New chief executive takes the reins at Justice
Andrew Kibblewhite was welcomed to his new role as Chief Executive of the Ministry of Justice at a pōwhiri in Wellington this morning (1 February 2019).
Mr Kibblewhite formally began his role as Secretary of Justice and Chief Executive today, replacing Andrew Bridgman, who will take up a new role as Secretary of Defence later this year. Mr Kibblewhite has been Chief Executive of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet since 2012.
Mr Kibblewhite thanked everyone for the pōwhiri and welcome he received at the Justice Centre in Wellington today.
“I’m both proud and excited to the joining the team at the Ministry of Justice. The warmth of the welcome was truly humbling.”
Mr Kibblewhite says the Ministry will play a major role in delivering to the Government’s agenda for the justice sector.
“The Government has a significant agenda for change with reviews to reform both the criminal justice system and the family justice system currently in train. There’s also a referendum on the use of cannabis, a new tribunal to address outstanding issues from the Canterbury earthquakes and ongoing measures to tackle New Zealand’s poor record of family and sexual violence to name just some of the issues we’ll address in the next two years.”
Mr Kibblewhite says he wants to hear from Ministry employees about the work they do and how we can improve justice services.
“While I was welcomed at the Justice Centre in Wellington, I’m looking forward to meeting as many Ministry people as possible in the next few weeks. The delivery of justice services to New Zealanders relies on thousands of Ministry people working in courts and tribunals around the country. It’s important that I understand the work they do, how we support the judiciary and how we serve New Zealanders every day.”
Prior to joining DPMC in 2012, Andrew was Deputy Chief Executive at the Treasury, with a number of roles. He had also served as Director of DPMC’s Policy Advisory Group for five years. Andrew began his career at the Treasury and in 2002 became General Manager Strategic Development at the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology. He is married with three sons and has a BSc(Hons) from the University of Canterbury, a BCA from Victoria University, and an MBA from Stanford University.