John O'Connell

Audit Director

 

John started with Audit New Zealand in 1991. He has a varied portfolio covering both the central and local government sectors. John has also carried out a number of significant probity and governance reviews.

Before joining Audit New Zealand, John spent 13 years auditing in public practice and a number of years in senior financial management positions both in New Zealand and overseas.

Ajay Sharma

Audit Director

 

Ajay has been with Audit New Zealand since 1990. His public sector audit experience includes central government entities, State-owned enterprises, Crown entities, and tertiary education institutions. Some of Ajay's large clients include the Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand Customs Service, and the Ministry for the Environment. Ajay is a member of our central government and Crown entity sector group.

Ajay has conducted a number of special reviews for audit clients. In 2003 he worked with Te Puni Kokiri on financial reviews for funding that was part of the "Reducing Social Inequalities Package". Recently he has been involved with auditing the Crown's obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. Before joining Audit New Zealand, Ajay was an external auditor with an international chartered accounting firm.

Robert Manktelow

Audit Director

 

Robert joined us in October 2007. His diverse client portfolio includes central government agencies, Crown entities, and local authorities.

Before coming to Audit New Zealand, Robert had amassed 17 years of public sector experience, including 11 years with the National Audit Office in the United Kingdom. He has worked in policy, financial management, IT development, and business re-engineering areas. Most recently, Robert was the Chief Financial Officer of a UK equivalent to a Crown entity.

Clare Helm

Audit Director

 

Clare has worked for Audit New Zealand since 1993. During Clare's time with us she has worked on a range of clients in the central government, Crown entity, tertiary education, and local government sectors.

Before joining Audit New Zealand, Clare worked in the north of England as an audit manager.

Stephen Lucy

Audit Director

 

Stephen has been with us since 1999 and specialises in central government and Crown entities work, with a particular focus on the health and tertiary education sectors. He leads our Central government/Crown entity group which provides guidance to staff and clients on sector issues and developments.

Stephen’s current clients include the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Te Puni Kōkiri, the Department of Corrections, UCOL, Whitireia Community Polytechnic, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, Te Wānanga-o-Raukawa, and Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. In the health sector, Stephen is responsible for the audits of four District Health Boards, the Crown Health Financing Agency, and the Mental Health Commission.

Before joining Audit New Zealand, Stephen worked for Lakes DHB and KPMG (here and in the United Kingdom).

Jo Smaill

Audit Director

 

Jo began working for Audit New Zealand in 1994. She has specialist knowledge of local government auditing but has also taken a lead role in audits for large complex government departments, Crown Entities and District Health Boards. Jo is also a member of our health sector group.

Before joining us, Jo worked for a number of years as an internal auditor at the Department of Internal Affairs. During this time she completed a number of efficiency and effectiveness audits. Jo also worked in the Health sector for a short period of time.

Peter Davies

Director, Specialist Assurance Services

 

Peter joined Audit New Zealand in September 2004. He provides specialist project and contract management advice to a range of government agencies. Peter is a professional civil engineer with extensive experience on large civil engineering projects.

During the 1980s he was involved in the construction of the Clyde Dam in Central Otago. From 1990 to 1995, he worked on the construction of an underground railway project in London. In 1995, Peter returned to New Zealand as Regional Operations Manager for the Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council. In 2000, he became Chief Executive of that council until 2004. During 2004, he managed two major disasters that afflicted the Manawatu-Wanganui and Bay of Plenty regions.

Mark Jensen

Associate Director, Specialist Assurance Services

Mark returned to New Zealand, and began working for Audit New Zealand, in September 2006. He has over 20 years experience in the construction and facilities management industries. His professional experience includes project management, procurement, tendering, contract management, risk management, cost estimation, continuous improvement, quality management auditing and benchmarking.

Having spent the last 12 years living in the United Kingdom, Mark worked for Pfizer, the world's largest biomedical research organisation, and Bovis Construction, one of the world's leading companies in project management and construction services. At Pfizer he had leadership roles in the design and delivery of site and global 'business excellence' solutions, spanning the United Kingdom, United States, and Europe. At Bovis Construction, Mark was employed as a senior Quality Manager. Before leaving for the United Kingdom, Mark worked as a Quantity Surveyor.

Martin Richardson

Associate Director, Specialist Assurance Services

 

Martin joined Audit New Zealand in 2007. He has particular interests in performance measurement, management and reporting, asset management, and regeneration. This is his second stint with Audit New Zealand, having been seconded from the UK to work on Long-term Council Community Plans in 2005/06.

Martin spent 10 years with the UK Audit Commission, leading a team of local government performance auditors and inspectors. For two years he was seconded to the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, London. He also designed and implemented a performance management framework for the ₤3 billion New Deal for Communities programme and worked on performance assessment of Local Strategic Partnerships.

