MEDIA RELEASE

28 August 2012

EMBARGOED UNTIL 11.30AM

New Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs Chief Executive Appointed

The State Services Commissioner, Iain Rennie, today announced that Ms Pauline Winter has been appointed Chief Executive at the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs (MPIA).

Ms Winter (Te ti Awa-Taranaki/Samoa), who is currently the Director of the Office of Pasifika Advancement at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT), has also run her own company, Interpacific Limited (Ltd), specialising in governance training, strategic planning advice and mentoring services for public and private sector organisations, including Pasifika and Māori organisations, and, in addition to private sector management positions, was Chief Executive at Workbridge Incorporated, a professional employment service for people with disabilities.

A current board member of the Tertiary Education Commission, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and the Auckland City Investments Board and the Committee for Auckland, Ms Winter is also Chair of the Pacific Peoples Advancement Trust, and serves on the boards of the National Advisory Council for the Employment of Women, the Teachers’ Council Review Panel and the Auckland District Police Pacific Peoples Advisory Group.

The Ministry has the key outcomes of improving the economic wellbeing and living standards for Pasifika people and strengthening Pasifika families and communities in New Zealand. As Chief Executive, Ms Winter will lead a Ministry of approximately 42 staff based in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch and will be responsible for a budget of $8.948 million this financial year.

Mr Rennie said that Pauline Winter’s background and networks would provide unique, Pasifika specific knowledge and perspectives to help MPIA inform policy, and the design, delivery and evaluation of programmes by major Public Service agencies, especially in the education, skills and employment sectors.

“With Ms Winter leading, I am confident that the MPIA will contribute effectively to achieve the Government’s priorities for Pasifika people, work collaboratively to lift the productivity of the Public Service, and deliver on the results defined by the Better Public Services programme,” Mr Rennie said.

Ms Winter was recently awarded a Queen’s Service Order (QSO) medal for her service to Business and Pacific Peoples in New Zealand.

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