Chris Hipkins is the Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, and Member of Parliament for Remutaka. He became Prime Minister in January 2023.

Chris passionately believes that every New Zealander deserves the opportunity to reach their full potential in life. He is a staunch advocate for and defender of our public education system. Chris believes that a free, quality education is the right of every child.

Born in 1978, Chris has worked in both the public and private sectors. Chris is passionate about the Hutt Valley, his home, a place that he believes is “bursting with energy and potential”. An outdoor enthusiast, Chris is particularly keen on mountain biking, tramping and swimming. Chris currently lives in Upper Hutt.

He attended Waterloo Primary School, Hutt Intermediate and Hutt Valley Memorial College (later known as Petone College), where he was the Head Boy in 1996. He went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Politics and Criminology at Victoria University.

After completing his study, Chris worked in the industry training sector. Before becoming an MP he also worked at parliament, first as Senior Advisor to two Education Ministers and later in the office of the then-Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Chris entered Parliament in 2008 and became the Spokesperson for Education at the beginning of 2013. He places a strong emphasis on social justice and believes that every New Zealander should have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Christopher Luxon is the Leader of the Opposition and the MP for Botany. He entered Parliament at the 2020 election and was elected Leader of the National Party in November 2021.

Prior to entering Parliament, Christopher was Chief Executive Officer of Air New Zealand from 2013 to 2019. Under his leadership the airline delivered record profits and all time high customer satisfaction scores, and achieved its highest levels of staff engagement.

In addition Air New Zealand won numerous accolades, including several celebrating it as the best airline in the world and others recognising its commitment to key areas such as sustainability, innovation, corporate reputation, employee engagement and customer experience. During Christopher’s tenure, the company held the No. 1 Corporate Reputation and Trust Company in New Zealand 2015–2019 and No. 1 Corporate Reputation and Trust Company in Australia 2017–2019.

Prior to joining Air New Zealand, Christopher was President and Chief Executive Officer at Unilever Canada. This was one of several senior leadership roles he held during an 18 year career at the multinational that saw him work in roles in Europe, North America and Asia–Pacific. Christopher has a Master of Commerce in Business Administration from the University of Canterbury.

Christopher served as the inaugural Chair of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Business Advisory Council and has received wide recognition for his leadership including a Blake Leader Award, Deloitte CEO of the Year, Orient Aviation Person of the Year, and Deloitte Company of the Year.

Jack Tame is the host of Q+A on TVNZ1 and Saturday Mornings on Newstalk ZB. Originally from Christchurch, his career has taken him around the World and included five as TVNZ’s U.S Correspondent. Jack has covered natural disasters, the Olympic Games, and the last three U.S elections. He enjoys test cricket, non-fiction, and he considers his life peaked when shared a bottle of red with Sir David Attenborough… in Antarctica.

 

Alan has been Chief Executive of WICS since its establishment in 2005. He was previously Water Industry Commissioner, and was responsible for the merger of the three water authorities in 2002 that were in place in Scotland at that time. This change paved the way for the substantial improvements in efficiency and service that have since been delivered by Scottish Water. Alan also worked with the Scottish Government to develop the regulatory framework, ensuring that each party had clear responsibilities and clarifying the regulator’s role as decision maker (rather than as government advisor).

Alan put in place a model to allow competition within the water and sewerage retail market for non-households, a world first at that time (2008).

Unswervingly committed to a customer-centric approach, Alan is working with sector stakeholders to engender greater candour transparency and collaboration. Alan believes in sharing experience and expertise and, through the Scottish Government’s Hydro Nation initiative, supports international capacity-building projects that facilitate the development of economic regulation and of more sustainable water industries.

Alan has extensive experience in management consultancy and in the investment banking industry. He previously worked as a management consultant with Bain and Company, was Managing Director of Wolverine CIS Ltd. Alan has an MBA and an MA from the Wharton School and the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania and an MA (Hons) from the University of St Andrews.

Alex Walker has been Mayor of Central Hawke’s Bay since 2016, where elections delivered a strong mandate for change and a new energy for the future. Project Thrive began and one of the loudest messages delivered was the importance of water to our community. This, combined with a vision for growth and prosperity, environmental responsibilities, as well as strong and durable infrastructure is how #thebigwaterstory began. Infrastructure investment was prioritised and planning long-term resilience and environmental issues with wastewater treatment. Council has developed a programme of upgrades and improvements to ensure that the drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure is able to meet the current and future needs of the community. This transformational focus has seen CHBDC earning the first AA CouncilMark Rating for a small rural Council in New Zealand. However, Cycle Gabrielle has introduced new challenges and impetus to the need for climate resilience in the investment approach.

