New Whanganui District Council Holdings Board announced
Published on 22 March 2018
Whanganui District Council has appointed a new board for Whanganui District Council Holdings Ltd (Holdings).
Holdings is a Council Controlled Organisation which has been operating since 2002. Its board’s role is to manage and oversee the Council's commercial assets, including GasNet, the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy and the Ports portfolio consisting of the Airport and Marine Port. It also provides advice to the Council on new investment opportunities and the strategic management of assets.
The Board was restructured in 2017, to ensure appointments aligned with the Council’s recently adopted Governance Manual for Council-Controlled Organisations. Mayor Hamish McDouall says an independent recruitment process was undertaken in November 2017 to shortlist candidates.
“A working party of Councillors then formed a selection panel to interview potential directors and at our Council meeting on 27 February 2018, five directors were appointed, three of whom had previously served on the Holdings Board.”
Mayor McDouall says he is highly satisfied with the appointments, “I’m very confident that we have appointed an excellent board and that the diversity of skills, business nous, and governance experience of its directors will be invaluable to this Council and to our community.”
The new directors are:
Matthew Doyle
Matthew Doyle is a former Chair of Holdings, the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy and GasNet and has served on the Holdings Board since 2005.
He is a Chartered accountant and owner/director of Doyle & Associates – The Accountants Limited in Whanganui and is a professional director on a number of companies.
Peter Hazledine
Peter Hazledine is a previous board member of Holdings and GasNet, having served on the Holdings Board since 2014 and on the GasNet Board since 2008.
He has extensive experience in the Energy (Petroleum and Gas) sector.
Annette Main ONZM
Former Mayor, Annette Main has been on the Holdings Board for the last seven years. She has been Chair of the Whanganui Ports Board and interim Chair of Holdings since July 2017.
She brings key skills in communication and marketing, along with extensive community knowledge and strong leadership skills and experience.
Two new directors have been appointed:
David Rae
David Rae is a company director and consultant whose most recent employment experience (2010 - 2016) was as Head of Investment Analysis at the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (the sovereign wealth fund with around $35 billion in assets).
His current directorships include Longroad Energy Holdings (a US-based renewable energy developer) and the Perpetual Guardian Fund (PIF). The PIF is a $260m investment fund owned by New Plymouth District Council.
He has extensive governance and investment experience and has previously worked at the OECD, National Bank of New Zealand and Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
Simon Karipa
Simon Karipa was born in Whanganui. He is a lawyer by background, with significant investment and governance experience.
His current positions include being General Counsel to Te Ohu Kai Moana Trustee Ltd, Chairman, of Whanganui Iwi Fisheries Ltd and a Minister-appointed member of the Charities Registration Board.
He has extensive iwi relationships and deep networks within the iwi/Māori commercial sector.
The new board met for the first time on 20 March 2018 when Annette Main was elected as Chair and Matthew Doyle as Deputy Chair.