infrastructure 2021 : Looking ahead
Kia Ora and welcome, New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga is pleased to present our annual Infrastructure 2021 : Looking Ahead Symposium
Join us in Wellington for a full two days where we'll share insights into our 30-year infrastructure strategy and discuss the role of infrastructure in shaping New Zealand both now and into the future. Speakers will include infrastructure experts from New Zealand and overseas, and there will be opportunities for attendees to share their views as well as meet others from across the sector. This is a free event, and sessions will be live-streamed for those unable to attend in person
Tuesday 1st and Wednesday 2nd June 2021
Rydges Hotel, The Grand Space
75 Featherston Street, Wellington 6011
Register here for this free event. Spaces are strictly limited.
The Rydges is perfectly located in Wellington CBD.
Join us for the networking event at the end of day one.
We look forward to seeing you in Wellington
symposium registration
To register for your complimentary ticket, please choose from the options below:
Your registration includes tickets to chosen sessions, morning and afternoon tea refreshments as well as lunch.
Note: Day 1 also includes access to our Networking event from approximately 4-5pm (this includes light refreshments, however excludes alcoholic drinks which will only be available on a user pays basis).
Livestream tickets will grant access to the individual or both conference days. On demand videos will also be available on the Te Waihanga site after the event.
A unique registration code will be issued to each delegate a week before the event and will grant access to only a single device for the duration of the conference.
Please click the REGISTER NOW button and complete the registration form.
Rydges Hotel
Rydges Wellington is centrally located on downtown Featherston Street with a unique combination of harbour and city outlooks.
Book your room online - click here
The Programme
Whether you are joining us in person or via live stream, please see below details of the two day conference agenda. Session details and timing may change, please refer to the below agenda for up to date information.
Click on the individual date tabs below to view the session details.
Speaker Bios
Hon Michael Wood
Minister for Transport
Following the 2020 General Election, Michael became a sworn Member of the Executive and was appointed by the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern as the Minister of Transport and Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety. He was also given the role of Deputy Leader of the House.
Prior to his parliamentary role Michael was an Auckland Council member in his community and has held roles providing advice to Habitat for Humanity and as a senior negotiator for the Finance Sector union Finsec.
Michael is driven by the core belief that all people deserve the opportunity to flourish and reach their potential regardless of background, and that this is most likely to occur when we build strong, fair, and supportive communities. He believes that an economy and public institutions that are focused on people’s wellbeing will lead to a society that is both more prosperous and just.
Ross Copland
Chief Executive
Ross joined Te Waihanga in June 2020. He has a background in the design, procurement, financing, and delivery of infrastructure as an engineer, an asset manager and a Chief Executive. He has worked in commercial construction and property on both sides of the Tasman, finishing up as National Operations Manager for Westfield in 2013. He returned to New Zealand to pursue a career developing tourism infrastructure. Ross holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering with First Class Honours, a Bachelor of Commerce and an MBA.
Dr Alan Bollard
Board Chair
Dr Alan Bollard is a Professor of Practice at Victoria University of Wellington. He has extensive experience as a senior public servant. He has previously held roles as the Executive Director of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat, Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and Chief Executive and Secretary to the New Zealand Treasury. He holds a PhD in Economics and an honorary Doctor of Laws from Auckland University.
Dr Paul Spoonley
Distinguished Professor Paul Spoonley was, until 2019, the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, at Massey University. He retired from Massey University in April 2021. He is the author or editor of 28 books, the most recent being The “New” New Zealand: Facing Demographic Disruption was published in August 2020. He was a Programme Leader of a research programme on the impacts of immigration and diversity on Aotearoa (MBIE, 2014-2021, $6 million). He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2011 and was granted the title of Distinguished Professor by Massey University in 2013. He was awarded the Science and Technology Medal by the Royal Society in 2009, he was a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the University of California Berkeley in 2010, and since 2013, he has been a Visiting Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Göttingen, Germany, most recently in 2019. The Auckland War Memorial Museum made him a Fellow in 2015. He is currently a member of the Marsden Fund Council, and a Senior Affiliate of Koi Tū : The Centre for Informed Futures. He has been a long time participant in the Metropolis network and recently became the Co-Director of this international network of those interested in migration.
Geoff Cooper
GM Strategy
Geoff Cooper has a background in global policy having worked for the United Nations, the United States Treasury and the Federal Reserve. He is a former Chief Economist for Auckland Council, where he worked on infrastructure, housing, regulation and financial policy. More recently, as Chief Economist at PwC, Geoff has contributed to the economic appraisal of a range of large infrastructure projects, including Wellington’s Let’s Get Wellington Moving programme, Auckland Light Rail, Hamilton to Auckland High Speed Rail and Queenstown’s Way to Go programme. Geoff holds a Master of Economics with First Class Honours from the University of Auckland and a Master of Public Affairs from Princeton University.
