Board of directors
Auckland Transport has been established as a council controlled organisation (CCO) with eight board members. A CCO is a company or organisation in which a local authority controls 50% or more of the votes, or has the right to appoint 50% or more of the directors or trustees.
Board of directors
- Dr Lester Levy, Chair
- Wayne Donnelly, Deputy Chair
- Kylie Clegg
- Sir Michael Cullen
- Mary-Jane Daly
- Mark Gilbert
- Rabin Rabindran
- Dame Paula Rebstock
- Ernst Zöllner
Role and appointment process
Auckland Transport’s activities are directed and guided at a strategic level by the board of directors:
- Between 6 and 8 voting directors are appointed by Auckland Council and will generally serve a term of 1 to 3 years and then may be re-appointed by Auckland Council for a further 3 years.
- Two of those directors may be members of Auckland Council.
- In addition 1 non-voting member is nominated by the New Zealand Transport Agency.
The board has overall responsibility for delivering transport in Auckland; this includes managing and controlling public transport and local roads, as well as preparing the Auckland Regional Land Transport Programme.
All decisions relating to the operation of Auckland Transport are made by, or under, the authority of the board in accordance with the Local Government (Tamaki Makaurau Reorganisation) Amendment Act 2009, the Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009, and the Local Government (Auckland Transitional Provisions) Act 2010.
Auckland Transport board members
Dr Lester Levy - Chairperson
Dr Lester Levy is also the Chair of the Auckland and Waitemata District Health Boards as well as Professor Adjunct of Leadership at the University of Auckland Business School and a director of Tonkin & Taylor.
Previous roles include Chief Executive of South Auckland Health, the New Zealand Blood Service and MercyAscot Private Hospital Group (where he was a founder). He has previous governance experience chairing private healthcare, film and television production and biotechnology enterprises.
Lester is a graduate of Medicine, an MBA, a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management and has previously been awarded the prestigious King’s Fund International Fellowship. He was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) in the 2013 New Year's Honours List for services to health and education.
He began his term as Chair on 1 November 2012.
Kylie Clegg
Kylie Clegg is deputy chair of Waitematā District Health Board, a Hockey New Zealand board member and chair of the New Zealand Hockey Foundation. She has a corporate legal background, having specialised in mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance advice across a range of industries for private and publicly listed companies as well as government organisations.
Her previous governance experience has been as a board member of the New Zealand Olympic Committee and the Halberg Disability Sports Foundation and as a board observer on Auckland Transport.
Sir Michael Cullen
Sir Michael Cullen entered Parliament in 1981 and was Finance Minister from 1999 to 2008 and Deputy Prime Minister to Helen Clark from 2002 to 2008.
His achievements include the establishment of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and the creation of KiwiSaver.
He was deputy chair, and went on to become chair of New Zealand Post and a director of Kiwibank.
Mary-Jane Daly
Mary-Jane Daly (BCom, MBA) is Director of Cigna Insurance New Zealand Limited, a director of Kiwi Property Group Limited, Chair of the New Zealand Green Building Council, Deputy Chair of Airways Corporation and Deputy Chair of EQC.
Previously, Mary-Jane served as Executive General Manager, and Chief Financial Officer at IAG New Zealand.
Before joining IAG, she spent four years with Fonterra as Group Treasurer and Risk Manager. She has also held positions at the Bank of New Zealand, National Australia Bank and Toronto-Dominion Bank in London.
Wayne Donnelly - Deputy Chair
Wayne Donnelly is the former Chief Executive of Land Transport New Zealand.
He also served as Chief Executive of Rodney District Council.
Mark Gilbert
Mark Gilbert was Managing Director of BMW Group, both in New Zealand and The Philippines, and has 30 years automotive industry experience.
He is formerly an Executive Member of the NZ Business Council for Sustainable Development (now the Sustainable Business Council) and President, NZ Motor Industry Association Inc. Other current governance roles include Chair of the Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council; Trustee/Director of Home of Cycling - Cambridge, Product Stewardship Foundation, APEV and Auto Stewardship NZ.
Rabin Rabindran
A barrister and legal consultant, Rabin Rabindran is also a Director of New Zealand Liaoning International Investment & Development Company Ltd. He is the Singapore Chapter Chair on the ASEAN New Zealand Combined Business Council and a Trustee of the Chinese Language Foundation.
His previous roles include Chair of the Auckland Regional Transport Authority, Chair of the Rugby World Cup Transport Forum, Director of Manukau Water Ltd, Tomorrow's Manukau Properties Ltd and TMPL (Flat Bush) Ltd.
Dame Paula Rebstock, DNZM
Dame Paula Rebstock is currently Chair of the Insurance and Savings Ombudsman Commission, Chair of Work and Income Board, Chair of Accident Compensation Corporation, Deputy Chair of the New Zealand Railways Corporation, and a Director of Auckland Transport. She is also a member of the University of Auckland Business School Advisory Board. Paula is a Senior Lead Reviewer for the SSC Performance Improvement Framework.
In addition to her senior management experience in the public sector, Paula has chaired significant government reviews and panels, including the Welfare Working Group, established by Cabinet to undertake a fundamental review of New Zealand’s welfare system, and the Expert Panel on Probation Services. Paula is currently Chair of the Expert Panel on CYF Modernisation.
Paula was Chair of the Commerce Commission from 2003 to 2009 and a Director of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology from 1999 to 2004. From 1992 to 1997 she was the General Manager, Labour Market Policy Group in the Department of Labour. Before that, she worked in The Treasury and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. In 2009 she was made Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of her contribution to public services,
Ernst Zöllner
As Regional Director for Auckland & Northland, Ernst Zöllner represents the NZ Transport Agency on the Auckland Transport board as a non-voting director.
Ernst has been with the NZ Transport Agency since 2008 with responsibility for strategy, communications, governance and road safety.
Before joining the Transport Agency, Ernst worked in local government for over a decade in strategy, economic, urban and transport development leadership roles. During his career, he has also lectured at the University of Auckland, worked at Local Government NZ and as a consultant in private practice in Auckland, Wellington and Cape Town.