I am a former senior public servant with nearly five decades of experience - three in central government and two in local government in New Zealand and England. 

Over that time I have seen many governments come and go, while providing advice that has endured. 

As a Principal Adviser in transport and housing, I worked across a wide span of portfolios — resource management, housing, local government, energy, health, education, social welfare and defence. 

Key achievements include: 

• Steering major policy reforms from initial problem definition through to Cabinet decisions and legislative enactment, delivering clear, targeted written and oral advice throughout the process.   

• Designing resilient systems — including new entities, funding systems and regulatory frameworks — adopted by successive governments. 

• Conducting independent reviews of policy proposals initiated within my department, across wider government, and by external stakeholders. 

My local government planning experience spanned both the development of new plans and the implementation of existing plans. 

As a Forward Planner and Manager, I worked on structure plans, zoning changes, urban regeneration and governance reforms. This was grounded in my early career at the planning coalface — undertaking compliance checks, dispensations and enforcement. That experience gave me an invaluable understanding of how to design policy that works in practice.  

My experience has enabled me to gain deep insight into how public policy and decision‑making processes really work.

I have supported Ministers in Parliament, advised Cabinet Committees, Select Committees, Council Committees, supported political meetings and fronted public meetings. I have led many policy project teams over the years and trained many officials in public policy.