Independent chair to lead council committee

Bruce Robertson. Supplied photo.

An independent chair has been appointed to lead a key Tauranga City Council committee.

The mayor and councillors yesterday confirmed Bruce Robertson would lead the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee as independent chair.

Bruce's appointment follows a recent Auditor-General recommendation that councils appoint independent chairpersons to their audit and risk committees.

He was chosen from a field of 26 candidates who applied for the position.

'The appointment panel unanimously endorsed Mr Robertson for the role,” says Mayor Tenby Powell.

'He has broad governance experience across various private and public sector organisations, and brings a wealth of local government expertise to this role.

"We look forward to Mr Robertson making a significant contribution to our city.”

The committee oversees the council's risk, finances and assets. It also monitors the council's performance and develops the annual report.

'I'm delighted to accept this role,” says Bruce.

'Rapid growth is creating a lot of pressure in Tauranga, and I look forward to working with a council that faces complex challenges."

Bruce believes council committees should be open about issues and provide effective forums for discussing 'hard questions”.

Bruce was formerly the assistant auditor-general (local government) at the Office of the Auditor-General.

He is an expert on governance and risk, and has been an independent member of 11 audit and risk committees.

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4 comments

Re: Bruce Robertson

Posted on 21-02-2020 15:38 | By bruce.deirdre@xtra.co.nz

Attn: Mayor & Councillors Why did we bother spending ratepayers time & money for local body elections one of your first decisions was to BUY another consultant's point of view....if you all cannot make a go of the job we pay you handsomely for what are you doing there.... Please tell us what this guy's remuneration will be, his terms of engagement, how will his tenure's success be measured and for how long. What bonuses and entitlements will he receive? Bruce Walker


Similar to TCC CEO Garry Poole and

Posted on 21-02-2020 16:25 | By Murray.Guy

Interesting. Former TCC CEO Garry Poole was also former Audit NZ along with longstanding TCC senior Manager Christine Jones. I'm curious why the skill sets are NOT just employed and the integrity of our democratically elected structures maintained.


I thought we voted for councillors

Posted on 21-02-2020 18:43 | By I B Stornche

So the auditor general recommends independent chairs for audit and risk committees and the guy appointed happens to be an ex deputy auditor general. Surely we have enough talent between the mayor and councillors? Or not?


Sucked in by a slick campaign

Posted on 22-02-2020 11:09 | By I B Stornche

I read about leadership and business leadership and commitment to Tauranga but all we've had is hype. Apparently no-one has the smarts to run this committee? Mauao accessible track opened and now closed again. Going soft on begging. If that's leadership, give me the opposite.


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