 

Amelia East is an experienced and business-minded leader with a broad range of commercial, financial, infrastructure, transport and implementation experience in global companies, central government and local government. As a qualified solicitor in New Zealand and the UK, Amelia has a comprehensive understanding of legal systems, contracts and capital works. A seasoned negotiator, Amelia can ensure good outcomes for the entities she represents. She is passionate about leading teams and projects to deliver successful outcomes in dynamic environments with ambitious goals and multiple stakeholders.

 

Born and raised in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland, Andrea cherishes her deep connection to the people and places of New Zealand, and passion for shaping a safer, better connected and more sustainable future.

A planner and social scientist by background, Andrea has been involved in the optioneering, consenting and delivery of some of the largest road, rail and water infrastructure projects and programmes in Aotearoa over the past 25 years.

Andrea is a strong believer in collaboration; with clients, partners, peers, and communities, and in front-footing the significant challenges and opportunities ahead of us as an infrastructure industry.

 

Andrew Hagan has over 15 years’ public sector experience with a proven track record of strategic and operational delivery in increasingly complex roles spanning financial markets, risk management, infrastructure, and commercial and policy advice. Andy has a unique skill set which blends strategic, political, commercial, financial, and operational nous. Sought out for analytical and problem-solving ability, he has experience advising and engaging with senior officials and Ministers.

 

Arihia Bennett (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Porou, Ngāpuhi) has been the Chief Executive Officer of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu since 2012. Reporting directly to the board, Arihia works closely with the senior leadership team to protect and advance the interests of more than 78,000 iwi members and develop the strategy and purpose that guides the whole organisation according to its tribal whakataukī: Mō tātou, ā, mō kā uri ā muri ake nei – For us and our children after us.

She oversees the operations of the entire Te Rūnanga Group, using strong relationship management and stakeholder engagement skills across a broad range of internal and external stakeholders, including other iwi, central and local government, community agencies, and corporate entities. She also oversees the delivery of a range of programmes and initiatives designed to create intergenerational wellbeing for all Ngāi Tahu whānau.

Arihia is also the Chair of Kāpuia – the Ministerial Advisory Group on the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the terrorist attack on the Christchurch mosques. She is a member of the Ombudsman’s Office’s Pūhara Mana Tangata Māori advisory panel, a New Zealand-China Council member, and the patron of Royal New Zealand Police College’s Wing 362.

She has held several other advisory roles and directorships, including Commissioner of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Commission, and has worked collaboratively with other leaders across Ōtautahi Christchurch to advise on the city’s redevelopment. She was previously on the boards of two non-profit social service providers. Arihia also served as a director of Ngāi Tahu Development Corporation from 1999 to 2002, and then as chair until 2005.

She is a member of Global Women and the Tuahiwi branch of Māori Women’s Welfare League.

Arihia is an alumna of graduate business school INSEAD Fontainebleau and Singapore, and Te Hono Movement (a partnership helping to drive the success of the primary industry in Aotearoa).

In 2008 Arihia was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori and the community.

Arihia lives at Tuahiwi in North Canterbury and is an active participant in her Papatipu Rūnanga.

 

Bevan specialises in advising on projects in the infrastructure and energy sectors. He has acted for public sector agencies, financial institutions, corporate borrowers, and sponsors on a wide range of complex transactions. He currently acts on five of the public private partnerships in New Zealand and he has also worked on a number of other infrastructure finance transactions in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. He brings a wealth of experience from working on innovative infrastructure financing and refinancing transactions in international markets.

 

Brendon is a Director in the Project Finance team at ANZ Institutional. He has over 10 year experience in the banking sector in NZ across Project Finance, Leverage Finance and Resources, Energy and Infrastructure. Brendon has extensive background in financing renewable energy projects in NZ including a number of geothermal projects

 

Camilla has worked as an employment lawyer and has been standing up for others since she was a teenager. She now brings these experiences to her role as a List MP based in Epsom and Chair of Labour Auckland Caucus.

