18 April 2011
The Chair of the Board of Commissioners at the TEC, Sir Wira Gardiner has welcomed the appointment of Belinda Clark as the Commission's new Chief Executive.
“Ms Clark is currently the Secretary for Justice and Chief Executive of the Ministry of Justice, and I am delighted that the Board has the opportunity to appoint such a high quality Chief Executive,” said Sir Wira.
“Ms Clark has led the Ministry of Justice for the past ten years, but she also has a background in commercial and banking law, and was a diplomat with the New Zealand foreign service.”
“Ms Clark is due to take up her new role in July this year and the Board are looking forward to working closely with her as we implement the Government’s goals for tertiary education,” said Sir Wira.
ENDS
For more details please contact the TEC media team on media@tec.govt.nz or call the media number on 027 285 3371
About Belinda Clark
 | For the past ten years Belinda Clark has been New Zealand’s Secretary for Justice and Chief Executive of the Ministry of Justice. As Secretary for Justice, Belinda has been the leader of the Justice sector which includes the Department of Corrections, NZ Police, Youth Justice aspects of MSD, Crown Law and the Serious Fraud Office. This has included setting the strategic direction for the sector, providing advice to Ministers and central agencies on four year Budgets and forecasting volumes and demand across the sector. |
Over the last ten years Belinda has led a big programme of policy and operational reforms. Recent examples include the legal aid reforms, addressing drivers of crime, simplification of court processes, and electoral and constitutional reforms.
Belinda has a background in commercial and banking law, and was in practice with law firm Minter Ellison for four years. In addition, she has held General Manager positions at ACC (Purchasing, Planning and Policy) and Te Puni Kokiri (Policy). She has a LLB (Hons) and a BA from the University of Auckland and graduated with an LLM in International Legal Studies from New York University in 1987.
In her earlier career, Belinda was a diplomat with the New Zealand foreign service and was posted to the United Nations in New York for four years where she was New Zealand’s representative to human rights and legal committees.