Lectures, talks and seminars

Registration is essential

Grand Hall, Parliament Buildings

Presented by


Description

The panel consists of Tova O'Brien, Richard Harman, Nicola Willis and Dr Andrew Ladley


Speaker Bios

Nicola Willis

Nicola Willis is a List MP based in Wellington and is National’s spokesperson for Early Childhood Education, having entered Parliament in April 2018. Born and bred in Wellington, Nicola’s experience in politics first began when working as a researcher and policy advisor for the Rt Hon Sir Bill English during his time as the Opposition Education spokesperson. Nicola then went on to serve as a senior advisor to the Rt Hon Sir John Key, as a member of his winning 2008 campaign team and during his first term as Prime Minister. Currently, Nicola is a member of Parliament’s Education and Workforce and Regulations Review Select Committees.

Tova O’Brien

Tova O’Brien is a veteran New Zealand journalist who has covered news both here and abroad. Tova worked in the Parliamentary Press Gallery before joining MediaWorks in 2007, where she covered news and foreign content across platforms such as Nightline and 3 News. In 2016, Tova moved to London to take up the European correspondent role for Newshub, covering Brexit, the United Kingdom Elections and the Grenfell Tower fire disaster. In May 2018, Tova returned to Wellington, and the Press Gallery, when she was named as Newshub’s Political Editor.

Dr Andrew Ladley

Dr Andrew Ladley is a public lawyer with a background in academia, international peace operations and coalition-management in the New Zealand government. Andrew began his career as an academic lawyer, and his work has since taken him around the world, being deployed in missions in places such as Cambodia, South Africa, Gambia and East Timor. In 2008 and 2011, Andrew served with the United Nations Standby Team of Expert Mediators, focusing on Constitutional Arrangements. More recently has been involved with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue as a Senior Consultant and Advisor, in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Richard Harman

Richard Harman has been a journalist for 48 years. He is best known as the Chief TVNZ Political Correspondent during the Muldoon, Lange and Bolger years, but he also reported extensively from the Pacific during that period including in Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Fiji as they underwent substantial civil unrest. He went on to produce award-winning political documentaries and then established Front Page Ltd which pioneered weekend political interview shows with “Agenda” and “The Nation”. He established the Politik website and PolitikToday daily political newsletter in 2015.


For more information contact: Melanie Thornton

melanie.thornton@vuw.ac.nz 04 463 5356