Invited Speakers

Pat Dougherty

Pat Dougherty is currently the Chief Executive of Wellington Water. He has over 35 years’ experience working in local government, including ten years as Chief Executive of the Kapiti Coast District Council and five years as Chief Executive of the Nelson City Council.

He has an extensive infrastructure / asset management background, particularly in Three Waters. For over four years he was on a series of advisory groups providing advice to DIA on the establishment of Taumata Arowai and Three Waters Reforms (now the Affordable Water Reform programme).

He was a Board member of the Mackays to Pekapeka Expressway Alliance from 2011 – 2017 and is currently on the Board of the NZ Transport Agency.

Pat holds two degrees – a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) and a Master of Business Administration (with Distinction). He is a Member of the Institute of Directors and a Chartered Member of Engineering NZ.

Allan Prangnell

Allan was appointed Chief Executive of the Water Services Authority – Taumata Arowai (the Authority) in January 2023, reflecting his wealth of strategic leadership experience across both central and local government.

Since taking on this role, Allan has overseen the Authority’s change of gears from its establishment phase to being an operational regulator, with the toolkit and approaches to work with supplies large and small to improve drinking water safety. Allan has also made changes to the Authority’s set up to reflect Government policy settings and support the successful implementation of Local Water Done Well.

He was formerly Deputy Chief Executive at the Ministry of Transport where he provided the Ministry’s advisory functions on the performance of the transport system. This included maintaining a stable of Crown Entity on behalf of Minister of Transport including NZTA Regulators (AA, Maritime NZ & ITIAC).

Prior to the Ministry of Transport, Allan was Executive Director Three Waters at the Department of Internal Affairs where he led the departments reform work, including the establishment of the Water Services Authority as a crown entity and the legislation underpinning the new regulatory regime.

Earlier in his career, Allan worked for a decade in Local Government, including roles at Wellington City Council as Manager, Council Controlled Organisations and Executive Strategist to the Mayor, councillors and leadership team. Allan has significant experience in regulation, organisational design, transformation, governance and leadership, and managing stakeholder relationships within complex systems.

He has an LLB/BA from Victoria University.

Nerina Di Lorenzo GAICD

Dr Di Lorenzo is the Managing Director of Melbourne Water which provides drinking water, treats wastewater and manages catchments in the greater Melbourne region.  

She holds extensive experience in the water and local government sectors, including as CEO of Merri-bek City Council for five years preceded by holding infrastructure executive portfolios.

Dr Di Lorenzo commenced her early career in the oil industry working on the platforms in Bass Strait. 

Jamie Sinclair

Jamie Sinclair was appointed chief executive of Watercare in June 2025, following an extensive career in both the public and private sectors across New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Prior to stepping into his current role, Jamie served as deputy chief executive and chief corporate services officer at Watercare, where he led finance, people and culture, legal, and health and safety functions.

A qualified accountant with a degree in management studies from the University of Waikato and a postgraduate diploma in environmental management, Jamie brings a unique blend of financial expertise and environmental insight to the role. His career has spanned audit, change management, and executive leadership, including seven transformative years with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, where his positions included chief executive of the Trust.

Jamie is passionate about people, partnerships, and performance. He is leading Watercare through a period of significant change as it becomes a financially independent and fully regulated utility. With a $13.8 billion investment plan over the next decade, Jamie is focused on delivering for Aucklanders while strengthening relationships across the sector, with mana whenua partners and key stakeholders.

David Ryan 

David is a dynamic water industry leader, known for shaping contemporary organisational culture to deliver water services oriented around the continual improvement of customer experience.  

In his current role as Chief Executive of SA Water, David leads one of Australia’s largest integrated water utilities, serving more than 1.8 million customers across urban, regional and remote areas.  

By championing key values fostered through his background in regional Australia, such as sustainability, diversity and customer-centricity, David works to ensure water services help build and enhance communities and enable economic development.  

Prior to joining SA Water, David was Managing Director of Melbourne’s City West Water, and held executive roles at bulk water company Melbourne Water in operations and capital delivery, waterway management and customer solutions. 

