Hon Phil Goff
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Media Statement

16 July 2003

Goff announces Antarctica NZ appointments

Foreign Minister Phil Goff today announced the appointment of a new Chair and a new member to Antarctica New Zealand’s management board.

Former National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research (NIWA) chief executive Paul Hargreaves takes over as Chair while former Comalco executive Kerry McDonald joins the board.

“I’m delighted to have such a strong team on the board of Antarctica New Zealand," Mr Goff said.

"The quality of Antarctica New Zealand’s environmental management and support for scientific work is of utmost importance to our international reputation and influence in the Antarctic Treaty System."

Antarctica New Zealand has responsibility for New Zealand’s operations there, including Scott Base, planning and support of the science programme, and environmental stewardship of activities in the Ross Dependency.

Mr Hargreaves was first appointed to Antarctica New Zealand’s board two years ago. He was with NIWA for eight years and earlier co-founded Datacom Group Ltd. He replaces outgoing Chair Chris Mace, whom Mr Goff thanked for his commitment and leadership over the last seven years.

Mr McDonald was a senior executive with Comalco Group for 20 years, including 12 as Comalco NZ’s managing director. He is Chair of the Bank of New Zealand and GRD (NZ) Ltd, and Deputy Chair of the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research.

Reappointed Board members include United Nations International Law Commission member and international legal consultant Bill Mansfield; senior Canterbury University Geography lecturer Dr Wendy Lawson; ecologist and co-ordinator of the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN) Invasive Species Specialist Group Maj de Poorter, and engineer Dr Francis Small, who is Chair of Meridian Energy and the Centre for Advanced Engineering at Canterbury University.

ENDS

All Phil Goff’s media releases and speeches are posted at www.beehive.govt.nz

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