Vicky Robertson appointed new environmental chief in New Zealand

Former New Zealand hockey player Vicky Robertson will be the new secretary for the environment and chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment (MfE), it has been announced today.
Robertson, who is currently the deputy chief executive and chief operating officer at the Treasury and was acting secretary and chief executive of The Treasury from November 2014 to March 2015, will assume her role on 2 June this year.
Current acting chief executive Mark Sowden will remain in his rule until Robertson takes office.
Robertson has been appointed for a five-year term by state services commissioner Iain Rennie, who said that he is “very pleased to appoint Vicky Roberston to this important role, which is vital to the management of New Zealand’s environment and natural resources.”
As the Treasury’s deputy chief executive, Robertson has overall responsibility for the Treasury’s commercial, financial and corporate operations.
She oversaw the Treasury’s work to get the best value from the government’s commercial investments, manage the country’s debt well, and operate effectively as an organisation.
She also previously worked as the Treasury representative on the Land and Water Forum and lead an inter-departmental group on the review of climate change policy.
In 2010 she was seconded to the United Nations Development Programme in New York, where she led a strategic and structural review of the organisation.
Robertson was a New Zealand hockey representative from 1989 to 1997 and has competed at a national level in mountain biking.
Rennie said: “Ms Robertson has a real focus on results and works very effectively with other government agencies, NGOs and the private sector.
“Her experience working closely and effectively with a wide range of organisations and stakeholders will serve MfE well in its national, regional and community-based environmental work.”
This could be an interesting news story but for heaven’s sake, the main “credentials” mentioned are that Ms Robertson used to be a representative hockey player and is a keen mountain biker. So what? Yes, we got her previous appointments but is that it? How about giving us her ACTUAL qualifications – is she a lawyer? An environmental scientist? An engineer? An accountant? A management graduate? MBA, perhaps? I see more here about the writer’s CV than the subject.