Datuk Ir. Abdul Kadir Mohd Din FASc (panel)

DMSM, MIEM, MICE, ACPE, P.Eng, C.Eng

Datuk Ir. Abdul Kadir Mohd Din has more than 40 years of industry experience in the water and sewerage sectors. His main expertise is on conceptual and strategic business planning and management on water, wastewater, byproducts, green technology, research & development and environment including risk management and optimization & maximization of operation cost. 

He holds a Diploma in Civil Engineering from UiTM, Shah Alam and graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland. Datuk Ir. Abdul Kadir is a Professional Engineer registered with the Board of Engineers, Malaysia (BEM), ASEAN Chartered Professional Engineer (ACPE) and Chartered Engineer with the Institution of Civil Engineers, UK (MICE). 

He has vast exposure in the engineering consultancy, public listed company, government owned National Water Asset Company and sewerage company at various senior management positions. He has extensive practical knowledge in planning, designing, managing water and sewerage works projects within the country and abroad in the United Kingdom, Brunei Darussalam, Middle East and Singapore. He is currently the Chairman of Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (SPAN) since May 2025. He was elected as President of The Malaysian Water Association (MWA) in April 2017 (2017-2019 & 2019-2021), President o ENSEARCH (2024/25), and Network Manager of Aquajaring – Eight SEA countries (Jun 2020 – December 2021). He had served as Board of Directors for Pengurusan Air Pahang Berhad (Jan 2023/ May 25), Ranhill SAJ Sdn Bhd (2017 to Dec 2019) and Ranhill Water Technologies (Thai) Ltd & Anurak Water Treatment Facilites Co Ltd (2017 Dec 2019) . Prior to this appointment, he was the former Chief Executive Officer of Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd (IWK), a National Sewerage Company wholly owned by the Minister of Finance incorporated from 1 December 2009 – 30 November 2016. He was the former Chief Operating Officer with Pengurusan Aset Air Berhad (PAAB), Malaysia’s Water Asset Management Company, which is also wholly owned by the Minister of Finance incorporated, from February 2007 to November 2009. 

He is also a Chairman of Malaysian Water Academy Sdn Bhd (2017-2021), Alumni Member of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), and member of various professional institutions which includes: Fellow of Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (FIEM), member of Malaysian Water Association (MWA), Environmental Management of Research Associate of Malaysia (ENSEARCH), Malaysian Water Partnership (MyWP) and Malaysian Capacity Development Network for Sustainable Water Management (MyCDNet), Fellow of Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) since May 2018, and Water Environment Federation (WEF), United States. He was appointed as Adjunct Lecturer for Universiti Technologi Petronas (UTP) Jan 2018 – Jan 2020 semester, Industry Panel for MSc Integrated Construction Project Management programme for Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) from June 2018– May 2020 & Member of Faculty External Advisory Panel For Faculty of Science & Engineering, University of Northingham, Malaysia Jan 2025 to Dec 2028, Chairman for the CIDB MyCESMM committee, Committee of CIDB CITP Initiative Working Group on National Construction Cost Centre, Committee of CIDB CITP Thrust Working Group on Internationalization, Committee of CITP Life-Cycle Costing (TC-LCC) and Panel Chairman of CIDB MCIEA Award 2018 & 2019. He is also the Chairman on the IR Water 4.0, a chapter in the Water Sector Transformation Plan (WST 2040) under Academy of Sciences, Malaysia. 

