In more than 40 years at the heart of government, Ivan Kwok served under nine treasury secretaries and ten finance ministers and had a hand in virtually every policy reform across those decades.
The three-term Christchurch mayor discusses governance in NZ, her book and who should do what.
A Treasury staffer harboured serious concerns about the appointment of Greg Miller, predicting key staff would leave the state-owned enterprise and key relationships would be more combative.
Five years on from a new regulator and beefed up laws, NZ's health and safety performance remains "stuck in first gear".