First Staff Appointments to New Zealand Productivity Commission

The Chair of the New Zealand Productivity Commission, Murray Sherwin, today announced the first senior appointments to the staff of the new Productivity Commission.

Peter Alsop has been appointed as General Manager. Peter’s career spans private and public sector roles which equip him well for this key role in the Productivity Commission. He is currently GM, Organisation Performance with the Commerce Commission and prior to that was Manager, Corporate and External Relations at PHARMAC. His previous roles were with Vector, TelstraClear and the Ministry of Economic Development. Peter holds a Masters degree in Management Studies (Economics) and a Bachelors degree in Social Science (Mathematics), both from Waikato University.

Two Principal Advisors have been appointed. They are Paul Conway and Steven Bailey.

Paul Conway is an economist with extensive international experience working with the OECD, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and with Westpac and the Reserve Bank in New Zealand. His recent work has resulted in numerous published studies relating to product market regulation, competition and productivity in New Zealand, China, Russia and India, as well as broader OECD-wide analysis. Paul has a Master of Commerce and Administration (Economics), First Class, from Victoria University and a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) from Otago University

Steven Bailey is currently Director, Government Relations with the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants. He is an economist with extensive public sector experience in New Zealand and abroad, including four years with the Australian Productivity Commission, policy advice roles with both the Ministry of Economic Development and the New Zealand Treasury as well as private sector experience with Telecom New Zealand. Steven has a Master of Science (Regulation) from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in Economics from Lincoln University.

In addition to these staff appointments, in its establishment phase the Productivity Commission will have the services of personnel seconded from other agencies.

Geoff Lewis has been made available by the Treasury for up to one year. Geoff has worked extensively in the area of the economics of productivity, including cross-country comparative analysis and productivity measurement. During his work at the Treasury, Geoff has worked extensively in the fields of productivity and innovation, financial markets saving and investment, New Zealand’s economic growth performance, Auckland’s economic performance, social capital and economic performance and all areas of tax policy. Geoff has a Master of Commerce, Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees from Canterbury University and, prior to joining the Treasury, he held academic posts with the Universities of Waikato, Auckland and Bristol.

“I am delighted with the quality of these key initial appointments”, said Mr Sherwin. “We have had many very high quality candidates offer their services to the Productivity Commission which indicates the enthusiasm with which the new entity is being received within both the public and private sector. We have also enjoyed very strong support from the Australian Productivity Commission through the establishment phase and look forward to building that key relationship as we get underway with our work.”

“We will shortly be in a position to receive details of the first two inquiry topics from the Minister of Finance. We also look forward to the appointment of further commissioners to support me as Chair in the work and governance of the Commission”, added Mr Sherwin.

The New Zealand Productivity Commission will be looking to make further appointments at Senior and Advisor levels closer to the commencement date of 01 April. It will be located on Level 15 of Fujitsu House, 141 The Terrace, Wellington. Details of phone numbers, email, website, Post Office Box and other contact details will be available shortly.

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