During high school she campaigned for a youth health centre in Wellington, securing funding to establish Evolve, a dedicated youth health service still operating today.

While at Law School, Camilla was elected Co-President of the New Zealand University Students Association. In 2005, she led a successful campaign for a fairer student loan scheme, culminating with Labour’s 0% student loans election policy.

Throughout her legal career, Camilla was a strong advocate for working people. While in the UK she was the solicitor on a high profile case at the Court of Justice of the European Union that addressed holiday pay rates for people across the EU who are paid on commission. In NZ, she was a volunteer solicitor at Community Law for many years.

Camilla is a strong advocate for women and the families they support. She has worked extensively on pay equity policy and on legal claims seeking equal pay for work.

Camilla loves the diverse and vibrant communities in the Epsom electorate, from Newmarket to Mt Eden, Remuera and Parnell to Eden Terrace and Grafton. She and husband Andrew live in Auckland with their three children.

Elected in 2020, Camilla is the Deputy Chair of Parliament’s Education and Workforce Select Committee, Chair of the Labour Education and Workforce and Select Committee and is also a member of the Regulations Review Select Committee.

Born and raised in South Auckland, Clint leads for Health, Safety, Environmental and Quality for McConnell Dowell New Zealand and Pacific, he has worked in the industry for 15 years primarily around capital projects delivery. The challenge of working on complex engineering and construction with great people is what excites him. Sustainability offers new challenges but also there is a lot opportunity in innovation as we all navigate this journey.

 

Daniel’s practice specialises in resource management and environmental litigation, and providing advice to major development projects. His expertise has led him to assist on a variety of projects including major transport and other infrastructure projects, along with significant urban regeneration and placemaking projects. He brings a pragmatic, collaborative approach, to help deliver fantastic outcomes for his clients. Daniel is the firm’s National Practice Group Chair for Environment, Planning and Natural Resources. He is experienced at managing complex consenting projects which includes working on major infrastructure projects with multiple project partners. Daniel’s experience includes navigating issues in relation to managing iwi relationships, and addressing climate change issues

Dean is the Auckland Transport CEO, appointed in April 2023. Prior to this he has held a range of executive roles including Tuhura Partners – an advisory business to infrastructure owners and government, Chief Operating Officer for Auckland Council, and prior to that Managing Director for AECOM NZ.

Alongside these executive roles he has held a number of governance positions including independent board member for the NZ Upgrade Programme, independent chair of the Eastern Busway Alliance, independent chair of the western Bay of Plenty Transport System Programme, independent chair for Auckland Councils response to the Americas Cup 36th defence, President of Engineering NZ, former board member of Infrastructure NZ and the trustee for the Parenting Place charity.

 

Dr Neil D’Souza heads Jacobs’ New Energy and Advisory practice for the APAC region. He holds a Masters in Energy Economics and Policy, and a PhD in Energy Economics – highly relevant to the current energy transition markets. Neil has led price benchmarking and valuation studies across a range of commodities, carried out policy analysis for governments in the region and assessed hydrocarbon and fuel procurement risks for public and private sector firms. He also provided pre-feasibility and due diligence studies for the process and electricity sectors. Neil has carried out energy policy research for public sector and multilateral agencies, such as the International Energy Agency and the Asian Development Bank.

 

In recent years, Neil’s focus has pivoted towards energy transition and the hydrogen economy. He led the feasibility of developing a hydrogen economy in Singapore – a study awarded by Singapore’s Prime Minister’s Office in 2019. More recently he has worked on blue and green hydrogen/ammonia concepts, and market energy and pricing advice for key players and policymakers in the Middle East, Asia, Australia and the US.

Erana has over 15 years’ experience in public policy roles, including in the tertiary education, health and transport sectors.

Erana has been at the Treasury for 4 years and in her current role, she leads the policy function within the Investment Management System team at the Treasury. This includes responsibility for public investment system policy settings and advice to Ministers on prioritisation and sequencing of capital investment (including infrastructure).

Fraser is the Managing Director of McConnell Dowell Constructors Ltd for New Zealand and the Pacific Islands with over 30 years’ experience in senior management roles across the civil infrastructure sector. He has been providing effective governance to large multi-disciplined project teams for more than a decade. His management skills are aligned with technical expertise and deep insight into constructability issues. This enables him to drive optimal solutions and value engineering, manage risk and act on opportunities.

