Catherine Isaac is a past president of the New Zealand political party
ACT, and managing director of Awaroa Partners. She was formerly director of JM Communications.
Early life
Isaac was raised in
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
and completed a BA in English and Languages at the
University of Canterbury in 1970. She is the niece of
Diana Isaac.
Career
Before politics
Isaac was communications and public affairs manager for the National Provident Fund through its extensive restructuring from 1988 to 1991. In the 18 month lead-up to the completion of the NPF tender process Isaac was also General Manager, Regional Operations, responsible for management of six regional offices and five branch offices.
Isaac was a member of the Board of the Wellington Community Trust from 1999 to 2003.
She was a founding director of the St Lukes' Group from 1993 to 1996. From 1990 to 1994 she was a Trustee of the
Royal New Zealand Ballet
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is a ballet company based in Wellington, New Zealand. It was originally known as The New Zealand Ballet Company.
History
New Zealand Ballet was established in 1953 as an independent charitable trust by Royal Danish ...
. From 1995 to 2001 she served on the Board of Trustees of
Wellington College Wellington College may refer to:
*Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England
** Wellington College International Shanghai
** Wellington College International Tianjin
* Wellington College, Wellington, Ne ...
.
Presidency of ACT New Zealand, 2001–2006
Isaac was elected President of
ACT New Zealand
ACT New Zealand, known simply as ACT (), is a right-wing, classical-liberal political party in New Zealand. According to former party leader Rodney Hide, ACT's values are "individual freedom, personal responsibility, doing the best for our natur ...
in March 2001. Her bid for the presidency was support by the founders of ACT, Sir
Roger Douglas
Sir Roger Owen Douglas (born 5 December 1937) is a retired New Zealand politician who served as a minister in two Labour governments. He became arguably best known for his prominent role in New Zealand's radical economic restructuring in the 19 ...
and
Derek Quigley
Derek Francis Quigley (born 31 January 1932) is a New Zealand former politician. He was a prominent member of the National Party during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and was known for his support of free market economics and trade liberalis ...
. A key feature of her presidency was the Liberal Project, which was designed to focus the party on its
classical liberal
Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econom ...
roots. However her moves to get the party more focussed on liberal issues were relatively unsuccessful, and in the 2002 election the party largely repeated its socially conservative positions which it had used in 1999.
Isaac was one of a handful of people that
Richard Prebble
Richard William Prebble (born 7 February 1948) is a former member of the New Zealand Parliament. Initially a member of the Labour Party, he joined the newly formed ACT New Zealand party under Roger Douglas in 1996, becoming its leader from 19 ...
confided in prior to announcing to the ACT caucus on 27 April 2004 that he intended to retire as leader of the party. Isaac oversaw the membership primary that the party ran to assist in selecting a new leader.
Rodney Hide
Rodney Philip Hide (born 16 December 1956) is a former New Zealand politician of the ACT New Zealand party. Hide was a Member of Parliament for ACT from 1996 until 2011, was ACT's leader between 2004 and 2011, and represented the constituency f ...
was selected following the primary and a caucus vote.
Isaac announced publicly in January 2006 that she would not be standing for re-election as party president. She stepped down at the March 2006 annual conference and was replaced by Hamilton businessman
Garry Mallett.
Since retiring as president of ACT
Isaac stood for parliament in the
2011 election. She was ranked second on ACT's party list, but did not stand as an electorate candidate because of her husband's illness.
Because of ACT's low vote-share, she was not elected to Parliament.
Isaac was involved in a number of the
Fifth National Government's initiatives, including the Welfare Working Group,
and the
Partnership Schools/Kura Hourua Working Group. She was Chair of the Kura Hourua Authorisation Board. However, after the
Sixth Labour Government was elected, the Board resigned in protest at the end of their term on 1 March 2018 because the Government was abolishing the Partnership Schools model.
Personal life
She is divorced from diplomat
Hugo Judd
Neville Hugo Sale Judd (27 December 1939 – 2 May 2017) was a New Zealand diplomat and public servant.
Early life and family
Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, on 27 December 1939, Judd was the son of Edwin Judd and Violet Judd (née ...
. She subsequently married former Business Roundtable director
Roger Kerr
Roger Lawrence Kerr (17 January 1945 – 28 October 2011), a public policy and business leader, was the executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, a free-market think-tank based in Wellington, New Zealand.
Early life
Kerr gre ...
in 2010, who died in 2011.
References
External links
Awaroa Partners
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaac, Catherine
1950s births
Living people
University of Canterbury alumni
ACT New Zealand politicians
21st-century New Zealand women politicians
People from Christchurch
Unsuccessful candidates in the 2011 New Zealand general election