance, with six years’ experience at the World Bank where he co-led projects for gas supply in Ukraine and roading upgrades in Croatia. Prior to this he has held senior roles at the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, Macquarie Bank and HSBC Investment Bank. In these and other positions, Richard gave financial advice on major infrastructure projects in New Zealand and around the world. He has also led his own consultancy, providing advice to developing nations, and lectured in finance at Canterbury University.
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Dr Luke Krieg,
Innovation Leader, New Zealand
GHD
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Luke has over 15 years innovation management experience, having established the Innovation Practice for Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, following a career that has spanned industrial research and innovation management consulting for NZ and European organisations including Siemens, Philips Lighting, Callaghan Innovation, and Landcare Research. Luke is a passionate advocate for inclusive leadership, with a unique ability to reimagine what is possible by using an open, customer-centric co-design approach, and with the business experience of building compelling cases for change to make this real.
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Maurice Hoban,
Market Leader – Digital, New Zealand
GHD
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Maurice has more than 20 years’ experience advising cities, government, & private organizations on strategy, policy, transformation, risk, change management and governance. Maurice specializes in working with groups, multiple stakeholders or communities to define outcomes and pathways to delivery. Maurice has a policy and innovation background mixed with a innovation mindset that focused on customer and business outcomes. Maurice set up Smart Seeds in New Zealand a collaboration with over 65 organisations. Maurice is a Principal of GHD and leads the GHD Digital & Innovation Asia Pacific business.
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Sioban Hartwell,
Market Leader – Water, New Zealand
GHD
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Sioban is a Civil Engineer with over 25 years’ experience on a wide range of water related projects in the UK, New Zealand, Australia and the US. In her current role, she provides strategic oversite to GHDs work in the water sector in NZ and represents GHD at a governance level on a number of water panels. She has a technical background in mining and urban three waters management and is active in delivering projects for clients in these sectors. Over the past 2 years, she has been managing a series of studies for government on wastewater, to inform new regulations.
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David Walker,
Market Development Lead – Advisory, New Zealand
GHD
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David is a qualified CA with degrees in finance and economics, and has lead or facilitated a Number of signature Advisory projects across the transport, water and urban development activities.
David’s background includes extensive organisation change management experience across infrastructure and local government, both as an executive at the legacy Auckland City Council and as a commercial advisor and infrastructure sector lead at PwC.
David is currently Project Director for 3 Water business case studies in both the Manawatu and Taranaki regions related to the Government reform programme.
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GHD website