 

Fraser brings outstanding skills in strategic analysis and planning, performance management, and financial and commercial management. He has an impressive record in governance, with experience as PAB Chair on two of New Zealand’s best performing alliance projects ‐ the Memorial Park Alliance (MPA) and Wynyard Edge Alliance (WEA) that has delivered the 36th America’s Cup infrastructure (AC36). Other relevant governance includes roles on the CRL C2, SCIRT Alliance, and Hamilton Ring Road.

Geoff Cooper 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.

 

Graeme Newton has had led the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority as its Chief Executive Officer since 2017.

Cross River Rail is Queensland’s largest single infrastructure project and will transform the way people travel across the whole of South East Queensland. It will increase rail network capacity and reliability, act as a catalyst for future rail improvements, drive urban renewal at major station locations and has already played a critical role in Brisbane securing the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Prior to taking the helm of the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority, Graeme has had extensive senior executive experience leading large and complex, high profile, multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects within both the private and public sector.

He was appointed by the Queensland Premier as the first Chief Executive Officer of the Queensland Reconstruction Authority in 2011 and prior to that served as both Director-General for Infrastructure and Planning and State Government Coordinator-General. Graeme has also been awarded both a National Award for Excellence and the QUT Outstanding Alumni Award.

In his current role at Cross River Rail, Graeme takes great pride in leading high performing teams that continue to set new benchmarks for integrated delivery, safe construction, collaborative partnerships, and technological innovation.

Judy joined Counties Energy as Chief Executive in October 2017. Prior to this, Judy had full operational responsibility for Auckland Airport, including rescue fire, engineering, utilities, forecasting and the processing of close to 20 million passengers per year. Prior to Auckland Airport, Judy held senior management positions in several industries, including Fonterra, New Zealand Police, AFFCO and Unitec.

Based in Toronto, Canada, Kate Broer is the Global Inclusion Diversity and Equity Officer for Dentons. Kate (She/Her/Hers) is responsible for leading and driving inclusion, diversity and equity as a strategic priority. Working closely and collaboratively with Dentons global leadership, she is focused on supporting and advancing greater equity, diversity and inclusion across Dentons’ 200+ locations and in the Firm’s work with clients.

Kate has been with the firm for over 20 years and is a pioneer and recognised leader in the advancement of women and other underrepresented groups in the profession. Kate has a proven track record in leading transformative inclusion and diversity initiatives.

Kate has been recognised with a Catalyst Canada Honours Award, a Leaders to Be Proud of Leading Executive Ally Award, and is the recipient of a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of her contributions in advancing diversity and inclusion.

Prior to joining Dentons’ global team, Kate was a practicing litigation partner in Dentons’ Canada Region, handling a variety on complex corporate and commercial matters with an emphasis on regulatory disputes, and risk analysis and compliance in a number of contexts including banking and financing, and environment.

 

Katrina is a Partner in the Major Projects and Construction team in Auckland for Dentons Kensington Swan. She is a leading construction and dispute resolution lawyer with over 16 years’ experience.

Katrina’s industry sector experience means she brings a unique perspective and applies a practical lens to solving complex problems. Katrina is skilled at bringing together multi-disciplinary teams to resolve issues, whether by way of negotiation, mediation, adjudication under the Construction Contracts Act 2002, arbitration or Court proceedings.

Katrina is a recognised industry leader and in July 2022, she was appointed to the Accord Steering Group, the governing body for the Construction Sector Accord (a partnership between the New Zealand Government and the construction industry, formed to transform the construction sector).

Katrina is on the Board of Infrastructure New Zealand, New Zealand’s leading infrastructure member association.

Leon is a short, old pakeha guy from Eastbourne. Married to Sally, he has two adult children. His current primary executive role is to help out Ngati Toa with Commercial matters as Pou Putea or Treasurer. A graduate of: VUW; Massey University, and AICD, he is a Chartered Banker; Senior Fellow of FINSIA and an FRSA. A former Commissioned Officer with 16 Field Regiment RNZA, Leon has held GM roles with HSBC NZ; AXA, and was Head of Trade Finance for ABN AMRO within NZ. Leon served as Trustee for the Scout Youth Foundation; Cadet Council for NZ and served on two University scholarship Committees. Leon currently Chair’s: FUSO NZ; Keith Andrews Holdings; Switched On Group; Aegis Retirement Villages, and TOA ITM, he also serves on the Boards of The Research Agency, and Toronto based global company The Advantage Group, and is a Joint Managing Director of Armillary Private Capital. Leon is looking forward to retiring from executive roles in the next few years.