Tracey Kai
GM Engagement and People
Tracey Kai leads Te Waihanga’s engagement, communications and people. She joined Te Waihanga in June 2020 after four years at New Zealand Rugby, where she was the GM, Communications. Prior to that she has held several communications and marketing roles, mainly in the private sector. She has a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration and Master of Business Administration.
Kieran Brown
Partner - Polis Consulting Group
Kieran Brown is a Founder and Partner in Polis Consulting Group (PCG). He is a Fellow with the BRG Institute working across innovation, industrial and economic research topics. He is a former Senior Manager with Berkeley Research Group, LLC based in London. He has served government and Fortune 500 clients globally as a trusted advisor.
Kieran was previously a Fellow in the public sector practice at McKinsey & Company, and his early career was in digital and corporate strategy in the financial sector in NZ / Aus. He is a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business and has been a visiting lecturer at GIBS Business School, University of Pretoria.
He holds a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Commerce with first class honours degree from Victoria University of Wellington.
Matt Ensor
Business Director - Advisory - Beca
Matt Ensor is Business Director - Advisory Services at Beca. Matt has been consulting on the interaction of infrastructure, technology and community for more than 20 years and he has a speciality in the application of Artificial Intelligence. Matt’s qualifications are in engineering and social science and he is an Alumnus of the INSEAD Business School.
Alan Sutherland
Chief Executive, Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS)
Since his appointment in 1999 Alan has driven substantial improvements in efficiency and service for Scotland’s water customers. He put in place a competitive non-household market in 2008, a world first at the time. Unswervingly committed to a customer-centric approach, Alan is working with sector stakeholders to engender greater trust, openness and collaboration. Alan believes in sharing expertise and, through the Hydro Nation initiative, supports international capacity-building projects that facilitate more sustainable water industries.
Dean Kimpton
Owner Tuhura and Partners
Dean runs his own infrastructure strategy and advisory business Tuhura and Partners. Until mid-2019 Dean was Auckland Council’s Chief Operating Officer, gaining significant insight into the politics and pressures of growth and the challenges of both public and private sector in supporting quality outcomes.
He is the current Transformation Director for the NZ Construction Sector Accord, and has seen this government and sector private partnership from creation of the Transformation Plan into its implementation, not to mention the COVID-19 Response. He was recent past President of Engineering NZ, and is current independent chair of QuakeCoRE, the Eastern Busway Alliance, Bay of Plenty transport investment initiative and MBIE’s Building Advisory Panel. Prior to Auckland Council, he was previously Managing Director of engineering consultancy AECOM NZ.
Dr Rod Carr
Climate Change Commission, Chair
Matt Whineray
Chief Executive Officer - NZ Super Fund
Matt joined the Guardians in May 2008 as General Manager, Private Markets. In 2014 Matt became Chief Investment Officer overseeing the Investments Group, responsible for the Fund’s portfolio construction and investment activity in listed and unlisted markets, both directly and through investment managers. Matt’s achievements in this role included the development of the Fund’s climate change investment strategy, risk allocation process and risk budget framework, along with the strengthening of the Guardians’ New Zealand and international direct investment capabilities.
Karen Mitchell
Karen Mitchell: Acting Deputy Director General, Infrastructure at the Ministry of Health / Managing Principal Consultant for TSA Management
Karen Mitchell is currently seconded from TSA Management to the Ministry of Health in the role of Acting Deputy Director General, Infrastructure. Karen has successfully held senior and executive level positions within the public and private sectors and is a well-respected leader in complex, high profile infrastructure procurement and commercial negotiations. She has in-depth knowledge of the government and infrastructure sectors. Karen led the establishment of the Infrastructure Transactions Unit within the Treasury, transitioning it to the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission – Te Waihanga. She has previously led some of New Zealand’s largest public-sector infrastructure projects from the decision to invest through procurement and delivery, including pathfinder Public Private Partnership prisons, roads and social housing. Karen is the Senior Responsible Owner for the New Dunedin Hospital Project, the largest vertical infrastructure project in New Zealand.
Adrian Wimmers
Head of Infrastructure, KPMG
Adrian is KPMG New Zealand’s Head of Infrastructure and also leads KPMG Deal Advisory services to the public sector. Adrian has extensive experience of providing commercial, finance, and financial structuring and procurement advice related to major infrastructure projects and government commercial transactions, reform and investment decisions. He has had a long career in infrastructure and government transactions in New Zealand, the UK and the Netherlands.
