John Belgrave
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Maurice (John) Belgrave DCNZM, (b. 1940), public servant and Chief Ombudsman of New Zealand.
Belgrave was educated at Sacred Heart School in Auckland, and at Victoria University, where he received a Bachelor of Commerce degree in economics.
Belgrave joined the public service in 1964, joining the Department of Trade and Industry. Belgrave was posted to London, where he served as second secretary (commercial) at the High Commission. Belgrave was promoted rapidly, and became Consul-General and Trade Commissioner in Melbourne in 1968. In 1973, Belgrave became Director of the Price and Stabilisation department in the Department of Trade and Industry, a key role responsible for monitoring commercial price controls in the then highly-regulated New Zealand economy.
In 1976, Belgrave was posted to Tokyo as Minister and Senior Trade Commissioner, where he served for four years. In 1980, he was assistant secretary of Trade and Industry, moving to Assistant Director-General in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1982.
In 1985, Belgrave accepted his first of four postings as chief executive of a government department, as Comptroller of Customs. Belgrave left the public service in 1988 to become Chief Executive of the Bankers’ Association, before being wooed back in 1989 by State Services Commissioner Don Hunn as Secretary of Commerce, the successor department of the Department of Trade and Industry. During this time, the departmental responsibilities included competition policy, energy, consumer affairs, company regulation, tourism, information technology policy, minerals, and economic development.
In 1994, Belgrave was appointed by Hunn again as Secretary of Justice. Belgrave’s mandate included the division of the Department of Justice into a separate policy unit, the Ministry of Justice, and the departments of Courts and Corrections.
In 1997, Belgrave left the public sector again, to the post of executive director of the Electricity Supply Association, where he was responsible for the implementation and reorganisation of the energy sector, during Max Bradford’s reforms of the electricity industry.
In 1999, Belgrave became Chairman of the Commerce Commission, holding that post for two terms, before being appointed as Chief Ombudsman in 2003.
Belgrave is married to Judy, and they have three daughters and one son. In the 2007 New Years Honour List, Belgrave was pronounced a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit "for public services lately as Chief Ombudsman".
