Ruth Richardson (NZ) Ltd was established in 1994 by New Zealand's former Minister of Finance. The company offers professional director services and international consultancy.
Ruth Richardson is the principal of the company, and her husband Andrew Wright is the general manager.
Ruth Richardson the politician has a well-known profile nationally and internationally.
During the remarkable reform era in New Zealand from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, Ruth established her reform reputation
As New Zealand's Minister of Finance from 1990 to 1993 she was the principal architect of New Zealand's second wave of reform, complementing the first wave of reforms initiated in the mid-1980s by New Zealand's other well-known Minister of Finance, Sir Roger Douglas. Her institutional framework for the conduct of fiscal policy, the Fiscal Responsibility Act 1994, is widely regarded as setting international best practice, and is a cornerstone of New Zealand's economic framework.
In the years since Ruth left Parliament in 1994, she has had an extensive international practice as a public policy consultant. She has advised widely on strategies designed to achieve the practice of good governance and the development of high quality policy frameworks. Her client base has spanned:
Geographically her work has taken her to nearly every corner of the globe, including Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
In parallel with her work as a public policy consultant, Ruth has developed a substantial private sector practice in corporate governance.
Her directorships have involved her in a wide spectrum of global business activity, and the responsibilities she has shouldered on her Boards have contributed to her expertise in many aspects of corporate governance. Aside from New Zealand, Board work has taken Ruth to Australia, China, the UK, the USA and the Pacific.
Born in 1950, Andrew graduated with an honours degree in law from Victoria University (NZ). He spent the next ten years as a legal policy adviser in the Head Office of the Department of Justice (where he met and married Ruth in 1975).
Andrew has experience working in fields as diverse as commercial law, penal law, electoral law and liquor law.
In 1979 he was appointed as special project officer in charge of implementing a fundamental reform of New Zealand's electoral laws following a failed attempt to computerise the country's electoral rolls in 1978.
Upon the birth of their first child in 1983, Andrew resigned from his legal position to become the family's primary caregiver (Ruth having been elected to the New Zealand Parliament in 1981). He took up a part time lectureship in law at Lincoln University, where he taught law to commerce and farm management degree students as well as farm management diploma students. In 1990 he resigned from Lincoln University following Ruth's appointment as Minister of Finance.
During the 1980s Andrew also developed the family's small farm holding in Canterbury into a deer breeding unit, and subsequently turned this into a cattle finishing unit.
Since the establishment of Ruth Richardson (NZ) Ltd in 1995, Andrew has been the manager responsible for the administration of the business.
Ruth Richardson's Curriculum Vitae
Download Ruth's current personal CV.
Editorial on Political Career
The New Zealand Herald's editorial upon Ruth's resignation from Parliament in 1994.
Ruth's views on NZ's economic reforms
Written in 1996, these are Ruth's contemporary thoughts on New Zealand's reforms of the early 1990s.
Ruth's Record as Minister of Finance
A summary of Ruth's economic achievements as Minister of Finance from 1990 to 1993, during New Zealand's second wave of reform.
Response to criticism of reforms
In 1991 a group of New Zealand academics wrote an open letter criticising Ruth's fiscal policies. Her rebuttal and a later assessment (1994) is included.
'Making a Difference'
Ruth's insider account of the politics of reform was published in 1995 by Shoal Bay Press, Christchurch.
'Policy Determines Performance'
An analysis of the major public policy drivers of economic and social performance.
Public Sector Performance Management
An analysis of management reforms in the public sector pioneered by New Zealand, and implications for political accountability.
'Real Reform in the Public Sector'
The Swinton Lecture, Conservative Party (UK) Annual Conference, Bournemouth, October 2002.
'A Better Way'
A speech launching Reform's report 'A Better Way', which advocates fundamental reform in health, education, and crime and policing services.
'The Fortunes and Fates of Reformers'
A speech given on 'The Bolger Years' to the Stout Research Centre's Seventh Parliamentary Conference.
'Ruth amid the Alien Corn'
A critique of Ruth's public policy presented by political analyst Colin James to the Stout Research Centre's Seventh Parliamentary Conference.
Massey University Business School Address
A graduation address covering Ruth's personal and business philosophies.
'Co-operatives require a Farmers’ Fixit'
An article written by Ruth on the shortcomings of the co-op model used by several New Zealand agribusiness companies in 2016.
'Golden Rules for Reformers'
A 2016 Huffington Post article written by Ruth as a pep-talk for the future of Greece.
