Our Board
The Commission is governed by a Board of Commissioners.
The Board
Our Board is responsible for governing the entity and exercising its statutory powers and functions. The Board's actions must be consistent with the Crown entity's objectives, functions, Statement of Intent, and Statement of Performance Expectations.
The Board has a strong focus on:
- setting the direction of the Commission
- ensuring that the Commission achieves its objectives, as expressed in legislation and the Statement of Intent
- managing any risks to the Crown.
The Board is made up of the Commissioners.
The Board delegates the day-to-day management of the Commission to the Chief Executive. Our Chief Executive, with support of the senior leadership team, is the key point of accountability between the Board and the organisation.
The Commission's Governance Manual describes how the Board governs the organisation and exercises the Commissions powers, functions and duties, and the role of Commissioners.
Commissioners
The Governor-General, on the recommendation of the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, appoints Commissioners for their knowledge of, and experience in, areas relevant to the Commission's interests. The Telecommunications Commissioner is appointed on the recommendation of the Minister of Media and Communications. Commissioners have a dual role, both as governors (members of the Board) and decision makers.
Commissioners and board members:
Dr John Small, Chair
Dr John Small was appointed Chair in December 2022 and has been a Commissioner since June 2020. John is an economist with a background in academia and consulting. He was previously the Head of the Economics Department at University of Auckland before establishing a consulting firm. John has been a lay member of the High Court of New Zealand, frequently called as an expert witness before courts, tribunals and commissions. He has extensive experience undertaking complex competition analysis in a wide range of sectors, including energy, transport, agriculture, telecommunications, payment systems, and construction. In May 2024, John was appointed as an Associate Member of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Current term expires July 2030.
Anne Callinan, Deputy Chair
Anne Callinan was appointed Deputy Chair in July 2023. Anne is a commercial litigation lawyer with extensive experience of competition and regulatory law. She previously worked for Simpson Grierson, becoming a Partner in 1997 and the firm’s Chair in 2018. She has a BA/LLB from the University of Auckland.
Current term expires July 2028.
Pierre van Heerden, Grocery Commissioner
Pierre van Heerden was appointed Grocery Commissioner in July 2023. Pierre was previously the Chief Executive Officer of Mojo Coffee, Executive General Manager of Farrah’s Breads, Executive General Manager of Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing New Zealand for 10 years as well as holding roles as Chair and Deputy Chair of the Food and Grocery Council of New Zealand and as a member on APEC’s Policy Partnership on Food Security and Ministerial Advisory Groups. He studied at both London Business School and INSEAD on a Prime Minister’s Business Scholarship and holds a BBA, Hons BCom, Hons BCompt, MBL, is a qualified Chartered Accountant, FCPA, MInstD, and GAICD.
Current term expires July 2028.
Tristan Gilbertson, Telecommunications Commissioner
Tristan Gilbertson was appointed Telecommunications Commissioner in June 2020. Tristan is a corporate and commercial lawyer with extensive international experience in the telecommunications, media and technology sector. Prior to joining the Commission he held senior executive positions at Vodafone Group Plc, Telecom New Zealand Ltd and Digicel Group Ltd where he was responsible for leading large multidisciplinary teams during periods of significant transformation and change. He holds a BA/LLB(Hons) from the University of Auckland and has completed the Executive Leadership Development Programme at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Current term expires June 2030.
Bryan Chapple, Commissioner
Bryan Chapple was appointed as Commissioner in August 2022. Bryan is an experienced economist and senior public sector leader with a strong understanding of the Aotearoa New Zealand economy and the role of regulation. He was previously the Deputy Secretary (Growth and Macroeconomics) at the New Zealand Treasury, where he led the Treasury’s work on micro- and macro-economic policy, including regulatory strategy. He holds an honours degree in economics from Victoria University of Wellington.
Current term expires June 2028.
Dr Derek Johnston, Commissioner
Dr Derek Johnston was appointed as Commissioner in November 2019. Derek is a commercial lawyer with extensive experience of competition law with significant mergers and transactional expertise along with strong familiarity in many regulated sectors. He has previously held roles as the independent Chair of NZX’s Regulatory Governance Committee and the Chair of the NZ Markets Disciplinary Tribunal. He was for many years a corporate partner with Russell McVeagh and also practised as a barrister and arbitrator at Thorndon Chambers. From 2022-2024, he was an Associate Member of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. He holds an undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in law from the University of Auckland and a doctorate in law from the University of Toronto.
