Minister announces SOE board appointments

State Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall today announced seven new appointments and 11 reappointments across five SOEs and two airport companies. 

“This appointment round introduces some highly skilled directors into the portfolio and also provides for good continuity of skill and experience,” says Mr Ryall. 

Four chairs have been reappointed to their positions: Hon Sir Michael Cullen at New Zealand Post Ltd; Susan Paterson at Airways Corporation of New Zealand Ltd; Janine Smith at AsureQuality Ltd; and Mark Verbiest at Transpower New Zealand Ltd. 

Two serving directors have been appointed to Deputy Chair positions: Jackie Lloyd at New Zealand Post Ltd (with effect from 1 December 2013) and John Quirk at Kordia Group Ltd.

Existing director Lorraine Witten has been appointed to Chair of Kordia Group Ltd following the retirement of David Clarke who has served as Chair since 2009. 

Four new directors have been appointed:

1. AsureQuality Ltd: Margot Buick, of Hamilton, a consultant specialising in the agribusiness value chain. 
2. Kordia Group: Rachel Farrant, of Wellington, a partner at chartered accountancy firm BDO.
3. Kordia Group: Bryan Hemi, of Auckland, Managing Director of Governance Online Ltd (an IT start-up) and a consultant for software company iToolsOnline Ltd.
4. New Zealand Post Ltd: Julia Hoare, of Auckland, a chartered accountant who retired as a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers in late 2012. 

Aside from the chair reappointments, a further seven directors have also been reappointed across a range of SOE and airport boards. Unless otherwise noted, all appointments and reappointments are effective from 1 November 2013.

Mr Ryall thanked all retiring directors for their service and wished them well for their future endeavours. 

A table confirming all changes follows: