DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle will be departing the role on June 30, 2023.

Dr Mackle has been in the role for 15 years and led DairyNZ through difficult financial times, including the 2008/09 global recession and Covid-19.

He says with the company in a good position, this was the the best time to step down.

"We've got a great strategy in place now to deliver more value to farmers and farmers informed it, we've got a great team on board, and they're building that and getting on with business."

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DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle will be departing the role on June 30, 2023.
Dr Mackle has been in the role for 15 years and led DairyNZ through difficult financial times, including the 2008/09 global recession and Covid-19.
He says with the company in a good position, this was the the best time to step down.
"We've got a great strategy in place now to deliver more value to farmers and farmers informed it, we've got a great team on board, and they're building that and getting on with business."
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With a straight down the middle approach, Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB delivers the very latest news and views to New Zealanders as they wrap up their day.

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Dr Tim Mackle: DairyNZ CEO on his decision to step down from the role in June

Tell me something: does what’s just happened with the Golden Mile upgrade in Wellington restore your faith in the possibility that councils can actually be run properly?

Because that thing - I don’t know if you’ve been following it over the years - but the Golden Mile upgrade has been an albatross around the necks of Wellington business owners and ratepayers since probably about 2016.

It was always going to be too expensive, especially when it tripled in price. It was always going to kill businesses once construction started and cars were banned from driving on the Golden Mile.

And it was always going to be one of the most frustrating examples of a Labour-Green majority council, obsessed with its hatred of cars, forcing through its pet project despite howls of outrage from the public - who would end up paying for it in more ways than one.

This went on for years and years: the public saying “please don’t,” the council saying, “nah, we’re gonna.” It just went on and on.
Then Andrew Little arrived - the first good mayor since Kerry Prendergast left office in 2010 - and everything changed. Within six months, the Golden Mile project was dead.

Even councillors who had previously voted for it, like Ben McNulty, changed their votes and killed it off - presumably because that’s what a good leader does. They take people with them. They change people’s minds.

Andrew Little is like a new broom in that city. He’s killed off the most vexed and controversial project. He’s fired a warning shot at the consultants that he is not prepared to pay endless bills for a cast of thousands to tell him what two or three people could.

He’s forced council staff to cut back on ridiculously high budgets. He’s immediately reduced the infighting around the table. He’s the grown-up who has taken over after 15 years of the kids trying to run the place themselves.

For the first time in a very, very long time, Wellington City Council is not the worst council in the country.

It restores your faith, doesn’t it? All you need is a decent candidate to put their hand up, and even the worst-run place can actually be rescued.

LISTEN ABOVE

Tell me something: does what’s just happened with the Golden Mile upgrade in Wellington restore your faith in the possibility that councils can actually be run properly?
Because that thing - I don’t know if you’ve been following it over the years - but the Golden Mile upgrade has been an albatross around the necks of Wellington business owners and ratepayers since probably about 2016.
It was always going to be too expensive, especially when it tripled in price. It was always going to kill businesses once construction started and cars were banned from driving on the Golden Mile.
And it was always going to be one of the most frustrating examples of a Labour-Green majority council, obsessed with its hatred of cars, forcing through its pet project despite howls of outrage from the public - who would end up paying for it in more ways than one.
This went on for years and years: the public saying “please don’t,” the council saying, “nah, we’re gonna.” It just went on and on. Then Andrew Little arrived - the first good mayor since Kerry Prendergast left office in 2010 - and everything changed. Within six months, the Golden Mile project was dead.
Even councillors who had previously voted for it, like Ben McNulty, changed their votes and killed it off - presumably because that’s what a good leader does. They take people with them. They change people’s minds.
Andrew Little is like a new broom in that city. He’s killed off the most vexed and controversial project. He’s fired a warning shot at the consultants that he is not prepared to pay endless bills for a cast of thousands to tell him what two or three people could.
He’s forced council staff to cut back on ridiculously high budgets. He’s immediately reduced the infighting around the table. He’s the grown-up who has taken over after 15 years of the kids trying to run the place themselves.
For the first time in a very, very long time, Wellington City Council is not the worst council in the country.
It restores your faith, doesn’t it? All you need is a decent candidate to put their hand up, and even the worst-run place can actually be rescued.
LISTEN ABOVE

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Did Andrew Little save Wellington Council?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/0c87fb65-5dda-41fa-b972-b46f016c9440/transcript

Listen to the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday 19 June.

Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen to the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday 19 June. 
Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Full Show Podcast: 19 June 2026 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/185871b5-97e9-4475-8690-b46e0076a811/transcript

I’m going to make a prediction that I’m fairly certain is going to bear out: no one is going to be shocked by reading in the Herald that Wayne Brown might be a bully.

This has kicked off again this week with a complaint from a new Auckland councillor, Bo Burns, that Auckland Council is so dysfunctional she has packed up and walked out of meetings twice because of behaviour she considered unacceptable. Then, the Herald dropped a much bigger piece expanding on all of this, featuring the accounts of multiple councillors who also complain and who then hone in on the mayor in particular.

Mike Lee says the mayor revels in put-downs and insults and pulled him off the Auckland Transport board as punishment because he voted against him on something. John Watson says the mayor is a narcissist. Lotu Fuli says the mayor drops the f-bomb all the time. And on and on the complaining goes.

Now, look, I’m not completely hard-hearted. I have some sympathy for these people because I don’t think I’d like to work in a place where I got punished for taking an opposing view. The mayor is not an easy bloke to work with and I thank the Lord every single day that I don’t have to work with him.

But I also don’t have sympathy for them because this is not a normal workplace—it’s a council. It’s supposed to be robust. And Bo Burns should probably reconsider whether she thinks ratepayers will feel they’re getting bang for their buck if they’ve elected someone who isn’t robust enough to hack it at the big boys’ table.

As for Wayne Brown, claiming he’s a bully is not going to hurt him, is it? Because it’s not a shock to anyone. This is the guy who called the media “drongos” and barely apologised for it. This is the guy who emailed the Ratepayers’ Alliance with two words: “f*** off.” Have you ever met him? The fact that he swears is not a surprise.

What probably hurts him more, I would say, is that he hiked rates in the city by 7.9% this year. But finding out he’s a bit mean to people and swears a lot? Not news.

What would be news is if everyone around the Auckland Council table grew a pair and stopped complaining about him.

LISTEN ABOVE

I’m going to make a prediction that I’m fairly certain is going to bear out: no one is going to be shocked by reading in the Herald that Wayne Brown might be a bully.
This has kicked off again this week with a complaint from a new Auckland councillor, Bo Burns, that Auckland Council is so dysfunctional she has packed up and walked out of meetings twice because of behaviour she considered unacceptable. Then, the Herald dropped a much bigger piece expanding on all of this, featuring the accounts of multiple councillors who also complain and who then hone in on the mayor in particular.
Mike Lee says the mayor revels in put-downs and insults and pulled him off the Auckland Transport board as punishment because he voted against him on something. John Watson says the mayor is a narcissist. Lotu Fuli says the mayor drops the f-bomb all the time. And on and on the complaining goes.
Now, look, I’m not completely hard-hearted. I have some sympathy for these people because I don’t think I’d like to work in a place where I got punished for taking an opposing view. The mayor is not an easy bloke to work with and I thank the Lord every single day that I don’t have to work with him.
But I also don’t have sympathy for them because this is not a normal workplace—it’s a council. It’s supposed to be robust. And Bo Burns should probably reconsider whether she thinks ratepayers will feel they’re getting bang for their buck if they’ve elected someone who isn’t robust enough to hack it at the big boys’ table.
As for Wayne Brown, claiming he’s a bully is not going to hurt him, is it? Because it’s not a shock to anyone. This is the guy who called the media “drongos” and barely apologised for it. This is the guy who emailed the Ratepayers’ Alliance with two words: “f*** off.” Have you ever met him? The fact that he swears is not a surprise.
What probably hurts him more, I would say, is that he hiked rates in the city by 7.9% this year. But finding out he’s a bit mean to people and swears a lot? Not news.
What would be news is if everyone around the Auckland Council table grew a pair and stopped complaining about him.
LISTEN ABOVE

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Unsurprisingly, Wayne Brown might be a bully

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/e36bc22d-795a-4471-a320-b46e00735b65/transcript

Dr Tim Mackle: DairyNZ CEO on his decision to step down from the role in June

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