A Ngāti Whakaue lawyer is one of the six people named on the expert advisory panel that will advise cabinet ministers under the Fast Track Approvals Act.
David Tapsell (Ngāti Whakaue /Waikato Tainui) is a son of the late Sir Peter Tapsell, a Labour MP and first Māori Speaker of the House. He is also the uncle of Rotorua mayor and former National parliamentary aspirant, Tania Tapsell.
Tapsell is a lawyer who spent much of his career working for firms including Bell Gully until 2017 when he became a Professional director and advisor to corporate, iwi and Crown interests. He is a chief Crown negotiator on historical Treaty settlements.
Tapsell chairs Ngāti Whakaue’s Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust.
The Pukeroa Group manages property assets worth over $210 million and is broadening its portfolio into the tourism market.
Tapsell is also deputy chairperson of Lotto.
The other five people named for the panel are: Hamilton City planning manager Mark Davey, former Contact chief executive David Hunt, Marsden Maritime Holdings chief executive Rosie Mercer, former pulp and paper Oji Fibre Solutions regulatory manager and former Carter Holt Harvey environment manager Murray Parrish, Ministry of Fisheries offiical turned fishing industry executive Vaughan Wilkinson.