 

Liz is an Infrastructure Leader for Arup. Liz has over 20 years of experience in decarbonisation, transport, energy and infrastructure planning and delivery. Liz is currently working on transport, energy, water and infrastructure projects for a variety of public and private sector clients in NZ, Australia and the UK. This includes Auckland Light Rail, NZ’s Hydrogen Hub project, various infrastructure decarbonisation projects and NZ’s first transport Agent Based Model.

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. From 2003-2014 Liz worked for Transport for London. 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 and the regeneration of the surrounding areas. She also worked on the redevelopment of Euston Station, and the development of Crossrail1, 2 and High Speed Rail. Liz led on the development of Europe’s first ultra-low emissions based road pricing scheme which opened in 2019 and the UK’s first autonomous vehicle trial in Milton Keynes.

Margaret is the Chair of Infrastructure New Zealand, having been elected at the 2021 AGM. Margaret has been an active member on the Board for a number of years and is a professional company director, working primarily in the infrastructure and service sector. She has a particular focus on people, diversity and culture. She is currently Chair of Watercare, Hospice Waikato, and a director of DairyNZ, Hamilton Airport, IT Partners Group and Waimea Water.

Matt Thomas, Chair of the Digital Built Aotearoa Foundation and consultant with TGBC providing advice to large infrastructure delivery programmes.

Matt Thomas has over 20 years’ experience in Programme Management, infrastructure asset management and systems and data governance.

He was responsible for the design and establishment of the processes and systems for both the Christchurch horizontal infrastructure rebuild alliance following the 2011 earthquake and also the Kaikoura transport infrastructure rebuild alliance following the 2016 earthquake.

He is currently advising on the establishment of the east coast recovery alliances following the flood events earlier this year in addition to other large infrastructure programmes. This will be the third disaster recovery alliance that Matt has helped to establish.

A strong advocate for systems which provide enduring capabilities – these are digital and system capabilities that offer enduring value during peace-time and offer expedited recovery timeframes following disasters.

He is chair of the newly established Digital Built Aotearoa Foundation – a charity established to be a home for technology and knowledge, gathered from our experience of disaster recovery, and make this available to all New Zealand. He wants us to stop reinventing the wheel every time there’s a new disaster or large infrastructure programme and start looking at opportunities to standardise the way we work across the sector and promote open-data for the benefit of the communities we serve.

After starting his career as a lawyer in Brisbane, Nathan has worked in the energy sector for the last 12 years. During this time, Nathan has worked on a variety of gas, LNG and power projects in Australia, Asia and New Zealand. While based in Singapore with Shell, Nathan was responsible for market development in Asia where he oversaw the establishment of new energy businesses as markets deregulated and investments into renewables were increasing significantly. Nathan moved to New Zealand in early 2021 with his young family. After nearly two years with national grid operator, Transpower, Nathan joined BlueFloat as Country Manager for New Zealand in November 2022.

Nick Leggett was appointed Chief Executive of Infrastructure New Zealand in April 2023. Previously Chief Executive of the trucking industry peak body, Transporting New Zealand, Nick’s professional career has always centered around the need for excellent infrastructure. As Mayor of Porirua between 2010-2016 he understands power of great infrastructure to power opportunities and provide a bedrock for economic growth and social progress.

Nicola Robbins is a senior lawyer at Russell McVeagh. She specializes in complex and high-risk procurement of infrastructure and technology.

This includes assisting Wellington Water on the procurement of construction works for various major infrastructure projects, and more recently advising on the Three Waters reform. Nicola has also worked with KiwiRail on Project iReX, and Hutt City Council on the RiverLink Project and the Eastern Bays Shared Path Project.

Nicola chairs the Wellington branch of the Infrastructure Collective, and is an aspiring Director on the Board of Wellington Hockey.

 

Mayor Paula Southgate was first elected as Hamilton’s mayor in 2019, and then re-elected for a second term in 2022. Prior to this, she served as Councillor for Waikato Regional Council for 12 years, where she gained a reputation as a strong advocate for sustainable development and community engagement. Focused on improving Hamilton’s safety, affordable housing, and sustainable transport options, Mayor Southgate also champions the city’s response to the ongoing threat of climate change. Mayor Southgate is a passionate supporter of Hamilton’s arts and culture scene and is committed to making the city a more inclusive and equitable place for all its residents.