Karina Gin

Dr Karina Gin is a Provost Chair Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore. She received her Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Melbourne (1988), M.Eng Degree from the National University at NUS (1991) and Doctor of Science (ScD) Degree jointly from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (1996).  Her research specialisation is in the area of water quality and ecosystem processes, with particular interest in understanding the fate and transport of emerging microbial and chemical contaminants of concern including antimicrobial resistance in the urban water cycle and harmful algal blooms in tropical waters. Her research focuses on developing sensitive detection methods to study the prevalence of target contaminants; elucidating their mechanisms of action and interactions with other chemical/biological species in natural water bodies through field and laboratory experimentation; and subsequently, to use this knowledge to develop environmental models for prediction and management purposes. Prof Gin received the Provost Chair (NUS) (2025), National Public Administration Medal (Bronze) (COVID-19) (2023), the COVID Resilience Medal (2023) and Dean’s Chair (NUS) (2017-2019). She is co-author of a book on ‘The Environment in Asia Pacific Harbours’ which received a UN Atlas of the Ocean award (2006) and is co-recipient of the Technology Enterprise Challenge (TEC) Innovator Award (2005). She has also served on several WHO Expert Panels/Meetings to address the issue of antimicrobial resistance, pathogens and microbial safety of water in food, drinking water and water reuse.

Meike Van Ginneken

Meike van Ginneken Water Envoy for the Kingdom of the Netherlands.  

As Water Envoy, Meike raises water awareness, builds coalitions across countries and organizations, and shares knowhow for a water secure world.  

Van Ginneken is a recognized water leader who has helped to provide millions of people with access to water & sanitation and energy services. Van Ginneken has interspersed executive headquarter positions at international organizations with extended periods living and working in Africa, Asia and Latin-America. She served as UN Assistant Secretary General at the International Fund for Agricultural Development. As Chief Executive Officer of SNV Netherlands Development Organization, Van Ginneken headed a knowledge-driven organization with 1,400 specialized staff working on food, water, and energy. Between 2002 and 2017, Van Ginneken held various leadership positions at the World Bank. She managed the World Bank’s US$5B energy portfolio in West & Central Africa and its US$6B water portfolio in South Asia.  

Annalisa Contos

Annalisa is a passionate public health professional with over 20 years’ experience specialising the management of chemical and microbial risks in drinking and recycled water. She has a chemical engineering degree with a doctorate researching aquatic chemistry and microbial ecology, both from Sydney University. She is a chartered professional engineer in the Chemical and Environmental Colleges and a Fellow of the International Water Association and Engineers Australia.

Annalisa has grown Atom Consulting over the last decade to be recognised as providing trusted water expertise. She has led her team in projects from national research projects to boots-on-ground capacity building of operational staff in NSW’s far west and the Pacific. Along with her team, she has spent a decade developing implementable solutions and pioneered methodologies with lasting impacts.

Annalisa is an Adjunct Professor at Sydney University and the Chair of the International Water Association Women’s Leaderships Network.

Priya Thuraisundaram

Priya Thurai, the Head of Insights at Watercare, brings over 20 years of experience in various industries, including Energy, FMCG, Telecommunications, and the water sector. As Watercare’s water efficiency portfolio manager, she is deeply committed to promoting sustainable water practices and advancing water literacy in communities. Over the past five years, Priya has led initiatives to enhance customer engagement, co-design water literacy experiences, drive efficiency efforts, and increase public awareness about the water sector. With unwavering dedication, she strives to achieve greater water efficiency in Auckland, positively impacting people and the environment.

Neil Mallon

Neil has been Utilities Disputes CEO & Commissioner since 2023. He is a lawyer with extensive experience of working with complaints and regulation, having held Senior and General Manager roles for national regulatory organisations in New Zealand and the UK. He is a member of the Australian and New Zealand Ombudsman Association (ANZOA), the professional association for Ombudsmen in Australia and New Zealand. ANZOA’s members are individual Ombudsmen or Commissioners who are expected to meet high standards of independence, impartiality and effectiveness. Utilities Disputes has been providing an independent industry dispute resolution scheme for New Zealand’s energy customers, retailers and distributors for almost 25 years. It also provides voluntary water complaints schemes for Watercare and Wellington Water. Utilities Disputes is one of the busiest organisations of its kind in the country, and last year it helped over 22,000 consumers.

Amanda Singleton

Amanda Singleton is a strategic transformational leader and governance expert with deep experience across water utilities and regulated industries. Currently serving as a Board Member of the Water Services Authority (Taumata Arowai) and Board Member and Health & Safety Committee Chair of Electricity Invercargill Limited, Amanda brings valuable perspective on regulatory frameworks and infrastructure governance. 

