Leadership in transition: Navigating New Zealand's changing demography

Presentation

Speaker(s): Paul Spoonley
Date: 5:30pm — 7:30pm, 13 May 2025
Venue: Moananui
Location: 329 Trafalgar Square, East, Nelson 7010
Price members: $25.00 incl GST
Price non-members: $25.00 incl GST

Overview

New Zealand, including Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough, is experiencing significant demographic changes that are shaping the future of its communities.

In Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough, the effects of an ageing population and evolving migration patterns are already being felt, influencing the age profile and cultural identities of local communities, businesses, and governance.

These changes began in 2013 with a spike in immigration and the first of the Baby Boomers arriving at the age of 65 (which is not the age of retirement for many New Zealanders). The rapid ageing of the population, combined with declining fertility, is altering the structure of communities, while immigration is significantly changing the diversity of New Zealand.

The final element is where people live and work: some regions and communities are experiencing population stagnation (little or no growth), while others are already in population decline, and some communities (notably in the top half of the North Island) are growing rapidly.

What does all this mean for governance and leadership in our sectors, organisations, firms, or communities.

Special thanks to our local branch sponsor Ngāti Kuia for supporting this event and for their ongoing commitment to the region. Such initiatives are made possible through strong local partnerships, and we’re excited to co-host this fantastic gathering with the Nelson Regional Development Agency.

Paul Spoonley

Distinguished Professor Paul Spoonley stood down as Pro Vice-Chancellor of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Massey University in 2019. He was then appointed as an advisor to the Commissioner of Police, and in 2022 was appointed as the co-director of He Whenua Taurikura (National Centre for Countering Violent Extremism) by PM Jacinda Ardern.

Paul is a Fellow and board member of the Auckland Museum; a Visiting Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen, Germany; and was a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the University of California Berkeley in 2010. He was awarded the Science and Technology Medal by the Royal Society in 2009 for cross-cultural understanding.

Paul is the author or editor of 29 books, the most recent being The New New Zealand. Facing Demographic Disruption (2021) and Histories of Hate. The Radical Right in Aotearoa New Zealand (2023). He was Ranginui Walker’s biographer (Mata Toa. The Life and Times of Ranginui Walker). He has researched and written on social cohesion, racism, Pākehā identity, demographic change, white supremacism and antisemitism, immigration policy and settlement, and the impacts of diversity.

Additional information

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