Outstanding contribution award

Over more than three decades Jeanette Fitzsimons has exerted a huge influence on energy efficiency and renewable energy in New Zealand - both within Parliament and outside it.

Jeanette Fitzsimons has been publicly active on energy issues since the late 1970s. Before her Parliamentary career she lectured in Environmental Studies and Energy Planning at the University of Auckland and published widely on energy, transport, and climate change.

She was elected as a Green Party MP in 1996 and served as co-leader until 2009. Her first Member's Bill was the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act 2000, which made energy standards part of mainstream energy policy, saving millions for consumers. The Act established EECA as a Crown Entity and created a legislative requirement for a national strategy to promote energy efficiency, energy conservation, and renewable energy.

She worked alongside other parties to promote the health, economic and energy benefits of home insulation, which led to large-scale funded insulation programmes. As Government spokesperson for energy efficiency for three years from 2005, she led EECA's work on energy efficiency and solar water heating. She's also helped influence transport policy to focus more on public transport, cycling, walking and rail.

Jeanette is able to connect with people from a wide range of sectors and interests, and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of energy. She's worked tirelessly to keep energy issues at the forefront of public debate, and create positive change in the way New Zealanders use, generate and think about energy.

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