Fast Track Approvals Act advisory panel rounded out with Ngāti Whakaue lawyer

David Tapsell joins a group of five experts that includes a city planning manager and a chief exec

Fast Track Approvals Act advisory panel rounded out with Ngāti Whakaue lawyer

The expert advisory panel that will provide guidance to cabinet ministers in line with the Fast Track Approvals Act has been rounded out with the appointment of Ngāti Whakaue lawyer David Tapsell, reported the NZ Herald.

Tapsell is chair of the Whakaue’s Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust. His legal career includes stints with firms like Bell Gully.

In 2017, he began serving as a professional director and adviser focusing on corporate, iwi, and Crown interests. He has acted as a chief Crown negotiator on historical Treaty settlements.

Additionally, Tapsell is Lotto’s deputy chairperson.

Tapsell is joined by the following panel members:

  • Mark Davey, Hamilton City planning manager
  • David Hunt, former Contact chief executive
  • Rosie Mercer, Marsden Maritime Holdings chief executive
  • Murray Parrish, former regulatory manager at Oji Fibre Solutions and environment manager at Carter Holt Harvey
  • Vaughan Wilkinson, former Ministry of Fisheries official and fishing industry executive