New appointments to Housing NZ Board

  • Nick Smith
Housing

Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith today announced the appointment of Liz Jones and Peter Dow as two new members of the Housing New Zealand Board, and the reappointment of Whaimutu Dewes.

“A strong board is required to maintain the momentum of the upgrade of Housing New Zealand’s properties and the repair of its 5000 homes in Christchurch. These two new directors bring skills in social housing, property development, governance and finance,” Dr Smith says.

“Housing New Zealand is one of the Government’s largest assets with a portfolio of over $15 billion worth of houses. It houses some of New Zealand’s most vulnerable families. The organisation is going through significant change with the Government’s ambitious social housing reforms. These new directors are needed to ensure the organisation is well-governed.”

The appointments are being gazetted today and take effect from 7 July.

Biographies

Liz Jones, of Wellington, is the principal and founder of a management consultancy focused on performance improvement in the public and not-for-profit sectors. She has significant social housing experience, with over ten years in the United Kingdom’s supported accommodation sector. This experience has given her knowledge of the United Kingdom’s marketisation of social housing, from both a frontline and governance perspective. Ms Jones was a non-executive director of the Fosseway/Bromford Housing Group, a social housing provider with 26,000 homes and 1,000 staff. She has had other board roles with a youth housing co-operative and a housing association for tenants with mental health and learning disabilities. Ms Jones also has skills in organisational change, value for money, and quality assurance.  She was an associate director of Risk and Assurance Services at Deloitte New Zealand and a senior performance auditor at the Office of the Auditor General. Prior to moving to New Zealand in 2011, she held senior roles in the Audit Commission United Kingdom. She has several postgraduate qualifications including a Master’s degree majoring in social housing.

Peter Dow is a Wellington-based consultant with a 45-year career in the property sector. He is currently a partner in iD Property, a boutique property consultancy that provides advice to property investment funds and developers. Prior to this, he was founder and director of Dow Group Ltd from 1990 to 2010, a property consultancy specialising in strategic asset management and property optimisation for commercial and public sector clients. His work involved a range of property transactions including acquisition, capital works planning and procurement, disposal of surplus properties, and project directorship of major initiatives. Mr Dow has housing experience through his work with agencies that have housing portfolios, including the New Zealand Defence Force, Police and Telecom, as well as past work he has carried out for Tamaki Redevelopment Company Ltd. He also has a strong interest in tenants’ perspectives and social assistance through his work as a volunteer in addiction counselling. Mr Dow was a founding member of the Property Management Institute and has served on its board, as well as others in the not for profit sector. He is a qualified property valuer.

Whaimutu (Whai) Dewes is based in Rotorua and is of Ngati Porou, Ngati Rangitihi and Ngati Whakaue descent. He has held a number of senior governance roles and is currently chair of Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd and Ngati Porou Seafoods and a director of Te Arawa Fisheries. His other current directorships include Contact Energy, Ngati Porou Holdings, and a range of other iwi-owned or private companies. Mr Dewes was previously deputy chair of the Sealord Group Ltd, a director of Television New Zealand Ltd from 1995 to 2000, a member of the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission and a director of the AMP New Zealand Advisory Board. He was appointed as a member of the Treasury Board in 2013. Prior to his governance career he held senior management roles at Fletcher Challenge and in the public service. His qualifications include a Master of Public Administration from Cambridge University which he attended as a Harkness Fellow.