A Chartered Surveyor by profession, before joining the Audit Commission Martin spent 10 years working on mapping and civil engineering projects across the UK. He also spent time with the Ministry of Agriculture in Grenada, West Indies, working on a land redistribution programme.

Leon Pieterse

Associate Director

 

Leon joined Audit New Zealand in May 2008. He manages a range of clients in the health, crown entity, and central government sectors.

Leon's experience spans 20 years in the private sector, focusing on auditing, accounting, taxation, and business advisory services.

Bill Inglis

Manager, Specialist Assurance Services

 

Bill started with Audit New Zealand in 1999. He delivers independent quality assurance on the management of procurement, contracts, projects, information technology, business change management projects, and financial/treasury/costing advisory models.

Bill has over 20 years of experience in consulting to governmental, financial, utility, and healthcare organisations. Before joining Audit New Zealand, Bill was a management consultant in senior consultancy roles for EDS, Ernst and Young, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Bradley Young

Audit Manager

 

Bradley began his Audit New Zealand career in 2000.

Bradley gained his auditing experience with a range of public sector clients in the central government, Crown entity, and tertiary education sectors. Bradley acquired private sector experience by working for Ernst & Young in Sydney.

Chee Hong Lim

Audit Manager

 

Chee Hong joined Audit New Zealand in 2004. His current client portfolio includes goverment departments, crown entities, district health boards and tertiary institutions.

Audit New Zealand has added a public sector dimension to Chee Hong's experience; after graduating from the Systematic Business Training Centre in Malaysia, he worked in medium-sized chartered accountancy firms before moving into internal auditing. Chee Hong also spent 10 years in internal auditing at two large banks in Malaysia. He is a fellow member of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (UK) and a Chartered Accountant registered with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

Iain Craig

Audit Manager

 

Iain began his career with Audit New Zealand in March 1998 as graduate trainee. He is Group Manager for our tertiary sector group, and is involved in facilitating the resourcing process.

Before starting at Audit New Zealand, Iain was involved in life insurance and superannuation administration in New Zealand and Britain.

Karen Young

Audit Manager

 

Karen began working with Audit New Zealand in 1995 as a graduate. Her auditing experience includes a range of public sector organisations, including central government, Crown entities, health, and local government.

Kelly Rushton

Audit Manager

 

Kelly started with Audit New Zealand in 1998. Kelly has worked on a range of clients, focusing mainly on central government and Crown entities, but including tertiary education and health sector clients. As well as managing audit assignments, he has undertaken client-requested and taxpayer-initiated assurance engagements.

During his time with us, Kelly spent 18 months working in the National Audit Office in London.

Jayne Winfield

Audit Manager

 

Jayne has worked for Audit New Zealand since February 2000, on a range of clients in the central government, Crown entity, Trust board, and local government sectors. Jayne has recently been working with the Executive Leadership Team within Audit New Zealand. She currently works predominantly in the defence sector, but has a broad range of central government and Crown entity clients, including the financial statements of the government consolidation.

Andrea Reeves

Audit Manager

 

Andrea joined Audit New Zealand in 2000. Her public sector auditing experience encompasses a range of clients including local authorities, council-controlled trading organisations, energy companies, port companies, District Health Boards, and tertiary education institutions. She also works closely with the licensing trust and energy sector groups.

David Kidman

Audit Manager

 

David has worked for Audit New Zealand since 2002 across the Central Government, Crown Entity and Local Government sectors. In addition to managing a portfolio of audit clients, David has been involved with taxpayer-initiated enquiries as well as assisting with Audit New Zealand's staff development programme.

David supplemented his New Zealand experience in 2006 by participating in a secondment to the National Audit Office based in London.

Nicola Hankinson

Audit Manager

Audit New Zealand was delighted to welcome Nicola back – to New Zealand and to us – in October 2007. Having started her career at Audit New Zealand in 1999, Nicola’s audit portfolio now includes central government, crown entity, state owned enterprise, council-controlled organisation, and Māori Trust clients.

While travelling overseas, Nicola worked as an internal auditor at the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Parkhill Audit Agency (the agency responsible for auditing the National Health Service), Cancer Research UK, the Strategic Rail Authority, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Deloitte.

Amarith Ou

Audit Manager

 

Amarith joined Audit New Zealand in February 2004. He manages a range of clients in the central government, crown entity, and local government sectors.

Before joining Audit New Zealand, Amarith worked in retail management and optical mechanics.

Naude Kotze

Audit Manager

 

Naudé joined Audit New Zealand as an Audit Manager in July 2008. His current portfolio includes clients from the crown entity and the central government sectors.

Naudé worked for the Auditor-General of South Africa for more than 20 years. In recent years, he also assisted the United Nations Board of Auditors with audits conducted in the near Middle East.