About Us

Roger Partridge is chairman and a co-founder of The New Zealand Initiative, and is a senior member of its research team. He led law firm Bell Gully as executive chairman from 2007 to 2014, after 16 years as a commercial litigation partner. Roger was executive director of the Legal Research Foundation, a charitable foundation associated with the University of Auckland, from 2001 to 2009, and was a member of the Council of the New Zealand Law Society, the governing body of the legal profession in New Zealand, from 2011 to 2015. He is a chartered member of the Institute of Directors, a member of the editorial board of the New Zealand Law Review and a member of the Mont Pelerin Society.

Barbara Chapman was appointed as Deputy Chair on The New Zealand Initiative's Board of Directors in June 2019.  Barbara served as Chief Executive and Managing Director of ASB Bank Limited from 2011 until 2018. Since 1994, she has held several diverse senior executive roles with the Commonwealth Bank Group of companies, having started her career with the Group as Chief Manager Marketing at ASB. Ms Chapman is the Chair of Genesis Energy and an Independent Director of Fletcher Building, IAG and Herald publisher, NZME. She was named the New Zealand Business Leader of the Year in 2017 and made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2019 New Years Honours Roll for services to business.

Matthew Cockram serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Principal of Cooper and Company NZ. Prior to that, he spent 20 years at law firm Bell Gully, with the last 5 years as Chairman, specialising in construction, commercial property and major projects. He has been an independent Director of Tainui Group Holdings Limited since March 25, 2011.

Oliver Hartwich is the Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative. Before joining the Initiative he worked for leading think tanks in London and Sydney as well as in the UK House of Lords. His research covers a broad range of policy issues, and his articles have been widely published.

Formerly a Chief Executive of Ernst and Young New Zealand, chairman of ANZ Bank, a director of Fletcher Building Limited and Fletcher Building Finance Limited and is a former Chairman of the Crown Organisation, Accident Compensation Corporation. He is also a member of the Otago University School of Business Advisory Board.

Neil Paviour-Smith is the long-serving Managing Director of Forsyth Barr, a leading New Zealand wealth management, sharebroking and investment banking business.  He has extensive experience in New Zealand capital markets. He is a Director of The New Zealand Initiative and NZ Art Show Ltd. Neil has significant governance experience having been Chancellor of Victoria University of Wellington and a Director of NZX and Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand (CAANZ) as well as chairing the NZ Regulatory Board for CAANZ.  He was an inaugural recipient of a Sir Peter Blake Trust Leadership Award in 2005.

Scott Perkins is a Non-Executive Director of Brambles Ltd, Origin Energy Ltd, Woolworths Ltd. He is an active participant in the not-for-profit communities in Australia and New Zealand and has an extensive career in financial services. He was head of corporate finance for Deutsche Bank Australia and New Zealand.

Chris was appointed as CEO of Foodstuffs North Island Ltd in May 2015 and joined the business on 7 September 2015. Chris has since immersed himself in the unique world of grocery and works with the Foodstuffs Co-operative team and its 350 store owners to create a leading supermarket experience for New Zealand shoppers.

Prior to joining Foodstuffs, Chris was CEO of Spark Home, Mobile and Business and led the company through the very successful rebrand from Telecom to Spark. He was accountable for the performance of the company’s consumer and SME markets, which deliver around half of Spark’s revenue and earnings. From 2008 – 2012 Chris was CEO of the then Gen-i Australasia (now Spark Digital), and in 2012 he spent three months as Acting CEO of Spark Group.

Chris relishes his role as Chairman of business incubator The ICEHOUSE and is on the Board of Directors for Loyalty NZ. In July 2010 Chris was the recipient of an Emerging Leader Award at the annual Sir Peter Blake Leadership Awards, and he received the Chairman’s Award at the 2010 TUANZ Innovation Awards.

Mark Synnott is the Executive Chairman for Colliers in New Zealand.  Mark has been with Colliers for 35 years, initially joining as an Office Leasing Manager, and Broker in 1989, before being appointed as Chief Executive Officer in 1994.  Mark has been awarded the RICS Lifetime Achievement Award (2023), and both the Rider Levett Bucknall Outstanding Leadership Award & the Barker and Associates Supreme Excellence Award (2023) from the Property Council of NZ.  Mark alongside wife Sally, run the Michael Synnott Charitable Trust, in memory of Mark’s brother Michael.  The trust aims to support young people from South Auckland to achieve their potential and provides sponsorship with other organisations such as the Tania Dalton Foundation, The Graeme Dingle Foundation and Outward Bound.  Mark is also an independent Director of FMT and Outward Bound.

Sara Tucker has been the External Relations Director for Lion New Zealand since 2015, responsible for government relations, corporate communications and sustainability.  Prior to that she was the Deputy CEO of Hospitality New Zealand, one of New Zealand’s largest trade associations, representing the hotel and hospitality industry.  She sits on the boards of the Brewers Association of NZ and Spirits NZ and represents Lion’s parent company Kirin on the board of IARD, the international organisation representing global beer, wine and spirits producers. She is a chartered member of the Institute of Directors, and in 2020 was inducted into the Hospitality New Zealand Hall of Fame for services to the Hospitality industry.