Hon Steven Joyce
Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills & Employment
1 October 2013 Media Statement
Tertiary Education Commission board appointments
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today announced two appointments to the Tertiary
Education Commission board.
Business New Zealand Chief Executive Phil O’Reilly and businesswoman Vanessa Stoddart have been appointed as members of
the Tertiary Education Commission.
“Mr O’Reilly and Ms Stoddart bring substantial leadership, governance and business experience to their roles on the
Tertiary Education Commission board," Mr Joyce says.
“Mr O’Reilly also brings strong links to the wider business community through his involvement in Business New Zealand.
These linkages will be invaluable as we continue our drive to ensure the relevance of tertiary education to industry
skill needs.
“I would like to thank departing board member, Robin Hapi for his contribution to the Tertiary Education Commission
board, which has benefited significantly from his experience and expertise.”
Biographies
Phil O’Reilly
Phil O'Reilly is Chief Executive of Business New Zealand, New Zealand's largest business advocacy group, representing
thousands of businesses of all sizes.
Mr O’Reilly and BusinessNZ work with companies, organisations and political and other decision makers, advocating for
New Zealand's success through sustainable economic growth. He is Chair of the Board of the Business and Industry
Advisory Committee to the OECD and is New Zealand's employer delegate to the International Labour Conference.
Mr O’Reilly chaired the Green Growth Advisory Group, and is Chair or member of several public and private advisory
boards in areas as diverse as manufacturing, exports, trade, tax, retirement, research and development, innovation,
employment, child poverty, health and safety, skills, government procurement and sustainable business.
Prior to this Mr O’Reilly was Head of Employment Policy and Communication at Westpac Banking Corporation in Sydney. In
the 1990s, he was the executive director of the Newspaper Publishers Association and he started his career as an
industrial advocate for the Auckland Employers Association. He has an MA in History from the University of Auckland.
Vanessa Stoddart
Vanessa Stoddart is a lawyer by profession and until recently was Air New Zealand’s Group General Manager for People and
Technical Operations. She joined Air New Zealand in 2003. Prior to that, Ms Stoddart was chief executive with Carter
Holt Harvey Packaging Australia.
Before heading CHH's packaging business, Ms Stoddart was the company's General Manager Performance Management with
responsibilities for human resources and prior to that held change management and legal positions. Ms Stoddart graduated
from Otago University with both a Bachelor of Commerce & Bachelor of Law (Honours) and went on to complete a postgraduate diploma in professional ethics before attending Insead
Business School to undertake their Advance Management Programme. She is also a member of the Australian and New Zealand
Institute of Directors.
ENDS