Hon Steven Joyce

Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment

20 July 2015

First two new tertiary councils formed

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce has announced the first two tertiary councils to be established under changes to the Education Act.

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and the University of Canterbury are the first university and the first wānanga respectively to change their constitutions to reflect the legislative changes passed by Parliament in February to provide smaller, more skills-based councils.

“Reducing council size, increasing membership flexibility and ensuring all members have relevant knowledge, skills or experience will better enable universities and wānanga to respond quickly and effectively to the modern day challenges of tertiary education,” says Mr Joyce.

Mr Joyce has announced seven ministerial appointments to the new councils, all of whom served under the old larger council model.

“The reappointment of a number of council members in recognition of the high-quality governance they have been providing to these institutions,” Mr Joyce says.

“I also wish to recognise the valuable contribution made by outgoing council members and to thank them for their service.” Mr Joyce says.

The appointments and reappointments of council members are:

• Te Wānanga o Aotearoa: the reappointment of Kathie Irwin and Rea Wikaira as members, and the appointment of former council appointee Richard Batley as a member,

• The University of Canterbury: reappointment of Bruce Gemmell, Tony Hall, Sue McCormack, and Catherine Drayton as members,

In addition to the above appointments, a new appointment has also been made to the combined WelTec Whitireia Polytechnic Council. Jacqueline (Jackie) Lloyd has been appointed as a council member.

Biographies:

Richard Batley, a Hamilton consultant, has been Chair of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa since 2008. Mr Batley is a chartered accountant and graduated with a BMS from the University of Waikato. He has iwi affiliations with Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Maniapoto and Raukawa Waikato. He has considerable experience in senior managerial roles across the public and private sectors and spent a substantial part of his career in Wellington. This included chief financial officer positions for the Housing Corporation of New Zealand, Te Puni Kōkiri and the Iwi Transition Agency. Mr Batley is a former director of Raukura Moana Fisheries Ltd, Hamilton Fisheries Limited and the Open Wānanga Ltd.
University of Canterbury.

Kathie Irwin is CEO and founder of Hope Brokers Inc, a consultancy firm. Dr Irwin’s career has focused on Māori research, development and scholarship and she has held academic posts at Massey University, Victoria University of Wellington and Christchurch College of Education. She was a senior manager at Te Kohanga Reo National Trust (2002–05) and Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi (2005–08). More recently, she was chief advisor Māori at the Families Commission. Her governance experience includes the board member of Ako Aotearoa, the National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence, for its first six years and she remains a member of the Maori Caucus. Dr Irwin is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors, Te Awe (Wellington Māori Business Network) and the Māori Women’s Welfare League.

Rea Wikaira was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2011 and has been involved in health administration in Auckland and Waikato for more than 20 years. Mr Wikaira is a business consultant, advisor and project manager. He is a former National Operations Business Manager of the National Hauora Coalition (National Māori PHO Coalition) and Executive Trustee of the Central Region Emergency Services Trust. Before this, he was Chief Executive of the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter Trust. Mr Wikaira is Deputy Chair of the Health Promotion Agency and has served on several government boards in various roles including: Director of Health Waikato; Vice Chair of the New Zealand Lottery General Grants Board; and Chair of the ‘Year of the Māori Language’ Grants Board. He has also been a serving Justice of the Peace for the past 20 years.

Bruce Gemmell is the Managing Partner of the Ernst & Young Christchurch practice. He has advised on a range of corporate financial assignments and specialises in advising businesses that are capital-constrained during periods of economic change. Mr Gemmell also specialises in board advisory services, strategic finance, corporate turnaround, credit risk management, business recovery and cost reduction programmes. He has wide industry expertise in property, construction, heavy engineering, primary sector and infrastructure, tourism and hospitality, technology, communications and entertainment and education. Mr Gemmell is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants, a trustee of the Christchurch Symphony Foundation Trust and a board member of several private entities.

Tony Hall is based in Canterbury and has an extensive background in business, economic development, education and sport. Mr Hall is Pro Chancellor of Lincoln University and was formerly a TEC Commissioner. His governance roles include the New Zealand Olympic Committee, Community Colleges New Zealand Council and North Canterbury Economic Development Trust. Mr Hall is also a trustee and Chair of the Partnership of Excellence Life Sciences, Massey–Lincoln; a trustee on the Rangi Ruru Girls’ School Trust Board and a director of Core Education Ltd. In 2007, Mr Hall was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the community.

Sue McCormack is the elected Pro Chancellor of the University of Canterbury and is a Christchurch-based commercial and corporate lawyer with over 20 years’ legal experience. She is a partner of Mortlock McCormack Law, and previously owned McCormack Law. She has held several directorships, including Lyttelton Port Company from 1998 to 2007 and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra from 2003 to 2008. Ms McCormack is presently a board member of Public Trust, and is also a member of the New Zealand Law Society and the New Zealand Institute of Directors.

Catherine Drayton is a Member of the University of Canterbury Futures Governance Oversight Group, the Chair of the university’s Finance, Planning and Resources Committee and a member of the Audit and Risk Committee. She is a fellow chartered accountant (FCA) and used to be partner in charge of audit and advisory services for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Central and Eastern Europe. Catherine’s governance roles include director of Beca, the international professional services consultancy, Southern Cross Medical Society, Southern Cross Hospitals, Ngāi Tahu Holdings Corporation and Christchurch International Airport. She is also Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority.

Jacqueline (Jackie) Lloyd is an independent director and business advisor with extensive governance and executive experience in private and public organisations. Ms Lloyd’s governance roles include Deputy Chair of New Zealand Post Group and trustee of the Wellington Museums Trust and The Lion Foundation. From August 2014, Ms Lloyd assumed responsibility as Chair of the foundation’s Central Regional Grants Committee and she has recently been appointed as Chair of the State Services Commission Audit and Risk Committee. Ms Lloyd’s professional background is in human resources, management and leadership. Her qualifications include a BA and a BCom and she is a chartered member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors and a member of the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand (HRINZ).

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