Tom first immigrated to New Zealand with his very young family in 1981 to work at the Tiwai Smelter. Originally a Chartered Engineer, Tom went on to become General Manager of the Smelter and later the Chairman of its Board.
More recently Tom led the development of Southlands Regional Development Strategy through the SoRDS Team.
Tom has held many senior governance positions. At national level he has been Chair of NZ’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) and NZs Natural Hazards Research Institute (GNS). Locally Tom has chaired Electricity Invercargill and has been a director of PowerNet and Venture Southland. He is also a director of Port Otago.
He has also served on not-for-profit Boards in the fields of disability services, education and crime prevention, which reflect his areas of personal interest outside of business.
During his later business career Tom had postings to Canada, Australia, Wales, Chile and Venezuela but he and his wife, Jessie, were delighted to be able to return to live permanently in Invercargill in 2009 where they have children and grandchildren.
Through all of those jobs Tom earned a no nonsense reputation for building strong teams which got things done. Reflecting on his career Tom is especially proud of his SoRDS team :
“Within a few months we pulled together a team of over one hundred volunteers who contributed substantial time to develop a strategy for Southland which is still used as a roadmap for the Region, including for the City”
“I’m pleased to see that the central objectives of SoRDS of population growth and a strong regional economy are being achieved, but I’m disappointed that some of the key objectives for the City, like the restoration of Anderson Park and the Museum, have badly lagged behind”
“I’m standing to bring new urgency and purpose to Council “