 

Peter brings close to 20 years’ experience from across a diversity of roles in government, the private sector, academic administration and industry.

He is an internationally recognised leader in infrastructure policy, most recently leading policy development and reform for the Australian Government’s independent infrastructure advisor, Infrastructure Australia. Peter has led the development or authored more than 50 policy and planning documents including landmark reports, such as 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan, 2019 and 2015 Australian Infrastructure Audits, and 2022 and 2021 Infrastructure Market Capacity Program.

Previously, Peter held senior roles in Australia’s largest membership organisation, the NRMA, the largest public transport operator, Keolis Downer, and motorway operator, Transurban.

Peter has led transformational change in the construction sector through collaborative reforms addressing market capacity constraints, as well as embedding the concepts of resilience, sustainability and place-making. In the transport sector he pioneered the deployment of integrated multimodal public transport through Newcastle Transport, and future mobility through the innovative adoption of electric, autonomous and connected vehicles.

His leadership in heritage and urban policy has been recognised through his appointment to the Transport for NSW Independent Funding Advisory Panel and the UNSW Cities Futures Research Centre Advisory Panel. Peter also is a regular guest lecturer in the UNSW and UTS infrastructure programmes, as well as the Australasian Railway Association Understanding Rail program.

His experience spans transport, tourism and accommodation, through his roles in government and the NRMA, owner of Travelodge and the Kurrajong Hotel, as well as one of Australia’s largest tourism operators spanning parks and resorts as well as tours and experiences.

 

 

Peter Reidy re-joined KiwiRail as Chief Executive in August 2022. He had previously held the same position from 2014 to 2018, before holding the role of CEO Fletcher Construction from 2018 – 2022.

Prior to KiwiRail, Peter was CEO of Downer New Zealand, and then held senior leadership roles with Downer Group in Australia and Singapore, including Board roles on the KeolisDowner Joint Venture operating Yarra Trams in Melbourne, and Gold Coast Light Rail.

Peter has also held senior leadership roles with Todd Energy and Freightways New Zealand.

More recently Peter was Co-Chair of the NZ Government Construction Accord.

Peter holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Auckland and has completed the CEO programme at Wharton University.

 

Peter Tompkins was appointed Downer Group Chief Executive Officer on 27 February 2023.

Previously, Peter held the position of Group Chief Operating Officer commencing June 2021.

He was formerly CEO and Managing Director of Spotless; a role he held since October 2018.

Peter joined Downer in 2008 and was appointed General Counsel in 2010. He is a highly valued member of Downer’s Executive Committee, which consists of the most senior executives from across the Group.

Peter has been a key member of Downer’s Tenders and Contracts Committee, which is central to Downer’s bid and risk management, and has been actively engaged in Downer’s Public Private Partnerships since 2008.

Peter has represented Downer on numerous Boards including Keolis Downer, Evolution Rail and Reliance Rail.

He has qualifications in law and commerce from Deakin University.

Rēnata Blair (Ngāti Whātua) is charged with leading BNZ’s growth strategy within the Māori business sector. He has vast experience working with iwi bringing a wide sector knowledge into the commercial sector. A key component of his position is working with Māori entities to help deliver upon their economic aspirations, which in turn helps to accelerate the sustainable growth and prosperity of Aotearoa. He is BNZ’s leader in the development of Te Reo me ōna Tikanga and has a passion to see more Māori working across the finance and banking sector.

Rēnata also holds governance roles with the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust, Eden Park and AUT University. Along with his roles on these boards, he has a background in the corporate and private sectors.

 

Richard is Global Head of Infrastructure, Government and Healthcare – a group of sectors that also includes Transport, Construction and Business Services and represents almost 25% of KPMG’s global revenues. He has almost 30 years’ experience in policy, governance, strategy and financing, advising both public and private sector clients in the UK and overseas.

Richard is motivated by the understanding that the world is facing both a climate and a social emergency. He is committed to doing everything he can to support public and private sector organisations to play their part in averting those disasters and support the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, to enable sustainable quality of life for everyone, everywhere.

