The New Zealand Game Animal Council (GAC) is a statutory entity established under the Game Animal Council Act 2013 to represent the views of the hunting sector while also contributing to positive conservation outcomes.
The Council is made up of nine to eleven Council members who are appointed by the Minister for Hunting and Fishing. Council members do not represent specific organisations or interests on the Council, but bring with them different perspectives, regional understandings, skills and expertise.
The Council makes decisions toward improving game animal management, enhancing hunting opportunities, supporting improved conservation and community outcomes, and promoting safe and responsible hunting practices. These decisions are guided by the:
- Functions of the Game Animal Council Act 2013
- GAC Strategic Plan
- GAC Statement of Performance Expectations (annual plan).
The Council meets around five times per year. See information about Council meetings here.
Email info@nzgac.org.nz if you’d like to connect with our Council members.
On this page:
- Council members
- Staff
- Council meetings and papers
- Appointment process
Council members
Chair
Grant Dodson
Grant is the Chief Executive of City Forests Limited, current Chairman of the Southern Wood Council and University of Canterbury School of Forestry Advisory Committee. He is Past President of the Forest Owners Association and a Board member of the Forest Industry Safety Council. Grant has an extensive background in land management and recreational hunting in New Zealand and Australia. He shares a passion for the outdoors, hunting and shooting sports and is an advocate for future generations of New Zealanders. Learn more about Grant here (PDF File).
Deputy Chair
Melissa Jackson (Uenuku, Ngāti Rāhiri Tumutumu, Ngāti Maniapoto)
Melissa is a former lawyer, turned local government strategic planning and policy professional. She lives in Taumarunui with her husband and two daughters. Melissa is a Kaitiaki Hunting Instructor with Taumarunui based Te Awanui a Rua Charitable Trust, where she leads hunter education wānanga teaching wāhine and rangatahi the basics of safe ethical hunting practices. While hunting is her main focus, she also enjoys diving, fishing and gardening. Learn more about Melissa here (PDF File).
Members
John Cook
John is based in Taupō. He is the current President of the Central North Island Sika Foundation, co-owner of the New Zealand Sika Show and Trustee of the Sika Foundation Conservation Trust. He is a keen recreational hunter of deer and pigs and has enjoyed getting into bow hunting over the last five years. John sees both game animals and the environment as resources that, if managed correctly, can be there for future generations to hunt and enjoy.
Eugene Rewi (Ngāti Manawa, Ngāti Whare, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Ranginui)
Eugene is passionate about improving health outcomes for Māori and currently works at Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora. His interests include whānau, travel and he enjoys many forms of mahi kai, especially hunting, fishing and diving. Learn more about Eugene here. (PDF File)
Peter Swann (Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata East Coast, Tairāwhiti, Tūranganui a Kiwa)
Peter has a passion for Āotearoa’s outdoors and with over 40 years as a hunter gatherer, putting kai on the table for whānau, friends, or those in need, as well as working to ensure sustainable hunting for future generations, has always been his primary motivation. As a past president of the Poverty Bay East Coast Pig Hunters Club, and a current NZDA member, he also manages the hunter-led ROMA conservation project for the Mangaotane Trust in the southern Raukumara Range. ROMA’s mission revolves around protecting native flora and fauna and connecting people to the whenua through mahinga kai. Peter is also a member of the Mates of Tairāwhiti work place suicide prevention programme which enables life supporting conversations in the workplace.
Callum Sheridan
Callum is the current NZDA National President. He is instrumental in organising the National Wild Goat Hunting Competition and is iwi liaison for the Woodhill Fallow Management Council. Callum owns a residential construction company and is passionate about New Zealand’s backcountry and conserving our flora, fauna and game animals for generations to come.
Andrew Simpson
Andrew is a Canterbury-based lawyer and academic. He brings to GAC forty years’ experience as a hunter and twenty years’ experience as an advisor to statutory bodies. Andrew is committed to the scientifically principled conservation of wildlife and wild places.
Glenn MacPherson
Glenn currently lives in Leamington near Cambridge and has been a primary school principal for the past 12 years. He has a wife and three children, who are passionate about hunting and fishing and spending time in the outdoors. Glenn is currently a member of the NZ Pig Hunting Association and past President of the Te Kuiti Pig Hunting Club (now Vice President). He grew up on dairy farms in and around the Tokoroa district. Glenn advocates for the preservation of recreational hunting opportunities wants to ensure hunters can enjoy access to stunning landscapes while contributing to balanced game animal populations. He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.
Matt Clarke
Matt is a lifelong recreational hunter. He lives in Nelson and has built his career in the aviation industry. He is the Chief Executive of Wellington Airport, a longstanding Director of Nelson Airport and the Chairman of the New Zealand Airports Association in addition to other non-executive positions. Throughout his career he has been deeply involved in navigating complex regulatory environments, local and central Government relations and complex stakeholder management. Mr Clarke relishes the opportunity to bring these skills to bear to continue the important work of the GAC. His clear goal is to ensure that the hunting opportunities he has enjoyed are not remembered as the ‘good old days’. Hunting in New Zealand must be valued, managed and progressively enhanced for the next generation and those that follow.
Staff
Chief Executive Officer
Corina Jordan, CEO of the GAC, grew up in rural Taranaki and now lives in rural Manawatū with her German Shorthaired Pointer, horses, sheep, cattle and pigs. She was previously CEO for New Zealand Fish & Game and has prior experience in molecular ecology, freshwater ecology, sportfish and gamebird management, genetics, natural resource management, and agriculture.
Corina’s passion for hunting and fishing developed in her early 30’s and has been growing ever since. Learning to hunt later in life means that she understands the barriers to participation for those who didn’t have traditional pathways. Corina is looking forward to advocating for hunters to have a strong voice, and their aspirations and needs recognised and embedded into policy for current and future generations.
Contact Corina at Corina.Jordan@nzgac.org.nz or 027 290 4827
Operational team
Including the CEO, the GAC has five permanent staff members:
- Executive Administrator
- Chief Operating Officer
- Policy and Project Advisor (vacant)
- Learning and Digital Assets Lead
- Communications Advisor
Council meetings and papers
See information about the next Council meeting and previous Council meeting minutes here.
Appointment process
The Minister for Hunting and Fishing is responsible for appointing Council members and the Chair to the GAC. The Minister notifies vacancies by publishing a public notice calling for nominations. Collectively, the Council has knowledge or experience in things such as game animals, hunting, agriculture, tourism, Māori hunting interests, research and science, kaitiakitanga, and nature conservation.
Each Council member term is for a period of up to three years. Council members can carry out two consecutive terms to a total of up to six years. Council members continue in their role until they are reappointed, or a successor is appointed in their place.
For more information on Council membership, appointment and terms of office, see the Game Animal Council Act 2013.