About me

Like many people in South Wairarapa, I made a decision to move to this beautiful district. More than twenty years ago my husband and I bought our first place in the countryside and then were drawn to spend more and more time here. We finally decided to give up the ride-on mower and three years ago moved into a new house we built in Greytown - our “forever home”.

I was born in Wellington and educated at St Mary’s College and Victoria University of Wellington. Now my whanau is spread over the whole motu, especially Wairarapa, Hawkes Bay and Bay of Plenty, as well as Australia and Europe. I’ve had a varied career, involving business, politics and much more. There are a number of areas that I’ve been passionate about and have been lucky to have had opportunities to be involved in and explore.

Over the years I’ve been in Local Government in different capacities and have seen the huge impact it has on the lives of citizens. Despite changes made to local government by central government, the “local” is always there and will always be central to communities.

Infrastructure has been big in my life and, as well as delivering as an elected local government leader, I’ve chaired or been on other relevant boards. At one stage I chaired an Expert Advisory Group on Local Government Infrastructure, reporting to the Minister of the time.

In contrast, I have also had experience in foreign affairs – including tourism and trade at Ministerial and business level - and am currently chair of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

My work (see below) has covered a range of areas and as well as commercial business I’ve been involved in health and education – again two critical areas for our community.

Another sector I’ve enjoyed immensely is arts and culture. Like many Kiwis, I was an amateur singer and musician in younger days and my first student job was washing dishes at Downstage in Wellington - though I don’t think that counts! My serious work in this area has been in governance - see below.

Many roles in the arts and not-for-profit sectors contain a fundraising element, an activity in which I am still invited to participate quite regularly. I’ve given time and energy to diverse organizations. It’s very clear that New Zealand is increasingly becoming dependent on private philanthropy, with many local groups struggling in the current economic climate. In recent years I’ve been involved in significant fundraising of this nature, particularly for the Nikau Foundation, our wider region’s Community Foundation, which has an active grants programme in Wairarapa.

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  • I was elected to Parliament as MP for Wellington Central and was there for 11 years.  As a backbencher I successfully sponsored the Homosexual Law Reform Bill (decriminalising sex for consenting adult males) and the Adult Adoption Information Bill (allowing adoptees and birth parents to make contact).

    I was the first female Whip in Parliament then went on to be a Minister. As a minister, I held portfolios of Tourism, Disarmament and Associate Foreign Affairs & Trade.

  • I was elected as the first woman Mayor of Wellington and served for one term before I decided to retire for p[ersonal reasons. During that time I:

    • resolved the longstanding impasse regarding Wellington wastewater and commissioned the new treatment plant at Moa Point

    • drove the building of the Wellington Regional Stadium

    • introduced Absolutely Positively Wellington as the city’s “brand”

    • oversaw the development of a new District Plan that began the re-population of the inner city

    • oversaw the first strategic plan for the city

    • supported fibre optic cabling

    • set up a modern, fit-for-purpose tourist promotion agency

    • supported the establishment of Zealandia and saved the St James Theatre from demolition

    All of the above things were able to be achieved because the Council decided at the beginning of the term to make quality decisions for the good of the city. Basically, we had a culture change, with political bickering largely put aside and people engaging in thoughtful debate. It was a great environment for sound decision making on some difficult issues.

  • Some years after being Mayor of Wellington, I became the Regional Council Chair, which enabled me to drive other big initiatives. In particular, I kept the Transmission Gully project going when it was in danger of dying because of lack of Central Government interest. I also made sure we had positive partnerships in Wairarapa with farmers. I also worked closely with iwi and environmental groups around the future of Wairarapa Moana – the foundation for the arrangements that are in place today.

  • I spent six years as CEO of the New Zealand Trade Development Board, which was the forerunner of NZTE. There were some big challenges - we introduced charging for our services and made some serious changes onshore and in our 20-plus offshore offices. The senior leadership team were great and rose to the challenge of a culture change to underpin the strategy developments. We even won a New Zealand Business Excellence Award for our improvements.

    Currently I’m a professional company director, chairing the boards of the Royal NZ Plunket, the Wellington Lifelines Group (the public and private sector providers of Wellington infrastructure – roads, electricity, gas etc) and the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

    Also, I’m a director on the boards of Destination Wairarapa (our tourist promotion organisation) and Frequency Ltd (a private company providing strategic and risk advice on infrastructure and property, as well as project controls for big infrastructure).

    I have chaired the following boards, amongst others:

    • Auckland Light Rail

    • Remuneration Authority

    • Kiwi Can Do Ltd

    • Urban Development Institute of NZ (UDINZ)

    • NZ Food Safety Advisory Board

    • Wellington Waterfront Ltd

    • Victoria Link Ltd

    • NZ Digital Development Council

    I have been a director or trustee on many boards, including NZTA, Capital Coast DHB, the ANZ Banking Group NZ Ltd, NGC Ltd, Victoria University Council and a number of others.

  • I’ve had a life-long love of the arts and was an instrumentalist and singer when younger. Later I channeled this love into governance, serving as chair of Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, the New Zealand Interntional Arts Festival and the National Military heritage Trust which ran The Great War Exhibition. I was a member of the board of the Kokomai Wairarapa Arts Festival, and the NZ School of Music. If you count food as an art (which it certainly can be!) I chaired the Wellington Culinary Events Trust which runs Wellington on a Plate.

  • I am currently chair of the Nikau Foundation (Wellington region’s community foundation). We have a an active grants programme in Wairarapa and provide a safe place where local people who want to help their community can set up a legacy fund.

    In Wairarapa I also help with fundraising for the Wairarapa Mid-Winter Festival of Christmas.

    For the past few years I’ve been “Hope Ambassador” for the Wellington Cancer Society and previously chaired the committee that raised funds for the rebuilding of the Wellington Night Shelter.

    Previously I was a trustee on the NZ Life Education Trust and the Foundation for Youth Development, which was originally Project K.

    While (unfortunately!) not a great at sport myself, I am a keen spectator and chaired the netball franchise the Capital Shakers, saving it from going bust by obtaining corporate sponsorship. I also spent a period on the board of the Wellington Rugby Football Union.

  • I was appointed by the Government as the Chief Crown Negotiator for three Treaty of Waitangi settlement claims. As regional Council Chair I initiated Te Upoko Taiao – a partnership between Wellington regional iwi and the Regional Council to develop the regional plan - the first such model in Aotearoa New Zealand outside of settlement claims.

  • As well as my work as a Minister dealing with international issues in the fields of foreign policy, disarmament, trade and tourism, and as the CEO of Trade NZ, helping our exporters, I spent a few years as a New Zealand representative on the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). I have spoken at many international conferences and seminars. Currently I am chair of the Asia New Zealand Foundation, which is a trust tasked with assisting New Zealanders to thrive in Asia.

  • I have been privileged to receive a variety of honours, most recently (this year) being made a Distinguished Fellow of the NZ Institute of Directors - the top award of the IOD. In 2019 I was also honoured to be named Deloitte Top 200 Visionary Leader. I was awarded the DNZM (damehood) in 2017 and the CNZM in 2012. Other awards have been Women of Influence Award (Local Government Sector), Honorary Doctor of Laws at Victoria University and Wellingtonian of the Year.

    It’s important to understand that in all these awards, the accomplishments and activities that underpinned them were a team effort. No person can achieve without a group around them and I have been lucky to have teams that in many instances were exceptional. There are too many people to thank individually!