Our Board

The Governor-General, on the recommendation of the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, appoints Commission members for their knowledge of, and experience in, areas relevant to the Commission's interests. The Telecommunications Commissioner is appointed on the recommendation of the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media​.

Anna Rawlings

Chair

Anna Rawlings was appointed Chair in June 2019, and has been a Commissioner since June 2014. She was previously a partner in the dispute resolution division of Minter Ellison Rudd Watts, where she specialised in contentious and non-contentious aspects of competition, regulatory and consumer law. Anna holds a BA/LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland and an LLM from the University of Toronto, where her work focused on law and economics.

Sue Begg

Deputy Chair

Sue Begg was appointed as a Commissioner in June 2009 and Deputy Chair in July 2010. She was also appointed as an Associate Member of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission from April 2016 to June 2019. Sue is an economist, whose previous roles include director of the consultancy company Impetus Group Limited, Vice-President and head of the economic advisory unit of the investment banking division of Credit Suisse First Boston NZ Limited (and its predecessor companies) and manager of the Macroeconomic Policy section at the Treasury.

Tristan Gilbertson

Telecommunications Commissioner

Tristan Gilbertson was appointed Telecommunications Commissioner in June 2020. He is a corporate and commercial lawyer with extensive international experience in telecommunications law and regulation. After an early career in private practice, Tristan was appointed Legal & Regulatory Director – Asia-Pacific at Vodafone Group Plc, where he was closely involved in the expansion and diversification of Vodafone’s business. He then joined Telecom New Zealand Ltd where he was Group General Counsel and played a leading role in the structural separation of Telecom and the re-set of the regulatory framework. Most recently, he was Group General Counsel of Digicel Group Ltd, where he focused on transformation and change across Digicel’s 32 global markets. Tristan holds a BA/LLB(Hons) from the University of Auckland and has completed the Executive Leadership Development Programme at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr Derek Johnston

Commissioner

Derek Johnston was appointed as a Commissioner in November 2019. A commercial lawyer, Derek has extensive experience and knowledge of competition law coupled with significant mergers and transactional experience and familiarity with many of the regulated sectors. His past roles include being the independent Chair of NZX’s Regulatory Governance Committee and the Chair of the NZ Markets Disciplinary Tribunal. For many years Derek was a corporate partner with Russell McVeagh and most recently has been practising as a barrister and arbitrator at Thorndon Chambers.
Derek holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in law from the University of Auckland and a doctorate in law from the University of Toronto.

Dr John Small

Commissioner

Dr John Small was appointed in December 2018 as Associate Commissioner and as a Commissioner in June 2020. John is the Founding Director of economic consultancy firm, Covec, and was also the former Head of the University of Auckland's Economics Department. He has an extensive experience undertaking complex competition analysis in a wide range of sectors, including energy, transport, agriculture, telecommunications, payment systems, and construction. John was also previously a lay member of the High Court of New Zealand, frequently called as an expert witness before courts, tribunals and commissions.

Elisabeth Welson

Commissioner

Elisabeth Welson was appointed in September 2012 as Associate Commissioner and as a Commissioner in August 2013. Before joining the Commission, she was a senior commercial partner at Simpson Grierson, where she co-led the competition and regulatory group and headed the energy, natural resources and utilities market group. Elisabeth holds an LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland and has practised as a Barrister and Solicitor in New Zealand as well as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

John Crawford

Associate Commissioner

John Crawford was appointed as an Associate Commissioner in October 2018. Prior to joining the Commission, John was Chief Executive of Auckland Council Investments. He has also held senior management roles at the Treasury, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. John has substantial commercial and regulatory experience in key sectors such as electricity, energy and telecommunications. He has undergraduate degrees in Science and Engineering, and also holds an MBA from the University of Auckland.

Joseph Liava’a

Associate Commissioner

Joseph Liava’a was appointed as an Associate Commissioner in April 2019. Prior to joining the Commission, Joseph worked as the Community Liaison Manager for Nirvana Health Group. Before that he was a consumer law advisor for the former Ministry of Consumer Affairs and also worked as a private secretary for the Minister. Joseph has also given consumer law training to budget advice services and community law centres. He has been involved with a variety of boards and panels, including Pacific Health and Welfare Inc, Vaiola Pacific Island Budgeting Service Trust (Mangere), Otara Health Charitable Trust, as well as the board of Consumer New Zealand.

Vhari McWha

Associate Commissioner

Vhari McWha was appointed as an Associate Commissioner in September 2020. Vhari is an experienced economist and has advised on public policy and regulation, including competition analysis and market design. She has a background in quantitative analysis, including cost benefit, modelling and forecasting work. Vhari has specific expertise in the energy sector. Prior to joining the Commission, Vhari was a Director at Sapere. Her earlier roles include Deputy Director at the economic consultancy NZIER and Regulatory Affairs Manager at Meridian Energy. Vhari holds an MCom (Hons) in economics from the University of Canterbury.

Sarah Court

Associate Commissioner

ACCC cross-appointment

Sarah Court was cross-appointed from the ACCC as an Associate Commissioner in December 2015. She has been a Commissioner of the ACCC since April 2008. She is a former senior executive lawyer and director with the Australian Government Solicitor. She has extensive experience in Commonwealth legal work, including restrictive trade practices, consumer protection and law enforcement litigation. As Chair of the ACCC’s Enforcement Committee, Sarah oversees the agency’s enforcement and litigation programme. She also sits on the ACCC’s Merger Review Committee, Adjudication Committee and the Infrastructure Committee.