Marie Shroff new Electoral Commission Chair
A new Chair and Deputy Chair have been appointed to the Board of the Electoral Commission.
Marie Shroff will take on the role of Chair later this month. She is currently a member of the Consumer NZ Board, Chair of both the Consumer Foundation and Privacy Foundation, and an associate member of the Media Council. She was Cabinet Secretary from 1987-2003 and Privacy Commissioner from 2003-2014.
The new Deputy Chair will be Jane Meares, a barrister who specialises in commercial and public law. She is the Chief Commissioner of the Transport Accident Investigation Commission and was the Treasury Solicitor from 2007-2011.
Chief Electoral Officer Alicia Wright has congratulated the new Chair and Deputy on their appointments.
“Marie Shroff’s experience as a senior manager and privacy advocate is ideal for the work we do to maintain the integrity of the electoral roll and elections in New Zealand, and Jane Meares brings a keen legal eye to the Commission,” says Alicia Wright. “All of us at the Commission are looking forward to working with them in the lead up to the 2020 General Election.“
The term of the current Chair, Sir Hugh Williams KNZM QC, ended in February 2019 and Sir Hugh stayed on in the role until his replacement was found. Deputy Chair Kristy McDonald QC also finished in her role earlier this year.
“We thank Sir Hugh and Kristy for their valuable work and service and wish them all the best,” says Alicia Wright.
“Sir Hugh has been with the Commission for a decade and has been a brilliant Chair. He has always been focussed on the future and looking for ways to improve services, and his strong legal mind has been indispensable to the Commission.”
Sir Hugh was appointed President of the former Electoral Commission in 2009 and Chair of the present Electoral Commission in 2010. He has guided the organisation through change, including the 2010 transition to a single electoral agency and the 2016 integration of enrolment services into the Commission from New Zealand Post.