Maurice John Belgrave was a senior public servant and Chief Ombudsman of New Zealand.
19 Facts About John Belgrave
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John Belgrave joined the public service in 1964, joining the Department of Trade and Industry.
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John Belgrave was posted to London, where he served as second secretary at the High Commission for four years.
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John Belgrave was promoted rapidly, and became Consul-General and Trade Commissioner in Melbourne in 1968.
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In 1973, John Belgrave became Director of the Price and Stabilisation department in the Department of Trade and Industry, a key role responsible for monitoring commercial price controls in the then highly regulated New Zealand economy.
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In 1976, John Belgrave was posted to Tokyo as Minister and Senior Trade Commissioner, where he served for four years.
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In 1985, John Belgrave accepted his first of four postings as chief executive of a government department, as Comptroller of Customs.
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John Belgrave left the public service in 1988 to become Chief Executive of the Bankers' Association, before being wooed back in 1989 by State Services Commissioner Don Hunn as Secretary of Commerce, the successor department of the Department of Trade and Industry.
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In 1994, John Belgrave was appointed by Hunn again as Secretary of Justice.
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John Belgrave's mandate included the division of the Department of Justice into a separate policy unit, the Ministry of Justice, and the separate departments of Courts and Corrections.
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John Belgrave retained responsibility for the Ministry of Justice, while the Departments for Courts and Corrections were established into separate structures.
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In 1999, John Belgrave became Chairman of the Commerce Commission, holding that post for two terms, before being appointed as Chief Ombudsman in 2003.
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John Belgrave was chairman of the board of Victoria University's Institute of Policy Studies, and was a fellow of the Institute of Management, and the Institute of Directors.
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John Belgrave was involved in several high-profile inquiries in his role as Chief Ombudsman.
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In 2005, John Belgrave ordered that the Minister of Finance Michael Cullen must release the costings of the interest-free student loan policy prior to the election, after Cullen had refused to do so.
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In 2007, John Belgrave conducted an inquiry into the Department of Corrections' policy for transporting prisoners, following the murder of 17-year-old Liam Ashley while being transported to Court in the back of a Corrections-contracted van.
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John Belgrave described the Corrections' policy of transporting prisoners as "inhumane", and ordered a review of the prisoner transport system.
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In 1963, John Belgrave married Judith Anne Jenner, and the couple had five children.
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In 1990, John Belgrave was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal, and in the 2007 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for public services, including as Chief Ombudsman.