As former Chief Customer Officer at Watercare Services Limited (2018-2024), Amanda led customer-centric transformation initiatives that delivered a 72% improvement in customer satisfaction and established New Zealand’s first Citizens’ Assembly for long-term infrastructure planning. Her leadership experience spans major utilities including Genesis Energy and Telkom South Africa, where she successfully managed large-scale P&Ls and operational transformations. 

Amanda is a passionate advocate for putting customers at the centre of utility services and frequently shares insights on water regulation, digital transformation, and the convergence of sustainability and innovation in the water sector. Her thought leadership explores how utilities can balance operational excellence with environmental stewardship while maintaining affordability and service quality for communities. 

With extensive governance experience across listed companies, infrastructure assets, and NGOs, Amanda brings a unique perspective on navigating complex stakeholder environments and driving sustainable value creation in the utilities sector. 

Lisa Hannifin

Lisa Hannifin is Chief Customer Officer at Meridian Energy, where she leads the Retail Business with a laser-sharp focus on growth, customer experience and transformational change. With over 20 years in the energy sector, Lisa brings deep expertise in large-scale utility retailing  Her leadership has been instrumental in reshaping Meridian’s retail team to better serve New Zealanders in a rapidly evolving energy landscape. Lisa’s insights on customer-centric transformation and sector innovation will enrich the panel discussion at this year’s Water NZ Conference. 

Jake Lilley

Jake Lilley (Te Atiawa, Muaūpoko) is a senior policy advisor at FinCap, specialising in consumer protection and working with a network of more than 700 financial mentors across Aotearoa. He has been a member of the Responsible Lending Code Advisory Group, a member of the Energy Hardship Reference Group and previously worked at the Consumer Action Law Centre in Australia.

Jessica Walker

Jessica is the acting head of research and advocacy at Consumer New Zealand. She joined the communications and campaigns team in 2022. She is passionate about empowering people to understand and stand up for their rights, and fighting the power imbalances that exist across many sectors in New Zealand

Mark Bourne 

Mark has been involved in the water industry for over 35 years.  Since 2021 he has been Chief Operations Officer at Watercare Services Limited and is accountable for providing water and wastewater services to over 1.7 million people in Auckland.  His responsibilities also include Watercare’s contract for services provided to Waikato District Council.  Previously, Mark has held numerous management roles covering strategic development, operations, planning and customer service.  With his deep understanding of the water industry, Mark is also the Executive Sponsor for Watercare’s economic regulation programme. 

Tammy Falconer

Tammy is a KPMG Water Sector Leader and Partner in KPMG’s Engineering and Asset Management practice. Tammy has over 20 years’ experience across the asset value chain in large urban, regional and remote water utilities giving her a unique understanding of the challenges that each of these operating contexts brings. Tammy supports her clients to optimise asset investment, maximise lifecycle value, develop risk-based maintenance strategies, meet regulatory obligations and leverage technology and data to drive better asset management decisions. Tammy has extensive experience in supporting clients to develop high-quality and defensible regulatory submissions to pricing regulators that deliver better outcomes for customers and shareholders

Petra Carey

Petra is a partner in Russell McVeagh’s Government, Competition and Regulation team.  Within a broad competition and regulatory practice, Petra advises clients on the various aspects of the regulatory framework for the delivery of water services.  This includes advising on the legislation and implementation of the current Government’s Local Water Done Well policy and the new economic regulation regime.  In relation to the latter, Petra draws on her experience advising airports and energy companies on the establishment and implementation of regulation under Part 4 of the Commerce Act.

Jeremy Cain

Jeremy is a director of Concept Consulting, where he advises regulators and regulated entities. He is a leading utility regulation expert, from strategy and pricing to investment planning and asset management. Before joining Concept he was responsible for implementing information disclosure and price quality regulation, asset management capability and preparing regulatory proposals ($3.5bn expenditure, $6bn revenue) at Chorus. Previously, Jeremy was led Transpower’s regulatory strategy and pricing team, then a business-wide (asset management centric) transformation programme. He was a principal policy advisor at Ofcom, a leading UK economic regulator.

