Roger Kerr

Kerr grew up on a farm at Appleby on the South Island of New Zealand, near Nelson.nkerr.com/a-tribute-to-roger/ Thirteen years younger than his sister Barbara and 10 years younger than his brother Alan, a paediatric heart surgeon,{{cite web|last=Chisholm|first=Donna|date=17 September 2017|title=The father and son heroes of cardiac care in New Zealand|url=https://www.noted.co.nz/health/health/the-father-and-son-heroes-of-cardiac-care-in-new-zealand/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101041134/https://www.noted.co.nz/health/health/the-father-and-son-heroes-of-cardiac-care-in-new-zealand/|archive-date=1 November 2017|access-date=2 June 2021|website=Noted.co.nz}} his arrival was a surprise for the family. He attended Appleby Primary and was one of the first students to attend Waimea College in Richmond. He was first in the country in School Certificate (New Zealand).{{cite web |url=http://nkerr.com/a-tribute-to-roger/ |title = A Tribute to Roger – The Kerrant| date=27 October 2016 }} He studied for an MA (Honours, First Class) (in his Arts degree he studied French) from the University of Canterbury. His master thesis was titled Jean-Paul Sartre : theoricien et critique de la litterature.{{cite thesis |last=Kerr |first=Roger |year=1966 |type=Masters thesis |title=Jean-Paul Sartre : theoricien et critique de la litterature |publisher=UC Research Repository, University of Canterbury |hdl=10092/8661 |doi=10.26021/5151 |url=https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/8661}} He also obtained a BCA from Victoria University of Wellington. Roderick Deane, the senior government official and businessman, who lectured economics, said Kerr was "the most outstanding economics student I ever had when I was teaching".McKinnon, M. Treasury - The New Zealand Treasury, 1840-2000, (2003). p 292.

Kerr spent much of his career in the economic policy debate in New Zealand. He was hired by Sir Ron Trotter and Sir Douglas Myers, then chairman and vice chairman of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, in 1986 as the first executive director. Kerr was a vocal proponent of Rogernomics and of policies that can be broadly characterised as free market. Before leading the Business Roundtable, he joined the New Zealand Treasury at age 32.{{cn|date=October 2022}} At the Treasury he served as Director of Economics II and was part of the team of economists that authored Economic Management, the briefing paper presented to the Fourth Labor Government of New Zealand, which many regard as the blueprint for the economic reforms that followed.{{who|date=October 2022}} Kerr later became an assistant secretary.{{cn|date=October 2022}}

He served as a director of the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand from 1986 to 1994,{{cite web|url=http://www.business.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/327728/detail|title=ELECTRICITY CORPORATION OF NEW ZEALAND LIMITED|work=business.govt.nz|year=2011|accessdate=29 October 2011}} as a member of the Council of Victoria University of Wellington from 1995 to 1999, and as a member of the Group Board of Colonial Limited in Melbourne from 1996 to 2000.{{cite web|url=http://www.business.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/852714/detail|title=COLONIAL LIMITED |work=business.govt.nz|year=2011|accessdate=29 October 2011}}

Prior to Kerr's time at the Treasury he worked at Ministry of Foreign Affairs including as a diplomat in Brussels.{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10763949|title=Roger Kerr: Always a few steps ahead|first=John|last=Roughan|work=nzherald.co.nz|date=5 November 2011|accessdate=1 March 2012}}

Kerr was married to Margaret Northcroft for over 30 years with whom he had three sons, Bernard, Nicholas and Richard, two of whom live in the United States and one of whom lives in New Zealand. The marriage to Northcroft ended in divorce. He married Catherine Isaac in January 2010. Kerr died on 28 October 2011, after battling metastatic melanoma for a year.{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10762465|title='National treasure' Roger Kerr dies|work=nzherald.co.nz|quote=High-profile business leader Roger Kerr has died after a year-long battle with metastatic melanoma.|accessdate=29 October 2011|date=29 October 2011}}{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/image.cfm?c_id=3&gal_objectid=10762465&gallery_id=122435#8219428|title=Roger Kerr: A life in pictures|work=nzherald.co.nz|year=2011|accessdate=29 October 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/5875388/Business-leader-Roger-Kerr-dies|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111029131629/http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/5875388/Business-leader-Roger-Kerr-dies|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 October 2011|title=Business leader Roger Kerr dies|work=stuff.co.nz|year=2011|accessdate=29 October 2011}}{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10762600|title=Kerr lauded as strong advocate|work=nzherald.co.nz|accessdate=30 October 2011|date=30 October 2011}}

• Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to business, in the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours{{cite web |url=https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2011 |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 2011 |date=6 June 2011 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |accessdate=10 May 2020}}
• Alan McGregor Fellowship, 2011{{cite web|title=Roger Kerr Receives Prestigious Australian Awards|url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1108/S00058/roger-kerr-receives-prestigious-australian-awards.htm|date=1 August 2011|accessdate=5 May 2017}}
• Charles Copeman Medal, 2005{{cite web |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/business-leader-roger-kerr-dies/UXPOJU2LMX6LS4KSS4ZUR4VIUA/ |title = Business leader Roger Kerr dies - NZ Herald| date=5 June 2011 }}
• NZIER Qantas Economics Award, 2001
• Tasman Medal, 1994{{cite web |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/business-leader-roger-kerr-dies/UXPOJU2LMX6LS4KSS4ZUR4VIUA/ |title = Business leader Roger Kerr dies - NZ Herald| date=5 June 2011 }}

{{reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160210110026/http://www.nzbr.org.nz/ New Zealand Business Roundtable]

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Category:1945 births

Category:2011 deaths

Category:Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit

Category:New Zealand businesspeople

Category:University of Canterbury alumni

Category:Victoria University of Wellington alumni

Category:People from the Tasman District

Category:Businesspeople from Wellington City

Category:New Zealand economists

Category:Deaths from melanoma

Category:Deaths from cancer in New Zealand

Category:People educated at Waimea College