Hon Simon Power
Minister of Commerce

2 April 2009 Media Statement

Commerce Commission appointments confirmed

The appointments to the Commerce Commission of Dr Mark Berry as the new Chair and Anita Mazzoleni as a member have been confirmed, Commerce Minister Simon Power said today.

Mark Berry has been appointed as Chair for a term of 18 months, and Anita Mazzoleni has been appointed as a member for a term of five years, both from 1 April 2009.

"I am pleased that the Governor-General has appointed Mark Berry and Anita Mazzoleni to the commission," Mr Power said.

"Mark Berry returns to lead an extensive work programme implementing the new regulatory regimes following the passing of the Commerce Amendment Act late last year.

"The board of the Commerce Commission is further complemented by the appointment of Anita Mazzoleni, who was formally an associate member. She brings strong legal, financial, and telecommunications expertise to the commission.

"I'd also like to thank outgoing Chair Paula Rebstock for her service as a member of the Commerce Commission for the past 11 years, the last five as chair."

Background information on Mark Berry and Anita Mazzoleni follows.

Background on Dr Mark Berry

Dr Mark Berry is a barrister and a specialist in the area of competition law and economic regulation. His recent competition law work has been over a range of sectors, including the gas, electricity, dairy and healthcare sectors.

He was Deputy Chair of the Commerce Commission from 1999 until 2001. He is a former partner at Bell Gully, and a former consultant for Chapman Tripp. Since 2002 he has been in practice at the independent bar.

He has also held a number of academic positions. He is a Research Associate at the NZ Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation at Victoria University, and is also a member of the International Advisory Board at the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

Dr Berry holds a doctorate from Columbia University, New York. He has published widely in the field of competition law. He is a co-author of the leading New Zealand text in the field, Gault on Commercial Law, and his recent work on monopolisation has been published by the Georgetown University Law Centre.

Background on Anita Mazzoleni

Anita Mazzoleni is an independent corporate finance adviser providing funding advice to corporates and local government. She is also a chartered accountant and solicitor, and a director of Tamaki Makaurau based companies owned by Ngati Whatua o Orakei.

Her commercial career has been in industry and finance, especially the evaluation and funding of infrastructure assets, particularly in the energy sector. She has 25 years of experience in senior roles, including with Deloitte, Citibank, and Contact Energy.

Prior to her appointment as a member, Ms Mazzoleni was an associate member at the commission and primarily worked on telecommunications determinations including local and sub loop unbundling and unbundled bit stream, co-location, backhaul, accounting separation and mobile entry.

She is a member of the Commerce Commission's Audit, Risk and Finance Committee and the Legal Services Committee.

ENDS

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