Chief Executives Forum & Masterclass

Peseta Sam was born in Apia, Samoa and moved to New Zealand with his family when he was a child. He grew up in Mangere and was educated at Mangere Central School and Auckland Grammar School. He graduated from the University of Auckland with a Masters in Commerce (Hons), Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Law degrees.

After graduating, he joined Russell McVeagh McKenzie Bartleet & Co. as a solicitor, working in the area of corporate and commercial law. He later moved to England, where he worked for Bankers Trust as a financial analyst. While in England he graduated with an MBA from the University of Cambridge (Queens College). He has worked as an executive consultant with Macquarie Bank in Sydney before returning to New Zealand to work as a management consultant and advisor.

In 2008, Peseta Sam was elected as the MP for Maungakiekie and has held the seat since. He is an active leader in the Pacific community and holds the high chief (alii) title of Peseta. Locally, Sam is patron of the Maungarei Cadets, the Dolphin Theatre and the Onehunga Bowling Club. He is an active member of the Royal Oak Baptist Church and belongs to the Rotary Club of Penrose.

Prior to parliament, Peseta Sam was elected to the Tamaki-Maungakiekie seat on the Auckland City Council and was appointed Chairman of the City Development Committee. In January 2014, he was appointed as Minister of Pacific Island Affairs and Associate Minister of Local Government.

Peseta Sam is Minister of Local Government, Minister for Ethnic Communities, Minister for Pacific Peoples, and Associate Minister of Health.

A former professional soldier, Lieutenant-Colonel (Rtd) Sir Wira Gardiner has a long and distinguished public service career, including extensive governance experience. He was the founding director of the Waitangi Tribunal and founding chief executive of the Ministry of Maori Development (Te Puni Kokiri). He has been National Director of Civil Defence, Chair of Te Mangai Paho and deputy chair of Te Ohu Kaimoana. He was Chair of the Tertiary Education Commission between 2010 and 2012, and Chair of the Board of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa between 2010 and 2013. Sir Wira was made a Knight of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2008 for services to Maori. Sir Wira has published a number of books and is currently working on the history of B Company 28 Maori Battalion.

Janie was appointed by the Minister of Local Government as a Temporary Member of the Local Government Commission in April 2014 and was made a permanent member in July 2014. She chaired the Commission’s Representation Reviews Committee in 2016.

Janie had previously served three terms as the Mayor of Timaru from 2004 to 2013. In 2014 she was appointed as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to local government.

Janie has experience across a wide range of private sector, local government and central government roles. She serves on the Boards of the Lottery Community Facilities and Significant Projects Funds.

Leigh Auton has extensive local government experience with a particular background in planning, infrastructure and transport, and is former Chief Executive of Manukau City Council and former interim Chief Executive of Tauranga City Council. Leigh is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors, and a Director/Trustee/Chair for a number of public and private sector entities. He was a member of the Board of Inquiry for the Men’s prison at Wiri in 2011, and a member of the Review Panel for the Kaipara District Council in 2012. He is a former President and Inaugural Fellow of the NZ Planning Institute and, in November 2009, he received a Distinguished Service Award for his contribution to the image and practice of planning.

Al Morrison commenced as Deputy Commissioner at the State Services Commission in September 2013. Previously, he was at the Department of Conservation starting in 2002 and was appointed as Chief Executive and Director General in November 2006. He led the department through a period of significant change to expand conservation achievement and engagement beyond the department's core work.

Al is an alumnus of the Public Service Executive Leadership Programme, and former Leadership Development Centre Board member.

Brett has extensive local government treasury experience including treasury policy design, hedging strategy advice, and financial risk management. Brett has been a principal treasury advisor to the local government sector since 1997. Brett is principal ongoing treasury advisor to 20 regional, city and district council clients.

Samantha is a partner and she heads the employment group in Wellington. She has extensive experience in employment law and health and safety.

She provides advice on a wide range of employment issues, including bargaining, contract drafting, personal grievances, disputes, restraint-of trade-issues, disciplinary matters, human rights, privacy, accident compensation, health and safety, and the Holidays Act. She also provides strategic advice on restructurings and acquisitions. She has advised on a number of cases involving stress, bullying, and incompatibility.

Samantha's health and safety work includes all aspects of strategy and policy development and incident management.

Samantha acts for a number of our key clients in the public and private sectors, including national and international corporate clients, local government, district health boards, Crown entities, and government departments.

Barbara is nationally recognised as a leader in local government management. She has an executive career in local government spanning more than 35 years, with experience in almost every facet of council work. Currently the Chief Executive of Wellington City Council, Barbara moved to Wellington in 2017 after serving nine years as the Chief Executive of New Plymouth District Council. There she was responsible for driving the projects that changed the reputation of New Plymouth, gaining national and international recognition for its arts, culture and lifestyle.

Barbara’s story is inspiring for her staff – from her very early career as a Librarian to Chief Executive of the capital city. She was the President of Taituarā — Local Government Professionals Aotearoa for three years and during that time co-chaired the Central and Local Government Chief Executive Forum and served as a member of the Office of Auditor – General Local Government Advisory Group.

She is currently a member of the Advisory Board for the Wellington School of Business and Government. In her spare time Barbara enjoys getting out into the trails and open spaces of Wellington, though not as quickly as she did in the 1980s when she was a champion marathon runner and represented both Australia and New Zealand.

Michael has been a council chief executive in in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. Those authorities have served from 1600 to 80,000 citizens, with up to 700 staff, budgets of $100m. He has also been a director on a number of local authority companies providing passenger transport, energy reticulation, and local authority liability insurance.

He has served as President of both the NZ Society of Local Government Managers, and the US-based International City/County Management Association (ICMA), and been made a life member of both those organisations. Throughout that time he has presented to conferences on local government issues in Australasia, the USA, Europe, and Asia.

Currently, he is working with Peak Democracy (an online community engagement company with a significant council client base in the USA and Canada) as it looks to extend its client base into Australasia.

Don Tricker played softball at the regional and national level before being named Black Sox coach. He coached the team to two world championship wins, three consecutive world titles, and was named coach of the year at the Halberg awards in 2000. He was made an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2004. In 2002, after 18 years in the information technology sector, Don was appointed as senior advisor of high performance coaching at the New Zealand Academy of Sport, a unit of Sport and Recreation New Zealand. In 2009 he co-authored the report into the All Blacks early World Cup exit and subsequently the New Zealand Rugby Union appointed him as the High Performance Manager.