Richard is Chair of the International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure, and KPMG’s representative on the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and a member of the Infrastructure Board of the Confederation of British Industry. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He chairs the Advisory Council of The Infrastructure Forum, which is an independent think-tank which brings together organisations with involvement in UK infrastructure from public, private and regulatory perspectives. He is a prolific writer on infrastructure, transport, sustainability, and organisational purpose, and is quoted regularly in the media.

Richard began his career as a civil servant at the UK Department for Transport where he held positions in the road, rail and aviation directorates. Between 1996 and 1998 he was Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Transport and the Deputy Prime Minister. He subsequently moved to the Infrastructure Advisory team at Citigroup before joining KPMG, where he led the UK Infrastructure, Building and Construction sector until 2018. From 2018 until 2021 he was KPMG’s Global Head of Infrastructure. From 2020 to 2022 he was Global Head of KPMG IMPACT and launched the firm’s Global ESG Strategy.

Richard has an extensive network of contacts across the infrastructure, transport, utility, and construction markets and the related political, financial and legal communities, in the UK and internationally. His clients include national and local infrastructure and transport authorities, private infrastructure owners and promoters of infrastructure schemes. He has advised on the governance and financing of some of the worlds’ most complex civil engineering projects.

He has a long-standing reputation for leading clients through complex and politically high-profile transactions and providing strategic, financial and governance advice.

Ross Copland is the Chief Executive Officer of the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission (Te Waihanga).

Prior to joining the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Ross had a career in construction and tourism infrastructure development. He is passionate about renewables and sustainable building and has taken part in development engineering and disaster relief assignments across the Pacific. Ross has degrees in civil engineering, commerce, and an MBA.

Sam Morris is a Water Engineer within the Aurecon Land and Water Service group in Christchurch, New Zealand. Sam has worked in a variety of different fields including water planning for Sydney Waters, civil design for Ministry of Education, advising on the 3 waters changes in NZ as well as user experience design for internal business processes.

Sam’s greatest passion is to invoke positive change in the infrastructure sector through her ability to bring people together. She does this through her involvement in The Infrastructure Collective Canterbury chapter, The Keystone Trust, Women in Engineering and Property Councils Emerging Leaders Programme.

Sharon grew up on a farm near Methven, and holds a Master of Commerce from the University of Canterbury. She started her career at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in 1998, and has also worked at the central bank of Norway. She moved to the New Zealand banking sector in 2006. She joined the ANZ economics team in 2010 and became Chief Economist in late 2017. Sharon manages a team of six around New Zealand.

Simon is a partner in the firm’s corporate and commercial group.

Simon has specialist expertise in significant business acquisitions, as well as advising on business structuring through joint ventures, limited partnerships, outsourcing, partnering arrangements, and strategic alliances. He also advises on arrangements between shareholders and joint ventures, as well as franchise and supply and distribution arrangements.

Simon has been involved in a number of significant infrastructure projects, acting for overseas investors/consortia as well as New Zealand companies. Simon also advises on corporate governance and administration, and corporate restructures.

Simon Watts was elected as the Member of Parliament for North Shore in the 2020 election. He is the National Party spokesperson for Climate Change, Local Government, Regional Development, Statistics and associate spokesperson for Finance and Infrastructure.

Simon grew up in the Waikato, where his family were farmers and orchardists. He is married and has two sons.

He studied Accounting and Finance at Waikato University and worked in investment banking in New Zealand, Asia and the United Kingdom. He has worked for some of the world largest investment banks, including at the Royal Bank of Scotland, where he held a management role during and in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis.

Simon has also completed a Health Sciences degree At Auckland University of Technology. He continues to volunteer with St John as a frontline ambulance officer alongside his duties as a Member of Parliament.

Since returning to New Zealand from working overseas in 2013, he has held roles in the Waitematā and Counties Manakau DHBs, most recently as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer of Waitematā

Sophie is a Partner in the Infrastructure Advisory practice at EY and brings over 20 years’ experience. She started her career in the UK as an engineer and holds a Masters and PhD in Maths and Engineering, and then spent some time in Sydney at investment banks structuring and arranging project finance for infrastructure projects before joining EY in NZ. Her focus is providing commercial and financial advice to support transformations and reforms, as well as expertise in delivery of significant infrastructure projects.

Sophie is passionate about both crunching the numbers and increasing diversity in the sector. She is currently on the Diversity Advisory Board for Infrastructure NZ, and was previously a member of the Women in Infrastructure Advisory Board.

