Who reviews the electorate boundaries?

The Representation Commission is the independent body that reviews the boundaries and names of electorates.

Public officials and Government and Opposition appointees make up the Representation Commission. When considering the Māori electorate boundaries, the Commission also includes the chief executive of Te Puni Kōkiri and Māori representatives appointed by the Government and Opposition. Usually a current or retired judge chairs the Commission.

Read more about the members of the 2019/20 Representation Commission below.

Judge Craig Thompson – Chair

Craig is a Judge in the Wellington District Court and the Environment Court.

He was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in 1974 and worked in private practice in Blenheim and Wellington as a general litigator before being appointed Crown Counsel in the Crown Law Office in 1983 and Deputy Solicitor-General for New Zealand in 1986.

Craig was a member of the Legislation Advisory Committee until his appointment as a District Court Judge in 1992. He was appointed an Alternate Environment Judge in 2001 and a full-time Environment Judge in August 2003. He was Principal Environment Judge from 2009 until 2011. He retired as a full-time District Court and Environment Judge in 2018.

Anselm Haanen – Surveyor General

Anselm was appointed to the role of Surveyor-General in July 2019. He had been Deputy Surveyor-General since 2006 and was appointed Acting Surveyor-General in August 2018.

Anselm chairs the New Zealand Geographic Board and is a member of the Cadastral Surveyors Licensing Board. He is a licensed cadastral surveyor and holds a Master of Surveying from Otago University.

The Surveyor-General is responsible for preparing the provisional boundaries for the Representation Commission, as well as being a member of the Commission. Anselm was a member of the Representation Commission for the 2013/14 Boundary Review.

Carol Slappendel – Deputy Government Statistician

Carol leads the Census and Collection Operations group at Stats NZ.

Carol joined Stats NZ in 2005. In 2007 she became General Manager of the 2011 Census and she led the 2013 Census after the 2011 Census was cancelled due to the Christchurch earthquake.

Carol has held management positions in the Department of Labour and the Accident Compensation Corporation. Her early career was in academia. She was a senior lecturer at Massey University, specialising in ergonomics and human factors engineering.

Alicia Wright – Chief Electoral Officer

Alicia’s five-year term as Chief Electoral Officer and Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission began in January 2017.

She previously held the role of Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Defence and senior roles across the public service including the Department of Labour, Ministry of Social

Development and the Department of Internal Affairs. She has also been a principal at Deloittes and was a Director of Amherst Group.

Brendan J Duffy ONZM, JP – Chair of the Local Government Commission

Brendan has been a member of the Local Government Commission since 2017 and was appointed Chair in September 2019.

He began his local government career in 1995 when he was elected to the Horowhenua District Council and went on to serve as mayor from 2004-2016. He was vice president of Local Government New Zealand for 3 years and chair of its Rural Provincial Sector for six years.

Brendan is deputy chair of the Mid Central District Health Board and a former board member of the industrial training organisation MITO.

Hon Rick Barker – Government representative

Hon Roger Sowry – Opposition representative

Roger has been a government relations consultant with the firm Saunders Unsworth since 2008. He was a National Party member of Parliament from 1990 to 2005 and his ministerial roles included Minister of Social Welfare and Associate Minister of Health. He was Chief Executive of Arthritis New Zealand from 2005 to 2008.

Roger was a member of the Representation Commission for the 2007 and 2013/14 boundary reviews.

Di Grennell – Deputy Chief Executive, Regional Partnerships for Te Puni Kōkiri

Di's role at Te Puni Kōkiri allows her to utilise her strong interest in regional development. Di was formerly the Director Operations for Whānau Ora from November 2010, a role she came to after serving as a member on the Taskforce on Whānau–Centred Initiatives which led to the development of Whānau Ora. In 2013/2014, she led the work to oversee the move to the Commissioning Agency approach for Whānau Ora.

Di has an interest in strategies for social change and extensive professional experience in the family violence prevention field including working with courts, programme development, provider training, research and policy.

Di is of Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Mutunga descent.

Moana Mackey – Government representative for the Māori electorates

Moana has worked at the Wellington City Council since 2014, most recently as Chief Advisor to the Chief City Planner. She was a Labour Party member of Parliament from 2003 to 2014 and between 2008 and 2014 was Opposition spokesperson for the Environment, Climate Change, Science, Energy and Resources, Research and Development, Housing, Rural Affairs and Associate Health.

Moana is of Ngāti Porou descent.

Dan Te Kanawa – Opposition representative for the Māori electorates

Dan is the Chief Executive of the Tūhono Māori Affiliation Service which assists Māori to register with their iwi and other Māori entities. He has been a Trustee of the Ngāti Maniapoto Marae Pact Trust representing the Oparure Marae since 1981. He holds a New Zealand Certificate in Draughting (Civil Engineering).

Dan was a member of the Representation Commission for the 2013/14 Boundary Review.

Dan is of Ngāti Maniapoto descent.