Kerr in August 2011

Roger Lawrence Kerr CNZM (17 January 1945 – 28 October 2011), a public policy and business leader, was the executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable,[1][2] a free-market think-tank based in Wellington, New Zealand.

Early life

Kerr grew up on a farm at Appleby on the South Island of New Zealand, near Nelson.[3] Thirteen years younger than his sister Barbara and 10 years younger than his brother Alan, a paediatric heart surgeon,[4] his arrival was a surprise for the family.[3] He attended Appleby Primary and was one of the first students to attend Waimea College in Richmond.[3] He was first in the country in School Certificate (New Zealand).[5] He studied for an MA (Honours, First Class) (in his Arts degree he studied French) from the University of Canterbury. His master thesis was titled Jean-Paul Sartre : theoricien et critique de la litterature.[6] He also obtained a BCA from Victoria University of Wellington. Roderick Deane, the senior government official and businessman, who lectured economics, said Kerr was "the most outstanding economics student I ever had when I was teaching".[7]

Career

Kerr spent much of his career in the economic policy debate in New Zealand. He was hired by Sir Ron Trotter and Sir Douglas Myers, then chairman and vice chairman of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, in 1986 as the first executive director. Kerr was a vocal proponent of Rogernomics and of policies that can be broadly characterised as free market. Before leading the Business Roundtable, he joined the New Zealand Treasury at age 32. At the Treasury he served as Director of Economics II and was part of the team of economists that authored Economic Management, the briefing paper presented to the Fourth Labor Government of New Zealand, which many regard as the blueprint for the economic reforms that followed. Kerr later became an assistant secretary.

He served as a director of the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand from 1986 to 1994,[8] as a member of the Council of Victoria University of Wellington from 1995 to 1999, and as a member of the Group Board of Colonial Limited in Melbourne from 1996 to 2000.[9]

Prior to Kerr's time at the Treasury he worked at Ministry of Foreign Affairs including as a diplomat in Brussels.[10]

Personal life

Kerr was married to Margaret Northcroft for over 30 years with whom he had three sons, Bernard, Nicholas and Richard, two of whom live in the United States and one of whom lives in New Zealand. The marriage to Northcroft ended in divorce. He married Catherine Isaac in January 2010. Kerr died on 28 October 2011, after battling metastatic melanoma for a year.[11][12][13][14]

Honours and awards

References

  1. 1 2 "Roundtable chief honoured". The New Zealand Herald. 20 September 2001. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  2. ↑ "NEW ZEALAND BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE". 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011. KERR
  3. 1 2 3 nkerr.com/a-tribute-to-roger/
  4. ↑ Chisholm, Donna (17 September 2017). "The father and son heroes of cardiac care in New Zealand". Noted.co.nz. Archived from the original on 1 November 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  5. ↑ "A Tribute to Roger – The Kerrant".
  6. ↑ Kerr, Roger (1966). Jean-Paul Sartre : theoricien et critique de la litterature (Masters thesis). UC Research Repository, University of Canterbury. doi:10.26021/5151. hdl:10092/8661.
  7. ↑ McKinnon, M. Treasury - The New Zealand Treasury, 1840-2000, (2003). p 292.
  8. ↑ "ELECTRICITY CORPORATION OF NEW ZEALAND LIMITED". business.govt.nz. 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  9. ↑ "COLONIAL LIMITED". business.govt.nz. 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  10. ↑ Roughan, John (5 November 2011). "Roger Kerr: Always a few steps ahead". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  11. ↑ "'National treasure' Roger Kerr dies". nzherald.co.nz. 29 October 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011. High-profile business leader Roger Kerr has died after a year-long battle with metastatic melanoma.
  12. ↑ "Roger Kerr: A life in pictures". nzherald.co.nz. 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  13. ↑ "Business leader Roger Kerr dies". stuff.co.nz. 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  14. ↑ "Kerr lauded as strong advocate". nzherald.co.nz. 30 October 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  15. ↑ "Queen's Birthday honours list 2011". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 6 June 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  16. ↑ "Roger Kerr Receives Prestigious Australian Awards". 1 August 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  17. ↑ "Business leader Roger Kerr dies - NZ Herald".
  18. ↑ "Business leader Roger Kerr dies - NZ Herald".
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