Steven leads the Relationship Banking and Corporate Finance businesses within the Institutional Division in New Zealand, delivering financial solutions for ANZ New Zealand’s Institutional customers across a wide range of industries operating locally and offshore.

Steven has more than 30 years’ banking experience and has held several senior banker roles since joining ANZ in 2009. In his current role Steven is responsible for leading and driving ANZ New Zealand’s Institutional client strategy and growth priorities. He has also built strong relationships with ANZ’s network offshore and has become a trusted advisor to many cross-border clients.

Steven holds a Bachelor of Business (Banking and Finance) from the University of Technology, Sydney and is a member of the NZ China Council and Asia Pacific Loan Markets Association.

Julie Anne Genter has been a Member of Parliament for the Green Party since 2011. She is currently the spokesperson for Transport, Energy and Resources, Finance, Urban Development, Building and Construction, Infrastructure and State Owned Enterprises. She is also Deputy Chairperson of Parliament’s Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee.

Julie Anne previously served as Minister for Women and Associate Minister of Transport and Health, from 2017-2020. In that time, she led development of the Government’s emissions reduction policies in transport, most notably the extremely effective Clean Car Discount and Standards. She also oversaw a work programme that resulted in a the largest ever recorded reduction in the gender pay gap in the public service, and the single largest increase in primary maternity funding.

 

Rachel Brooking is the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries. She is an environmental and local government expert, company director, working mum, and lover of NZ fashion. Rachel has 20 years experience as a resource management and local government lawyer. She understands business, the community, the environment, and good governance. In private practice, Rachel Brooking’s clients included tourism, business, councils, iwi, university, and infrastructure projects. Her work for the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment gave her a grounding in policy.

Rachel is married to cancer specialist and campaigner Dr Chris Jackson, and they have 3 school-aged children. She is standing for Labour because she shares Labour’s values and vision of enabling people to live their best life through great public education, healthcare, welfare, incomes, housing, justice, and environment. She is committed to planning for climate change with both adaptation and mitigation, doing business better, reducing inequality, and embracing Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

 

Leveraging over 25 years in the sector, Tim helps water organisations to meet the challenges of a highly regulated and commercial environment. Between operations, regulation, strategic planning, and delivery, Tim’s extensive experience in the water industry helps him deliver leading solutions for water entities both large and small, throughout the UK and Ireland. He brings a track record of excellence to his role—prior to joining Stantec, he spent 11 years as Head of Asset Strategy & Planning and head of Capital Alliance for Welsh Water. This strong foundation gives Tim an in-depth understanding of how to build resilience across systems and businesses, which fuels his strategic planning and growth initiatives at Stantec. Here, he leads multi-functional innovation, technology development, and research and development teams, dedicated to serving communities with sound and sustainable water infrastructure.

 

Todd joined Napier Port in January 2018, leading the company through a successful IPO and subsequent building of a new commercially-funded wharf for the North Island. Bringing broad commercial experience across the transport and logistics sectors, Todd led strategic partnerships and new ventures at Kotahi Logistics, working on the introduction of big ships to New Zealand and intermodal freight hub joint ventures. He has over 20 years’ experience behind him, having worked on international projects including the transformation of UK supermarket Sainsbury’s supply chain. He has previously held senior roles at IBM NZ, Toll New Zealand, Sainsbury’s Supermarkets (UK) and Mainfreight.

Todd holds a Bachelor of Science and a Postgraduate Diploma of Business in Operations Management from the University of Auckland. He is a member of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand and is Chair of the Manawatu Inland Port, Napier Port’s intermodal joint venture with Halls Transport.

Waning leads Aurecon’s Sustainability & Climate Change Decarbonisation Team with a focus on building decarbonisation and technology roadmaps for Aurecon’s clients, while ensuring the end-to-end supply chain is incorporated in any transition roadmap. This includes strategy and risk; pathways and renewables generation; design and construct; sustaining capital and sustainability reporting.

With over 15 years’ experience, Waning was most recently the Strategy Lead at the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) where she led the programme design of the $1bn Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) Fund that focused on the reduction of energy use and carbon emissions of industrial and commercial processes, ensuring New Zealand is on track to meet its emissions budgets.

 

Waning is passionate about making a difference in peoples’ lives and believes the question around decarbonising our economy is not an if, it’s a when.