New appointment means half of public sector chiefs are women

Women in leadership roles means better decision-making says Women's Affairs Minister Julie Anne Genter. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The appointment of Bernadette Cavanagh to head the Ministry for Culture and Heritage means that 50 per cent of chief executives in the public service are women.

Her appointment, the 17th woman out of 33 CEs, was announced this morning, along with that of Andrew Crisp as chief executive of the new Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

Cavanagh has been a senior diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and is currently the deputy secretary of the multilateral and legal affairs group.

She took a leading role in the campaign to elect Helen Clark as UN Secretary General and has been High Commissioner to Singapore.

She was considered an outside chance in the contest to lead MFAT, following the appointment of Brook Barrington to take up the head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Cavanagh will oversee a budget of $323 million in her new role which begins on February 1 for five years.

Women's Affairs Minister Julie Anne Genter and State Services Minister Chris Hipkins welcomes the fact that for the first time, women made up half the number of chief executives.

"More women in leadership means better decision-making, better organisational resilience and better performance, " said Genter.

"It also opens up more opportunities for women to succeed and contributes to a more inclusive and fairer society."

Among the women in senior public sector roles are Carolyn Tremain at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment; Iona Holsted at the Ministry of Education; Naomi Ferguson at Inland Revenue; Naomi Ferguson; and Debbie Power who is soon to take over at the Ministry of Social Development.

Andrew Crisp is currently acting chief executive at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, on secondment from Land Information.

He was previously deputy chief executive of the building, resources and markets division at the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment.