22 Facts About Roderick Deane

Sir Roderick Sheldon Deane was born on 8 April 1941 and is a New Zealand economist, public servant, and businessman who was influential in public sector reform during the Rogernomics reforms of the Fourth Labour Government.

Roderick Deane served as deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand during the Third National Government, as Chairman of the State Services Commission and CEO of the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand during the Fourth Labour Government, and as CEO and chairman of Telecom New Zealand after its privatisation.

Roderick Deane completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree with first-class honours in economics and a doctorate in economics at Victoria University of Wellington in 1968.

Roderick Deane worked at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, rapidly becoming Chief Economist, then Deputy Governor in 1982.

Roderick Deane served as Alternate Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund from 1974 to 1976.

Roderick Deane led a research-team which developed New Zealand's first macroeconometric model and published many papers in this area.

Roderick Deane authored and edited a range of books on monetary policy and financial-sector matters, the external sector and foreign investment.

Roderick Deane later became the inaugural winner of the NZIER Qantas "Economist of the Year" Award.

In 1984, with the election of the Fourth Labour government, Roderick Deane led those elements within the Reserve Bank calling for a devaluation of the New Zealand dollar.

In 1986 Roderick Deane became Chairman of the State Services Commission, effectively the head of New Zealand's public service.

Roderick Deane oversaw a range of other reforms to the public sector, including changes in the wage determination processes to liberalise these, the re-organization of the public service to reduce substantially the number of public servants and to improve the efficiency of many government departments, and changes designed to improve the clarity of objectives and the enhancement of accountabilities within the public sector.

In 1987 Roderick Deane became Chief Executive of New Zealand's then-largest state-owned enterprise, the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand, often known as Electricorp.

In November 1992, following the privatisation of Telecom as New Zealand's largest listed company, Roderick Deane became Chief Executive of the new entity.

Roderick Deane held this role until his retirement on 1 October 1999, when he became the non-executive Chairman of Telecom.

Roderick Deane served as Chairman of ANZ National Bank from 1999 and for many years as a Director of the ANZ Banking Group in Melbourne.

In 2001, Roderick Deane presided over the break-up of Fletcher Challenge, then New Zealand's largest conglomerate.

Roderick Deane then served as Chairman of Fletcher Building, then New Zealand's largest listed company, until 2010.

Roderick Deane served as a Director of Woolworths Ltd, and on the advisory board of Pacific Road Corporate Finance.

From 2000, Roderick Deane chaired the Board of the National Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, which encompasses what was previously the National Art Gallery.

Roderick Deane formed the City Gallery Wellington Foundation and functioned for many years as its chairman.

From 2000 to 2003, Roderick Deane held a personal Chair as Professor of Economics and Management at Victoria University of Wellington, which awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Laws.

In 1990, Roderick Deane was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.