Chris was born and raised in Lower Hutt where he lives with his wife and young son. He has a first-class Honours degree in Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Victoria University of Wellington, and was the 2006 Young Wellingtonian of the Year.

Before serving as an MP, Chris worked as a researcher for the National Party in Opposition and was later an advisor to Ministers in the John Key-led Government.

Chris was the National Party Campaign Chair for the 2023 General Election.

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

He studied Accounting and Finance at Waikato University and worked in investment banking in Asia, Europe and the United Kingdom. He has worked for one of the world’s largest investment banks, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), where he held several management roles 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 an ambulance officer and is a registered Paramedic alongside his duties as a Member of Parliament.
Helen Kerr

General Manager Infrastructure Delivery

Crown Infrastructure Partners
Bio

Helen Kerr is the General Manager Infrastructure Delivery at Crown Infrastructure Partners, a government agency responsible for partnering with private sector and local government to fund infrastructure projects. She is a Chartered Civil Engineer with 20 years’ experience delivering major infrastructure projects in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom and has worked for government, commercial advisory and the construction sector. Helen enjoys simplifying complex problems and helping projects get underway faster and her experience on different sides of procurement processes and delivery models provides her a well-rounded perspective.

Simon Court MP

Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister for Infrastructure
Bio
Simon Court is the Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister for Infrastructure and the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform. Simon also serves as the ACT Party spokesperson for Climate Change and Energy & Resources, and was first elected to Parliament as an ACT Party MP in 2020. Before politics, Simon worked as a Civil and Environmental Engineer with 23 years’ experience in roles for the private sector and local government. This includes 10 years leading engineering, planning, tendering, and construction teams primarily in Auckland, Wellington, and Fiji.
Antonia Watson

Group Executive and CEO

ANZ New Zealand
Bio
Antonia is Group Executive & CEO of ANZ New Zealand. Prior to this she held roles as Managing Director of our Retail and Business Banking business and as Chief Financial Officer.
In her most recent role as MD Retail and Business Banking, Antonia was responsible for our network of retail branches, contact centres and banking specialists who take care of over two million consumer and small business customers.
Antonia joined ANZ from Morgan Stanley, where she was General Manager of their business services and technology centre in Budapest and had various Finance roles in Sydney and London. She started her career at KPMG.

Wayne has been a director of several large public organisations including Television New Zealand, Māori TV, and was Chair of Transpower and Vector Limited.

As chair of the Auckland District Health Board (2001-2007), Wayne was responsible for building the $500 million Auckland City Hospital on time and under budget. Between 2004 and 2013, Wayne served as Mayor of the Far North District. Wayne is also the author of a book, ‘The Five-Minute MBA: according to Wayne Brown’ (2007). He was elected Mayor of Auckland in October 2022.

In his spare time, Wayne is a keen surfer and feels passionate about the marine environment. He is patron of the Sea Cleaners Charitable Trust, a non-profit working to preserve New Zealand’s coastline.

With the help of volunteers, Sea Cleaners has removed over 14.6 million litres of waste from New Zealand waterways since 2002.

Tony’s career in transport and infrastructure spans more than 35 years, across both the government and private sectors. His career in government included roles leading on transport policy and strategy, infrastructure planning and delivery, as well as industry reform. He has held numerous senior leadership positions including Coordinator-General for Infrastructure in Victoria, Australia as well as holding Chief Executive and Board Director positions at three separate government transport infrastructure delivery authorities.

He has extensive experience in privately financed infrastructure projects and has also held operational roles in transport and transit-oriented development.

As EY’s government transport leader, Tony oversees the firm’s work in transport with a strong emphasis on public transport, infrastructure development and reform. He also oversees EY’s research and thinking on the latest trends facing transport and mobility, including the decarbonization of transport, responses to the changing climate, the increasing role of technology in infrastructure and transport, the emergence of new mobility service delivery models and automation.

Recognised for his expertise in complex program and portfolio management and project turnaround, Jonathon blends his educational background in science, engineering, construction management and continuous improvement methodologies, with his passion for building empowered effective teams to deliver exceptional project outcomes for clients. Managing to always find the right balance of hard and soft skills.

He is a strong proponent of investing in the development of local talent for the long-term benefit of New Zealand, and is passionate about uplifting local communities.

Part of the Transport Services business group, Programme and Standard’s purpose is to enable Transport Services to deliver the right things. The team do this via three primary functions: setting the long-term asset management direction for the State Highway, holding the ‘technical authority’ for Transport Services work and the work of our suppliers (the TS standards and guidelines suite including all of our environmental and sustainability requirements) and holding the portfolio of work that Transport Services deliver, both capital improvement projects and maintenance and renewal work on the state highway.

Vanessa is very proud of the Programme and Standards team, with more than 100 incredible people who bring their expertise and know how to make things better for Transport Services, for our Council partners, for our transport asset and ultimately for the outcomes we create for New Zealanders.

Highly engaged in the industry, with extensive experience working with boards, government officials, ministers, and communities, Mayurie is a Chartered Member and professional Board Member of the NZ Institute of Directors (IOD).

