New Zealander of the Year nominee: Sean Roberts

Sean Roberts (left) and his brother Cody took their petition to a select committee hearing at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell

This week, we name the finalists for the Herald New Zealander of the Year. We’re profiling high-achieving Kiwis each day and announce the winner in the Weekend Herald.

Sean Roberts
For courage in speaking up for road safety

It's an experience that can cause many top public servants a touch of dread - and hours in PR-coached preparation.

But if Sean Roberts, of Geraldine, was nervous when appearing before a parliamentary select committee at 10 it wasn't noticeable.

He was too focused on the task at hand - explaining why he and his brother Cody, 9, had helped gather more than 31,000 signatures on a petition calling for tourists to be required to sit a practical test before driving in New Zealand.

Their father, Grant Roberts, died in a 2012 crash caused by a visitor who had been in New Zealand for one day.

In the select committee room in Bowen House in Wellington, Sean, Cody and their mum praised industry moves such as a code of best practice and more information being made available to drivers, but politely asked for the extra step of a competency test.

In May, 25 rental companies announced the trial of a new code of practice, in which drivers have to fill out a questionnaire.

If they do badly, they could be asked to do a trial drive.

That was followed by the Automobile Association (AA) launching an online driving simulator for tourist drivers in November, and this month the NZTA announced a $25 million funding boost for tourist driver safety initiatives.

Amidst the heat of last summer's overseas-driver debate - with keys snatched and even an assault - Sean and his family's advocacy was both powerful and measured.

After the select committee appearance, Ms Pipson confided to a friend how nervous she had been, while Sean fielded more questions from media.