John McDonald appointed to Solid Energy board

12 April 2007

John McDonald appointed to Solid Energy board

John McDonald, an Auckland-based company director, has been appointed to the board of Solid Energy New Zealand Ltd by the Minister for State Owned Enterprises.

Solid Energy Chairman, John Palmer, says Solid Energy will benefit from Mr McDonald’s extensive senior management career with the former Fletcher Challenge group of companies and his wide board experience including the board of Air New Zealand.

“We are very pleased to welcome John to the board. He has a strong background in effectively representing senior management at board meetings and in recent years has become a board member of several public companies. He therefore brings to the table a very strong appreciation of the respective roles of governance and management,” Mr Palmer says.

Mr McDonald had more than 30 years’ experience in executive management positions with Tasman Pulp and Paper Co Ltd and Fletcher Challenge through until his retirement in 2001. He was also a director of several Fletcher Challenge subsidiary and joint venture companies in New Zealand and overseas. As well as Air New Zealand, Mr McDonald is on the boards of public companies HY-FI Securities Ltd and Dairy Equities Ltd.

Christchurch-based company director and mining engineer Michael Hawarden, who has served on the Solid Energy board for eight years, will retire at the end of April.

“On behalf of the board, I also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of Michael Hawarden to the company. During his time on the board Solid Energy has developed into a sustainable and profitable business which has diversified into biomass, is piloting new, cleaner uses of coal and is at the forefront of work to investigate the applicability of clean coal technology in New Zealand.”

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