Tim Hewitt 

Tim Hewitt is a Principal Adviser in the Infrastructure Branch at the Commerce Commission, where he is part of the team leading the development of economic regulation for New Zealand’s water sector. With over a decade of experience in economic regulation across multiple infrastructure sectors, Tim has worked with the Commission’s full suite of regulatory tools from information disclosure and performance assessments to price path setting and compliance enforcement.

Tim brings a deep understanding of infrastructure regulation and a strong commitment to ensuring regulatory frameworks deliver real practical value. His work is driven by a clear purpose: shaping systems that serve the long-term interests of consumers.

Andrew Kerr

Andrew Kerr leads Alpine Energy’s customer and strategy functions, bringing a sharp focus on delivering meaningful change across the energy and infrastructure landscape. With over 30 years of experience spanning regulated infrastructure (electricity, gas, telecommunications), energy market design — both in New Zealand and internationally—Andrew brings a systems-level view to economic regulation. Andrew is known for his pragmatic optimism, curiosity about people, and a belief that good regulation can support great business and customer outcomes. Outside of work, you’ll likely find him with a coffee in hand, out for a run, or deep in conversation about what’s next and why.

Helmut Modlik

Helmut is an experienced director, executive, and consultant with specialist skills in implementation and change management, business, and economic development (including new venture identification, planning, and establishment), strategic analysis and planning, public policy, and finance. Helmut has extensive consulting experience in a wide range of private and public sectors (particularly health) including appointment to the boards of PHARMAC, Capital & Coast District Health Board, Health Information Standards Organisation, and Health Information Strategy Action Committee.

Jim Graham

Jim Graham is the Chief Advisor, Water Science with The Water Services Authority, Taumata Arowai. He has been working in the water industry in New Zealand for thirty five years, in roles including Health Protection Officer, Drinking Water Assessor, Leading the Ministry of Health Drinking Water Assistance Programme, Principal Environmental Scientist with a large Consulting company, Principal Water Quality Advisor with Water NZ and Principal Technical Advisor to the Establishment Unit for Taumata Arowai. He was an expert advisor to Havelock North Inquiry and has worked for the World Health Organisation in the Pacific and Asia.

India Eiloart

India Eiloart is a water resources engineer with a decade of experience in New Zealand’s water industry. For her mahi here and with Engineers Without Borders New Zealand, she was awarded Young Water Professional of the Year in 2019. She has recently become a Chartered Water and Environment Manager with the Chartered Institute of Water and Environment Managers (CIWEM), as well as a Chartered Scientist with the Science Council and Chartered Environmentalist with the Society for the Environment. India currently works as a Senior Technical Advisor at the Water Services Authority – Taumata Arowai.

Steve Taylor

Steve has been responsible for administering and navigating various regulatory regimes in both central and local government. Experienced on both sides of the fence, Steve has led applications through regulatory processes to deliver major infrastructure projects with Transpower and as a consultant. Steve is passionate about delivering positive outcomes through regulatory systems. Before joining Taumata Arowai, Steve was at the Department of Conservation for 5 years. There, his roles included Director of Regulatory Services, responsible for establishing the office of regulatory services and the role of Director of Heritage and Visitor Infrastructure. Before then, Steve was the Group Manager Environmental Strategy and Approvals at Transpower. He also held the role of Director of Business Transformation and Insight at Upper Hutt City Council.

Hannah Breeds 

Hannah is a Senior Principal Civil Engineer at Stantec with over 20 years’ experience in both the UK and New Zealand. With a passion for Stormwater and the Environment she has a keen interest in seeing Green Infrastructure and Nature Based Solutions implemented in our communities. Hannah is the Chair of the Water NZ Stormwater Group.

Chris Thurston

Chris Thurston is a passionate climate change and sustainability professional with a focus on the water sector, energy and infrastructure. His career has included time supporting some of New Zealand’s largest energy users become more efficient at the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), focussing on climate action across three waters as the Head of Sustainability at Watercare and most recently supporting business and local government in delivering their sustainability aspirations. Chris strongly believes in the water sectors unique opportunities to have a positive influence on our communities and planet. Chris was a founding member of the WaterNZ Climate Change SIG and served as vice chair in 2023. Now he is involved in the Policy and Advocacy and Technical mitigation working groups. He has been involved in key industry publications such as Navigating to Net Zero, Aotearoa’s low carbon journey, Getting started in the measurement of wastewater process emissions, Measuring emissions on a pathway to Net Zero and Infrastructure Emissions in the Water sector (AusWater), Watercare N2O reduction strategy, Watercare 2030 Emission Reduction Roadmap. Today Chris supports clients to achieve their sustainability and netzero goals through his firm Little Brown Duck Sustainability Advisory. Through one of these roles he is a member of the LGFA Sustainability Advisory Committee, supporting the flow of green finance to the local government sector.  

Sean McCready

Sean McCready is a Principal Adviser – Engineer at the New Zealand Commerce Commission, where he provides expert engineering advice to Commissioners and contributes to the development of regulatory policy. With a strong background in the power generation, transmission and distribution sectors, Sean brings a wealth of technical and commercial experience to his role. 

Prior to joining the Commission, Sean held engineering and project management roles across several key organisations in the energy sector, including Transpower, Meridian Energy, Enable Networks, and the Electricity Engineers’ Association. His work has spanned asset management, technical regulation, and infrastructure development, giving him a comprehensive view of New Zealand’s electricity landscape. 

Sean is known for his analytical approach, collaborative mindset, and commitment to ensuring that regulatory frameworks support a reliable, efficient, and future-ready energy system.

Helen Mahoney

Helen Mahoney joined LGFA’s sustainability team in November 2024 as Senior Manager Sustainable Finance. Helen has a background in corporate sustainability and specialises in climate change risk and sustainable finance and has experience in assisting businesses to embed sustainability into decision-making and greenhouse gas accounting. Prior to joining LGFA, Helen worked at Auckland Council in various roles within the Chief Sustainability Office and Treasury unit, managing the council group’s sustainable finance programme and climate-risk disclosures and was involved in the development of Te Tāruke-ā-Tāwhiri: Auckland’s climate plan. 

Danielle Francis

Danielle has conducted years of research and advocacy on purified recycled water for drinking, including writing WSAA’s All Options on the Table – Lessons from the Journeys of Others report. She is on a global Project Advisory Committee for the US Water Research Foundation. She also develops initiatives to promote understanding and adoption of circular economy principles in the water industry.  

Before that she held communications, regulatory, pricing, stakeholder and strategy roles in the Australian water industry 

Padraig McNamara

Padraig (Paddy) is one of New Zealand’s leading local government and resource management lawyers, and a trusted advisor to some of New Zealand’s largest councils and council-controlled organisations (CCOs). 

As an advisor, Paddy’s main areas of expertise include resource management (with a particular focus on water supply, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure). 

Paddy is a Water New Zealand Board member. He is also a member of the Resource Management Law Association and has been a regular presenter for the Resource Management Law Association, NZ Planning Institute, Water New Zealand, Taituarā (Society of Local Government Managers) and NZ Law Society events. 

Mair Brooks

Mair is a highly experienced Transformation Partner with 20 years of global experience working with local and central government across. New Zealand, Australia and the UK.
She has an outstanding track record in designing and delivering large transformational change programs within complex environments. She is the KPMG Local Government Leader and is working with many entities across New Zealand who are grappling with the potential impact of Local Water Done Well.

Deborah Lind

Dr Deborah Lind: As an advocate for water-related issues, Deborah is passionate about adapting solutions to meet the challenges in delivering three waters infrastructure. With 30-years’ experience across New Zealand, Australia, the Pacific Islands, and the UK, she offers a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted challenges faced by organisations in both the public and private sectors. As a Chartered Chemist and Scientist, and member of the Institute of Directors, she brings expertise and insight as Water Industry Leader for Aurecon. She is committed to challenging the status quo through the power of collaboration and innovation, to achieve suitable, affordable, and sustainable water outcomes.

