Sponsor presentation

Tom grew up in Hawke’s Bay but now lives in Wellington with his partner, where he works for Forest & Bird. Tom developed a keen passion for rivers whitewater kayaking on the Mohaka River throughout his childhood and continues to kayak around Aotearoa, most regularly on Te Awakairangi / the Hutt River. Since 2022, Tom has been leading Forest & Bird’s Making Room for Rivers / Tukua Ngā Awa Kia Rere campaign – to get decision makers to provide space for rivers to flood safely, protecting their natural character and habitat as well as the communities that live alongside them. Following Cyclone Gabrielle, which his family back in Hawke’s Bay experienced first-hand, Tom has been touring Aotearoa presenting this kaupapa, with some 40 groups (including 11 councils) seeing the presentation so far. Making Room for Rivers, and Tom, also featured on RNZ’s Saturday Morning in August 2023. Tom has worked at Forest & Bird for the better part of six years and has also worked briefly as a policy advisor at an environmental consultancy, as a field team member in a predator control R&D organisation, and as a raft guide. He has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and a Master of Science in Ecology from Massey University in Palmerston North.

Jonathan Boston, ONZM, is Emeritus Professor of Public Policy in the School of Government at Victoria University of Wellington. His research interests include: climate change policy (both mitigation and adaptation); child poverty; governance (especially anticipatory governance); public management; tertiary education funding (especially research funding); and welfare state design. He has served at various times as the Director of the Institute of Policy Studies and the Director of the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. In the early 2000’s he served as a member of the Tertiary Education Advisory Committee and helped design and implement the Performance-Based Research Fund in New Zealand’s tertiary education sector. During 2012-13 he co-chaired the Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty for the Children’s Commissioner. In 2021 he was seconded to the Ministry for the Environment to contribute to policy advice on various aspects of environmental policy, including resource management issues. He served during 2022-23 as a member of the Expert Working Group on Managed Retreat for the Ministry for the Environment, and also assisted the Environmental Defence Society with their project on climate change adaptation. Over the years he has served on the boards of various non-governmental organizations, such as Oxfam Aotearoa (2013-22). Recent books and major reports include: Child Poverty in New Zealand (with Simon Chapple) (2014); Governing for the Future: Designing Democratic Institutions for a Better Tomorrow (2017); Safeguarding the Future: Governing in an Uncertain World (2017); Foresight, Insight, and Oversight: Enhancing Long-Term Governance through Better Parliamentary Scrutiny (with David Bagnall and Anna Barry) (2019); Transforming the Welfare State: Towards a New Social Contract (2019); Funding Managed Retreat: Designing a Public Compensation Scheme for Private Property Losses: Policy Issues and Options (2023). He is the editor of Policy Quarterly.

For over 20 years, Amanda has been a noteworthy leader in the Insurance industry, having held senior positions in both general and health insurance as well as telecommunications. Originally from Western Australia, Amanda joined IAG in Sydney in 2008 and has held a number of key roles within the organisation before being appointed as Chief Executive of the New Zealand business in July 2021. Known for not taking herself too seriously, Amanda is a passionate, optimistic and persistent leader, and her personal focus is to continually create opportunities for herself and others to learn and grow. Throughout her tenure with IAG, she has been involved in delivering the first ever automated advice model for SME Insurance in Australia, award-winning insurance experience teams, and record employee net promoter scores. Amanda is currently an Executive Director of IAG New Zealand Limited and IAG (NZ) Holdings Limited, as well as holding directorships with AMI Insurance Limited, First Rescue New Zealand Limited, IAG NZ Repairhub Limited, Loyalty New Zealand Limited and Lumley General Insurance (N.Z.) Limited. As well as her directorships, Amanda is a member of the Climate Leaders Coalition Steering Committee and Sustainable Business Council Advisory Board, as well as Vice President of the Insurance Council of New Zealand Board. She is a member of Global Women and Champions for Change in New Zealand, and Chief Executive Women in Australia. Amanda is a visionary CEO with a track record of fostering innovative and diverse workplaces that deliver exceptional culture and customer-centred outcomes. She is committed to living the IAG purpose of making “your world a safer place”.

Andrew joined the Insurance Council of Australia in September 2020 as CEO and Executive Director. He joined the ICA from the Commonwealth Bank, where he served as the Executive General Manager for Corporate Affairs for seven years. He was previously Director of Corporate and Public Affairs for Woolworths Limited for six years, participating as a member of the Management Board. Andrew’s professional career started as a journalist in regional New South Wales in 1994, before moving to Canberra in 1996 where he worked in federal politics for 10 years. From 2001 to 2007 he was the Federal Director of the Nationals and served on the Federal Management Committee. His expertise in the corporate affairs profession has been recognised with admission to the Arthur W. Page Society, recognition in the International Top 50 Corporate Affairs Professionals (Salt & Shein 2014) and in the inaugural award of Top 50 Outstanding LGBTI Leaders in Australia (Deloitte 2016) for his work in leadership roles, diversity and on the Board of Equality Australia for the marriage equality campaign. He has extensive experience in governance, both in the corporate and not-for-profit sectors. He is a member of the ASX Corporate Governance Council. He serves on the charity boards of Rural Aid.

Nigel Bickle describes himself as a “boy from Porirua” and he is certainly proud of his roots. He started his working life as a 20-year-old, processing benefit applications in the local welfare office. He worked in the public sector for 30 years including eight as the head of Immigration New Zealand, a role which gave him a lot of experience with Hawke’s Bay working with the horticulture and viticulture sector. Other previous roles include Acting Chief Executive of the Department of Labour and Acting Chief Executive of the Department of Building and Housing. He spent 9 years working in the housing area of government across areas of leading the leaky home service and the implementation of changes to the Building Act in response to those issues. Nigel also headed up the government’s formation of the Provincial Development Unit, which managed the $3bn Provincial Growth Fund. Nigel took up the role as Chief Executive of the Hastings District Council on February 11, 2019 and absolutely loves his role working to advance the wellbeing of the community. He feels incredibly proud to work at a progressive Council that has been recognised for a range of innovative work spanning placemaking, housing, heritage, infrastructure and service transformation.