Key Guest Speakers
Plenary Lecture Key Speakers
Hon Judith Collins KC
Hon Judith Collins KC is a New Zealand constituency Member of Parliament and has been since 2002. Her constituency is Papakura located in Auckland.
Hon Judith Collins KC is the Attorney-General of New Zealand, Minister of Defence, Minister for
Digitising Government, Minister Responsible for the GCSB, Minister Responsible for the NZSIS,
Minister for Science, Innovation & Technology, Minister for Space and Lead Coordination Minister for
the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission’s Report into the Terrorist Attack on the
Christchurch Mosques.
Judith served as the Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the New Zealand National Party from July
2020 to November 2021. Judith served as a senior Cabinet Minister in the governments led by Sir John
Key, and Sir Bill English.
She is a member of the Fulbright New Zealand Alumni Association, a Vice-Patron of the Ex-Vietnam
Services Association Children’s and Grandchildren’s Trust. Judith is an honorary life member of the
Long-Range Desert Group and an honorary member of the New Zealand Sappers’ Association.
Judith holds a Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws (Honours) and a Master of Taxation Studies from the
University of Auckland. She holds a Graduate Diploma in Occupational Health & Safety from Massey
University. Judith is an author and a Barrister.
Prior to entering Parliament, Judith was a Barrister & Solicitor, and a Company Director based in
Auckland. She is the former Chair of the Casino Control Authority, President of the Auckland District
Law Society and Vice-President of the New Zealand Law Society
Prof Dame Jane E Harding DNZM MBChB DPhil FRACP FRSNZ
Distinguished Professor Dame Jane Harding is a neonatologist based at the Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, and President of the Royal Society Te Apārangi. Her research concerns growth before and after birth, blood glucose regulation in the newborn, and the longterm consequences of treatments given around the time of birth.
Amongst her many awards are the Howard Williams Medal (Royal Australasian College of Physicians), the 2019 Women of Influence Supreme Award, the Rutherford Medal (Royal Society of New Zealand) and the Prime Minister’s Science Prize.
Prof Sir Ashley Bloomfield
Sir Ashley Bloomfield has 25 years’ experience in public health, policy and health leadership, including at the WHO in Geneva. He was New Zealand’s Director-General of Health from June 2018 to July 2022 and led the country’s health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was appointed a Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (KNZM) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to public health. Dr Bloomfield is now a Professor at the University of Auckland's School of Population Health.