Martin Hennessey

Martin is a highly experienced Utility Director with operational, capital programme delivery and contract management experience. He has worked in the UK regulated water sector for 35 years across a range of operational and more latterly construction leadership roles.  In his last role Martin was Welsh Water’s Director of Capital Delivery setting business strategy and leading the delivery of construction programmes across multiple regulatory periods.  He has a significant contract and commercial experience and played a leading role building effective delivery collaborations within the UK water sector.  

Sophie Jeffries

Sophie Jeffries is the Central Developments Manager in Watercare’s Developer Services department. She was worked in the water and public health industries in New Zealand and abroad for over 10 years, with a background in microbiology, wastewater operations, and environmental compliance.

Adrienne Miller 

Adrienne Miller, a lawyer by training, has worked as an adviser and executive for more than 25 years in and around construction and infrastructure. She’s worked in a variety of industries: environmental services and waste (WAM), building products (CHH), construction companies (Downer and Fletchers), a public sector water utility (Watercare) and consulting business (in private practice (CTSY) and her own boutique consulting firm Cupola). 

As well as her executive roles as CEO at the Urban Development Institute of New Zealand (UDINZ), and before that the Infrastructure Sustainability Council (ISCA), she has served two terms on the Building Advisory Panel at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment ( MBIE), was on the WIN Advisory Board at Infrastructure New Zealand and in her capacity as a Trustee of Diversity Works NZ, chaired the project Steering Committee for the Construction Diversity Roadmap, delivered for the Construction Sector Accord, also sitting on the Infrastructure Reference Group within the CSA before it was disbanded.  

She writes and speaks regularly on a range of issues facing the sector. 

Julie Muir

Julie Muir has extensive experience in Local Government leadership positions having been a roading manager, and executive manager for infrastructure services at Central Otago District Council.  Julie was a founding member of the Road Efficiency Group when it was established in 2012, was the first local government chair of the Asset Management Leadership Group and lead the work to establish a performance framework for the New Zealand national road classification system.  Julie has been involved in the water industry since 2016 as General Manager at Central Otago District Council with oversight of Roading, Three Waters and Waste.  She also had a seconded role for 12 months as Regional Director for Three Waters across Otago and Southland during the previous governments three waters reform program.  Julie is currently GM for Three Waters at Central Otago District Council. 

Frédérique Bertrand

Frédérique leads the Natural and Built Environments team at the Department of Internal Affairs, where since 2021 she has been involved in everything from resource management reform, to community resilience to natural hazards, climate adaptation – and more recently, how to improve infrastructure funding systems for councils as part of the Government’s Going for Housing Growth programme.

With 14 years of experience in policy, half of those in leadership roles, Frédérique is a self-confessed policy nerd with a strong interest in operational implementation. She really enjoys collaborative policy development, both in co-design with stakeholders and leading cross-agency teams. Her career has taken her from the design of the uniquely innovative Global Impact Visa, to countering violent extremism online in response to the March 2019 Christchurch Terror Attacks.

Frédérique moved to New Zealand from Montréal, Canada, to complete a Master of Laws at Canterbury University. She is proud to have started her public service career in front line roles in Ōtautahi/Christchurch before making the move to Wellington. She now calls Te Awa Kairangi/Lower Hutt home, where she lives in the hills above Naenae with her partner, two kids and elderly cat.

David Ward

I am a chartered civil engineer, fellow of the institution of civil engineers, general manager at Dunedin City Council (DCC) responsible for 3 waters, City Development (town planning function), City Growth and Property portfolio. Prior to joining DCC I was employed at Watercare Services responsible for establishing the Enterprise Model delivery framework, managing the Central Interceptor project (2013 to 2019), establishing the consultant panel and introducing an operational readiness framework.