Governing Council

The Council consists of fifty percent consumer and fifty percent industry representation. Three of the consumer representatives on the Council were appointed by a selection panel comprised of representatives from the Consumers’ Institute and TUANZ, with the fourth Consumer Representative appointed by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. One of the Consumer representatives, David Russell, has been elected as the Chair.

David Russell(Consumer Representative) Chair		David Russell spent 35 years with Consumer NZ (formally Consumers' Institute), the last 12 as chief executive. He is a board member of the Real Estate Agents Authority, Payments NZ Ltd, the South Island Neurosurgical Service and the BRANZ Advisory Council. His community interests include ambassador for Lifetime Design - an organisation promoting accessible housing for the disabled and the elderly and a trustee of the Bougainville Library Trust which is raising money to build a library on Bougainville Island.

Bill Bevan (Consumer Representative)		Bill Bevan was actively involved in developing the Scheme through his participation in the TCF's stakeholder workshops. For 15 years Bill managed the Whitireia Community Law Centre, and formerly tutored law and business studies at the Whitireia Community Polytechnic. He has also taught in secondary schools both in New Zealand and in the UK. He had a weekly spot on TV1's Good Morning show for 6 years and was a contributor to National Radio's Nine to Noon show for two years. He has written a number of self-help legal resources as well as textbooks on business and consumer law and brings a range of real-life consumer experiences to his role. He is now managing his own legal firm in Porirua called KapiMana Legal Services.

Ernie Newman(Consumer Representative)		Ernie Newman has held the position of Chief Executive of TUANZ, the Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand, since 1999. TUANZ is essentially an association of large business users of telecommunications, but takes a strong interest in the connectivity of the residential users who are its members' customers. It is is a passionate advocate of the importance of high quality telecommunications for New Zealand's growth and prosperity. Ernie is a past Chairman of the Netherlands-based International Telecommunications Users Group, represents TUANZ on a number of industry bodies overseas and within New Zealand including the Board of the Telecommunications Carriers Forum, and is a regular speaker at industry conferences locally and globally. His background is as a business advocate and marketer.

Shelly Dew-Hopkins (Consumer Representative)		Shelly Dew-Hopkins has a long association with issues impacting rural communities and will be a knowledgeable voice for consumers on the Council. As President of Manawatu Rangitikei Federated Farmers (Inc), Shelley has had wide-ranging experience in dealing with local and central government issues. Shelley is currently Chairperson of the Horizons Balance Farm Environmental Awards and is a project manager for the Lower North Island Sustainable Farming Fund on 2004 storm issues.

Toni Rasmussen (TelstraClear)		Toni Rasmussen currently serves as TelstraClear’s representative on the Customer Complaints Working Party and will also act as their Council representative. Toni is currently TelstraClear’s Group Manager - Customer Experience, holding responsibility for the ongoing development and assurance of the customer experience. In this role, Toni has gained a strong understanding of the issues facing customers and the ongoing changes and improvements across all areas of the telecommunications industry to meet these needs. Toni has fifteen years of experience in several roles in the telecommunication industry.

Tania Shackleton (Telecom)		Tania Shackleton has been appointed as Telecom's representative on the Council. Tania has had extensive experience in customer service for over 16 years, and has received several outstanding service awards. As Operational Regulatory Manager for Consumers, Tania has daily opportunities to mitigate risk and address contentious issues, and has thus gained the specialist skills needed for dispute resolution. Tania has a background in contact centre and relationship management.

Susie Stone(Kordia) for all other industry members		Susie Stone has been appointed as one of the two industry representatives for all other industry members. Susie is Kordia’s Group Corporate Affairs Manager with responsibility for Government relations, Regulatory Policy and Commercial Affairs. Susie's background has strong entrepreneurial, marketing, business development, management, regulatory policy and technology experience covering many industry sectors including IT, telecommunications and broadcasting.

Celine Gilbert(Vodafone) for all other industry members		Celine Gilbert has been appointed as one of the two industry representatives for all other industry members. Celine has been working at Vodafone for 7 years in the Public Policy team. As an Industry Affairs Manager, she has represented Vodafone on a number of TCF Working Parties, including the Local and Mobile Number Portability Code; Transfer Code, and the Disconnection Code. More recently, Celine has been responsible for the fixed services regulatory portfolio, managing the relationship with the Commerce Commission on various issues. Celine has previous experience working with in a Customer Care environment as a Customer Service Project Manager. This role provided her with exposure to complex customer issues and a solid basis for understanding customer issues.