The majority of Adrian’s infrastructure advisory experience relates to partnering transactions such as PFI, PPP business process outsourcing and franchising involving both project and corporate finance solutions in the social infrastructure, housing, defence, rail, culture and heritage and IT sectors.
Laura Harris
Head of Infrastructure, Government and Specialised Finance
Laura is Head of Infrastructure, Government & Specialised Finance at BNZ and leads the Bank’s Infrastructure and Government sector strategies. Laura has 15 years of Corporate Finance experience in Project Finance, Leveraged and Acquisition Finance, and Export Credit Agency finance, in the institutional, corporate, commercial and private equity sectors and across a range of industries. Laura has been involved in all the NZ PPP transactions to date (leading the bank syndicates on Wiri Prison, Transmission Gully and NZ Schools 3 PPPs), several in Australia with National Australia Bank, and more recently various renewable energy, university student accommodation and social housing transactions. Laura is passionate about infrastructure and what it can deliver for NZ; enabling economic growth, increased productivity and wellbeing, and addressing climate change.
Peter Murray
GM Major Projects and Advisory
Peter joined Te Waihanga in February 2020. He leads the Major Projects and Advisory team, which is focused on best practice, advice and governance, as well as the infrastructure pipeline. Peter was formerly the Executive Director of Infrastructure Finance and Capital Works at the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government in Canberra. He has extensive experience in public sector roles in several Australian jurisdictions including the ACT, NSW, South Australia and the Commonwealth, in infrastructure advisory roles and project delivery. Peter has a Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Commerce from the University of New South Wales and is a Certified Practicing Accountant.
Shamubeel Eaqub
Economist
Shamubeel is an experienced economist, financial analyst and author. He has worked in various banks and consultancies in New Zealand and Australia. He currently balances a portfolio of activities: consulting through Sense Partners, a boutique economic consultancy; various governance and advisory roles for private firms and charities; and regular media contributor. He holds a BCOM(Hons) in Economics from Lincoln University and is also a Chartered Financial Analyst. He has authored several books–the most recent are Generation Rent and Growing Apart.
Hon Tony Randerson QC, CNZM
Retired Court of Appeal Judge Tony Randerson QC chaired the Resource Management Review Panel which made recommendations to the Government in July 2020 on reform of the Resource Management Act 1991. Mr Randerson became a barrister sole in 1989 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1996. He was appointed a Judge of the High Court in 1997 and Chief Judge of that Court in 2004. He served as a Judge of the Court of Appeal from 2010 until his retirement in 2017.
Robert Addison
Chief Policy Advisor
Robert leads the Commission’s involvement is the major policy reforms impacting infrastructure such as Resource Management and Three Waters Reform. Robert joined Te Waihanga in November 2019, when he was appointed as the Interim General Manager until September 2020 when he started his current role.
Robert has held infrastructure and resource management policy roles at the New Zealand Treasury, Mott MacDonald, Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment and Waka Kotahi. He has worked on various iterations of Resource Management Reform in recent years
Sia Aston
MC
Sia was Chief Press Secretary to former Prime Minister John Key from beginning 2014 to end of 2015. Following this she was Director of Communications for the State Services Commission. With a background as a TV political reporter and producer, Sia understands both sides of the news and communications divide. That means she can provide advice on anything from how to tell a good story, to how to get in the news cycle – or get out of it.
Toa Waaka
Ngāti Toa, Te Ati Awa, Ngāti Koata, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou
Tribal Representative, Māori Strategy Advisor – University of Otago, Governance – Te Taumata o Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu – South Island Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency
Founder & Vice President of Society of Māori Astronomy, Research and Traditions – SMART TRUST
Toa Waaka is a representative for his various iwi (tribal affiliations) at regional, local and central government levels, who emphasizes a collaborative approach between his iwi of Ngāti Toa, Te Ati Awa and others.
As the founder of the SMART Trust, Toa is a Mātauranga Māori (universal knowledge) specialist in tātai arorangi (Māori astronomical knowledge), having worked alongside tribal leaders of many iwi across the country to help increase knowledge sharing across all tribes. Toa is also currently the Māori Strategic Framework Project Manager at the University of Otago Wellington. In this role he has influenced a considerable shift in the approach, design, development & implementation of the Hauora Māori curriculum so it encourages student and staff engagement with the wider Māori community.
Contact Us
For any registration enquiries, cancellation or name changes, please contact our event team.
Rachael Simpson, HQ New Zealand, rachael@hqnz.co.nz
Any view, opinion, finding, conclusion or recommendation of the Speakers are strictly those of the party expressing them. Their views do not necessarily reflect the views of Te Waihanga and Te Waihanga disclaims any express or implied warranties in relation to such information to the maximum extent permitted by law.