Five welfare, electricity, hardship and health leaders have been appointed to the new Energy Hardship Expert Panel that
is being set up to recommend policy priorities and actions to government.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has established the panel following a recommendation to
government by the independent Electricity Price Review.
This panel will have a key role in advancing the government’s initiatives to alleviate energy hardship, and the five
members have been appointed for their specialist knowledge and expertise across a range of areas. The members also have
experience working directly with households in or at risk of energy hardship, and collectively have insight into the
lived experience of energy hardship, particularly of Māori and Pasifika, disabled people, low-income families and other
groups at higher risk.
The panel members are also leaders in their field or community, and as a group have insight into the broader societal
issues that contribute to energy hardship.
It will be chaired by Keri Brown, a councillor at Hutt City Council, who has led work in homelessness, hardship and
child outcomes, and worked previously as a senior national advisor for the Family Start programme, which helps whānau
support the development and education of their tamariki.
The other members are Pacific health leader Dr Amanda-Lanuola Dunlop, beneficiary advocate Kay Brereton, former
electricity executive Kevin Angland, and Helen Leahy, head of Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu, the Whānau Ora
Commissioning Agency for the South Island.
The Panel will also provide impartial, evidence-based expert advice and identify where existing energy hardship
initiatives can be improved or better leveraged.
The Panel’s work programme will in part be drawn from the Electricity Price Review’s energy hardship findings and the
government’s response to its recommendations, and will be refined when the Panel convenes.
The Panel members have been appointed until 30 June 2023 and will work alongside the soon-to-be-established Energy
Hardship Reference Group that is being set up to provide a forum to share information and encourage coordination across
industry, NGOs and government agencies.Energy Hardship Expert Panel
Keri Brown (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Mahana) is a councillor at Hutt City Council where she has led work in
homelessness, hardship and child outcomes, and a Hutt Valley DHB board member. She has a background in community and
public service and experience across governance, policy development, programme management and strategic planning. Keri
was previously a senior national adviser for the Family Start programme, which works with whānau to improve children’s
health, education and relationships.
Dr Amanda-Lanuola Dunlop (Samoan, Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato-Tainui) is chief executive of Vaka Tautua, a charitable trust that aims to improve
the health and wellbeing of Pacific peoples. She has more than 25 years’ experience working in health policy
development, relationship management, research and evaluation. Amanda-Lanuola has held a variety of roles spanning
central government, academia, a district health board and not-for-profit organisations. She holds a PhD in Community
Health.
Helen Leahy is the pouārahi/chief executive of Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu, the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency for the South
Island. She has extensive experience working with Māori communities and whānau, and has a long history of community and
regional involvement in areas of children, health, hardship, education, vulnerable communities and welfare, and as a
senior ministerial and policy advisor.
Kay Brereton is the manager for the Beneficiaries and Unwaged Workers Trust and co-convenor of the National Beneficiary Advocacy
Consultative Group. Kay has been a beneficiary advocate for more than 16 years and has extensive experience on focus
groups in areas such as welfare, housing and service alignment. She received a Queen’s Service Medal last year for
services to welfare of beneficiaries.
Kevin Angland has several years’ governance experience as a director of the Electricity Retailers’ Association of New Zealand where
he oversaw strategic work with an emphasis on supporting vulnerable communities. He also has executive experience with
electricity gentailer Mercury that included working on programmes to reduce energy hardship. His leadership in the
technology and digital sector was recognised in 2014 when he was named New Zealand CIO of the year.
Read more about the Energy Hardship Expert Panel.