Former MP named as Erma head

Palmerston North Mayor and former Labour MP Jill White has been appointed to chair the Environmental Risk Management Authority.

She takes up the position on November 1, along with new members Tony Haggerty, the hazardous substances adviser to the Fire Service, and Prudence Kapua, a partner at law firm Walters and Williams.

They replace chairman Bill Falconer, and Professor Barry Scott and Dr Terry Lomax, whose terms expired on July 31.

Environment Minister Marian Hobbs said the authority's work would alter as a result of changes to the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act, and it needed people with expertise in that area.

It would also have less work related to genetic modification because of the voluntary moratorium in place during the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Genetic Modification.

She said the new members understood Maori and community issues, environmental law and expertise in dealing with hazardous substances.

It now had members from a wide range of fields and experience, including health, the environment, industry, business, the community and the sciences.

- NZPA