Current term expires October 2027.
Associate Commissioners
Alongside Commissioners, the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs may also appoint Associate Commissioners to the Commission. Associate Commissioners are appointed for specific classes of matters and serve as Commission members only for those matters. They may be assigned to committees or called upon as needed within their area of appointment. Unlike Commissioners, Associate Commissioners act solely as decision makers and are not members of the Commission’s Board.
Associate Commissioners:
Joseph Liava’a, Associate Commissioner
Joseph Liava’a was appointed as an Associate Commissioner in April 2019. Prior to joining the Commission, Joseph worked as the Community Liaison Manager for Nirvana Health Group. Before that he was a consumer law advisor for the former Ministry of Consumer Affairs and also worked as a private secretary for the Minister. Joseph has also given consumer law training to budget advice services and community law centres. He has been involved with a variety of boards and panels, including Pacific Health and Welfare Inc, Vaiola Pacific Island Budgeting Service Trust (Mangere), Otara Health Charitable Trust, as well as the board of Consumer New Zealand.
Loretta Lovell, Associate Commissioner
Loretta Lovell was appointed an Associate Commissioner in May 2023. Loretta is a solicitor, independent hearings commissioner, development contributions commissioner, and professional director. She brings governance expertise and a collaborative approach to the Commission’s role as economic regulator of water services and has previously served as a board member of Taumata Arowai (Water Services Authority), the water services quality regulator. Her experience as an independent hearings commissioner and chair includes leading hearings and issuing decisions on major infrastructure consent proposals. This provides practical insight into the environmental and planning regulatory settings affecting investment and delivery across the Commission's regulated networks. Loretta has served on multiple Crown entity and private boards, including the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. She holds an LLB from the University of Waikato University.
Current term expires May 2028.
Nathan Strong, Associate Commissioner
Nathan Strong was appointed Associate Commissioner in August 2022. Nathan is a qualified economist with experience in applied competition and regulatory economics. He was the General Manager (Commercial) at Unison Networks having joined the executive team in 2010. He was previously the Chair of the Electricity Networks Associations’ Regulatory Working Group, a Member of the Electricity Authority’s Security and Reliability Council and a member of several Electricity Authority Advisory Groups. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration (BCA) (Hons, First Class) from Victoria University of Wellington.
Current term expires August 2027.
Rakihia Tau, Associate Commissioner
Rakihia Tau was appointed Associate Commissioner in June 2023. Rakihia has held a range of senior executive and governance positions in both the public and private sectors. He currently chairs the boards of the Crown Forestry Rental Trust and Te Tauraki Limited as well as being Partner of consultancy firm IHIA Ltd. Most recently he was Group Head – Strategic Relationships at Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu in Christchurch. He also has served as Chair of the State Owned Enterprise AgriQuality, a director of Ngāi Tahu Properties Ltd and was one of the principal negotiators of the Ngāi Tahu Claim. He originally qualified as a Marine Engineer, before obtaining a BCom and MBA from the University of Canterbury.
Current term expires June 2028.
Cross-appointments from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
Under the Single Economic Market Outcomes Framework agreed between the New Zealand and Australian Governments in 2009, it was agreed that certain members of each country’s competition agency could be cross-appointed to the other country’s competition agency. This would support convergence in the way the two regulators approach similar issues under competition and consumer laws. Cross-appointees to the Commission are appointed as Associate Commissioners. They are most often allocated to areas that will involve Australian enterprises – such as merger determinations.
Associate Commissioners (cross appointees from the ACCC):
Anna Brakey, Associate Commissioner
Anna Brakey was appointed Associate Commissioner in March 2022. Anna has been Commissioner of the ACCC since 2020. She has extensive experience in regulatory economics and public policy across government, regulators and the private sector, with broad exposure to a range of industries, including energy, water and transport, as well as economic reform to social policy reform. She holds a Bachelor of Economics from Australian National University and a Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance and Investment from Securities Institute of Australia. She is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Current term expired December 2025 – awaiting reappointment.
Stephen Ridgeway, Associate Commissioner
Stephen Ridgeway was appointed Associate Commissioner in March 2022. Stephen has been Commissioner of the ACCC since 2019. He brings extensive experience from senior legal roles in both the public and private sectors and is widely recognised as a leading competition and consumer lawyer. He was previously a senior partner at King & Wood Mallesons. Stephen holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from the University of New South Wales and a Bachelor of Laws from the Australian National University.
Current term expires June 2027.