Ex-Whanganui man, Tristan Gilbertson, the new Telecommunications Commissioner

Ex-Whanganui man, Tristan Gilbertson, has been named the new Telecommunications Commissioner responsible for assessing competition in the telco industry and making regulatory recommendations to the government.

His father, Murray Gilbertson, a previous CE at the District Council now living in the Hawkes Bay, describes him as “a very clever young man.” He gives the example of when Tristan scored 98% in School Certificate History but was convinced that he had scored 99%. This proved to be the case when he got his script back and they had marked one short answer incorrectly.

When he was at Whanganui High School he had “a great Japanese teacher, Mrs Irvine.” This led him to completing his last year of schooling in Tokyo on a Rotary International student exchange.

By the time he came back, “he was a changed man,” says Murray, “and had become a fluent Japanese speaker.” Back home Tristan did a law degree and an Arts degree majoring in Japanese. Murray told him that with both qualifications, “he would be in high demand.”

After working part time in the High Court in Wellington, he worked in London and Sydney before being sent to Japan by British Telecom, helping to restructure the company there. Further stints in New Zealand, UK, Australia and Singapore followed with Tristan becoming “a globe trotter.”

Tristan is best known in the business community for his stint as the in-house counsel for Telecom (now Spark), where he served during the turbulent 2008 to 2012 period that saw the structural separation of the company.

According to the NZ Herald a consumer advocate group, the Technology Users Association of NZ, supports his appointment. Craig Young from TUANZ told the Herald.

"We're pleased to see someone with such a wealth of knowledge in the industry being appointed into the role."

Spark also welcomed his appointment, saying according to the NZ Herald article, "Mr Gilbertson has a deep understanding of the telecommunications industry, including from his time as General Counsel at Telecom. We welcome the expertise and insight that Mr Gilbertson will bring to the role.”

Tristan will serve a five-year term, beginning June 8.

Apart from being the Whanganui District Council’s CEO from 2000-2008, Murray was also involved in the set-up of Main Street, the Masters Games and the Waste Water Scheme. He has his own engineering consultancy in the Hawkes Bay. Brothers Don and Bob Gilbertson live in Whanganui and Murray continues strong ties with the city.

River City Press 4/6/20