Mayurie is also a transformational leader and communicator focused on developing strong client relationships to deliver enduring, sustainable development outcomes, including transport, water, energy, and urban environments. She is also committed to enhancing partnerships with Māori and businesses to strengthen communities and help Arup deliver genuinely long-term transformative projects across New Zealand.

Angie is well versed in identifying business challenges and opportunities in diverse client settings. She has provided innovative solutions to projects in a variety of government and private sector settings that supported client and community stakeholder interests as well as community development. Many of her projects were in a global setting integrating cross-cultural considerations into sustainable planning.

Environment + Energy Leader 100 Honoree
Angie is a 2020 honoree of Environment + Energy Leader’s E+E 100. This annual list recognizes those environment and energy “doers” who break trail in creating new solutions, programs, platforms, best practices, and products to help their companies – or other companies – achieve greater success in commercial and industrial environment and energy management.

As Aurecon’s Industry Director – Precincts, Australia, Lauren is dedicated to helping clients realise the full potential of their projects through comprehensive visioning, planning, design, and delivery of large-scale infrastructure initiatives. She supports a team of precinct specialists who excel in integrating infrastructure with extensive experience in the creation, governance, and implementation of precincts.

“Infrastructure plays a vital role in accelerating economic development and boosting productivity. Well-timed and connected infrastructure is critical for improving the competitiveness of cities in global markets, enhancing residents’ quality of life, and sustaining economic growth.”

Her career to date has been focusedon 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 and has strong Aotearoa New Zealand, Australian, and global networks gained from professional services experience throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Pacific Rim, China and the US.

Tracey demonstrates her commitment to the Aotearoa New Zealand infrastructure industry by being the Co-Chair to The Construction Sector Accord’s Steering Group, she is presently Deputy Chair for Infrastructure New Zealand and also Chair of the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) Sustainable Development Committee which recently launched its Climate Change Charter as atransformative plan of action for the global engineering, construction and infrastructure industry to decarbonize.

As a mother to two teenage girls, she is incredibility passionate about getting more young women and girls to choose STEM careers, as we tackle the ongoing challenge around the attraction and retention of talent into our industry and how do we truly create an inclusive industry for all.

With a background in science and expertise in evidence synthesis across a wide range of disciplines, her work applies systems thinking to complex and long-term societal issues, and looks at how better collective decisions can be made to enhance societal resilience and wellbeing.

Anne was previously a senior analyst in the Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, focusing on issues of environmental sustainability, risk assessment, and public health and wellbeing. She was recognised in the 2020 New Year Honours as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for her contributions to science and the State.

Julie Anne has had a life-long fascination with the role our cities and their planning can play on our health and happiness. Raised in Los Angeles, at a young age, Julie Anne was exposed to how car-dependence, low-density planning, and a lack of the prioritising of community spaces had created a poor quality of life for those around her, especially the most vulnerable communities.
She earned a BA from the University of California, Berkeley and a post-graduate certificate in International Political Studies from the Institut d’études politiques Paris, before coming to Aotearoa New Zealand in 2006 to complete a MA of Planning Practice from the University of Auckland.  Before standing for parliament, she worked as a transport planning consultant, advising many city and regional councils in New Zealand and Australia, as well as central government agencies in Aotearoa.
Not long after arriving in Aotearoa, Julie Anne joined and became actively involved with the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand; The only party at the time, and still the only, dedicated towards prioritising environmental and social justice, and evidence-based policies that could deliver real results.
From 2017-2020. Julie Anne served as one of the first three Green Ministers of the Crown, as Minister for Women and Associate Minister of Transport and Health. She spearheaded the Clean Car Discount & Standards – which massively reduced the average emissions of vehicles being imported into the country. She fought for and won funding increases to maternity services and midwives and delivered the biggest annual reduction in the public sector gender pay gap in 20 years.
As the first Green MP for Rongotai, Julie Anne will continue to serve the community and organise for policy change that will ensure all people have what they need to live good lives, and that we are able to live more in harmony with nature.

Karen was involved in five of New Zealand’s eight PPP transactions to date and, prior to the New Zealand programme, was involved in some of the earliest PFI/PPPs in the UK. Select transactions from NZ include South Corrections Facility (Wiri Prison) PPP, Auckland Prison PPP, and Waikeria Prison PPP. Karen also led the Transmission Gully State Highway PPP transaction and was Commercial Advisor to the Puhoi to Warkworth State Highway PPP. She has advised on improvements to the NZ PPP model and on major projects governance.

Karen acted in the role of Deputy Director-General Infrastructure for the Ministry of Health where she was responsible for the prioritisation and delivery of over $5 billion of hospital projects. She led the Infrastructure Transactions Unit at the Treasury as it transitioned to Te Waihanga and has had involvement in major infrastructure projects including Public Safety Network, City Rail Link, Let’s Get Wellington Moving, Auckland Light Rail, and social housing transfer transactions.

Prior to entering politics, Simeon completed Law and Commerce degrees at the University of Auckland and worked in Commercial Finance at the Bank of New Zealand, as well as serving as an elected Local Board member at Auckland Council.