Ngā kaikōmihana Commissioners

Brendan J Duffy ONZM, JP (Chair)

Brendan was appointed as a temporary member of the Commission in March 2017 and as a full member in June 2018. He was appointed Chair in 2019.

He served a three-year term as Vice President of Local Government New Zealand for 3 years and also chaired its Rural and Provincial Sector.

Brendan was first elected as a member of Horowhenua District Council in 1995 and served as Mayor of Horowhenua from 2004 to 2016.

Bonita Bigham - Ngaruahine, Te Atiawa

Bonita was appointed as a temporary member of the Commission in June 2021 and as a full member in July 2022.

Bonita was elected to the Taranaki Regional Council in 2022. She has previously been a member of the Taranaki Coastal Community Board (2019-2022) and a councillor at South Taranaki District Council (2010-2019).

She has chaired Te Maruata, Local Government New Zealand's national collective of Māori in governance roles in local government and served on LGNZ's National Council and the Community Board Executive Committee. 

Bonita currently sits on the Arts Council at Creative New Zealand, and Te Puna, the Māori advisory committee to Taumata Arowai, having previously held other appointments. 

Sue Bidrose

Sue was appointed as a member of the Commission in July 2022.

Sue is also Chief Executive Officer of Crown Research Institute, AgResearch. Prior to taking on that role, she had been Chief Executive of the Dunedin City Council for seven years and had held other senior management roles at the Dunedin and Waitakere City Councils.

She has also worked in central government in a number of research, policy and operational roles.